WJC: Team Finland 2018 U20 WJC Roster Talk

[Conspiracy Theorist]

I think you are in a surprise if you think even half of those players are currently better than Tolvanen.

Tolvanen, while being invisible, still played a PPG tournament last year as a 17-year-old. Tolvanen was also the most dangerous players on ice against Canada in Karjala Cup a month ago. He has improved a lot in one year like most players in his age.

But I agree on that Finland doesn't have the forward depth in their bottom-6 which could turn out to be their biggest disadvantage in this tournament when it comes to competing in gold.

I think center depth is the biggest weakness. Bottom 6 wingers are underrated I think.

 

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

This is the first time I am reading Vesalainen being a bad skater. He is far from a bad skater from what I've seen this season.

I find it funny that Pronman just wrote this about Tolvanen:

Some still worry about his skating to a degree, but more about it being average given his size rather than him being super slow.

and this about Vesalainen:

He skates so well for a 6-foot-3 forward, to couple with good hands and finishing ability.

Then this guy comes to say Vesalainen cant skate well enough to play with Tolvanen

 

[lakai17]

Ikonen should have a decent tournament.

He's getting shadowed by the big names.

 

[Visul]

I'm not particularly surprised to see Turkulainen being left out of the team. Tiny finesse players quite often struggle to make a difference at World Juniors, just think about last year and how insignificant Petrus Palmu was despite performing very well in the OHL.

Second that – especially when played in NA rinks. Guys with Turkulainen's frame and with no small rink experience usually can compete against weaker opponents but they have really hard time against top teams like USA and Canada. I would have liked to see Turkulainen in the tournament but with all things considered I'm not that surprised he got cut.

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if also Heponiemi struggles in the tourney against the top teams. I hope I'm wrong but I'm not as high on his as majority. (I am high on him as a prospect though.)

 

[LeafChief]

Hoping for Eemeli Rasanen to play his way into the top 6. Big boy. Bomb of a shot. Likes to play angry.

 

[FiLe]

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if also Heponiemi struggles in the tourney against the top teams. I hope I'm wrong but I'm not as high on his as majority. (I am high on him as a prospect though.)

Umm... Heponiemi plays against the world's best juniors, in the NA-sized rink, night in night out. And he's leading that league in scoring.

Sure, he may still struggle, who knows. But if he does... I'd suspect chemistry/game plan issues rather than the environment. If we have one player fully accustomed to NA style junior hockey, it's him.

 

[Hockeyisl1fe]

Innala,Jääskä over Turkulainen,Moilanen....idiot!!!.

I wonder...are we ever gonna see an actual Suomen Jääkiekko Maajoukkue at worlds,juniors,olympics? .
- you know...without defensive forwards,role players.

Who is the first coach to take the "risk" and select 4 scoring lines.
- personally, i'm sick and tired hearing the same goddamn sorry
explanation why we pick those players instead of goal scorers,play makers.

FYI we have plenty of depth,width... what comes to good players
we have good,great players even here in Finland and in NA,Europe
from where to choose.

GeorgeLeafer12 knows better than a professional coach who has worked with these players for several years and probably knows them personally pretty well too, yep. You lost your credibility here the moment you said Vesalainen was a bad skater... I know you're a fanboy of Heponiemi, but still.

 

[Hockeyisl1fe]

The guys at Jatkoaika are saying that Ahokas is on tape saying Turkulainen needed to crack the top-6 in order to make the team. He apparently didn't want Jerry in the bottom-6, because he doesn't play PK for JYP.

This really goes to show how old school Ahokas is as a coach -- he seems to be one of those guys, who still believes in a strict top-6/bottom-6 division, instead of more modern systems that roll three or four scoring lines. If that team has problems with scoring, people are going to take a look at all those omissions (Turkulainen, Kotkaniemi, Somppi, etc.) and call for his head.

Yet he picked Kupari ahead of him (he won't play in the top 6 nor PK)... maybe he just wasn't good enough? Good Liiga performances mean jack shit when it comes to play against the peers on a smaller ice surface.

 

[Hockeyisl1fe]

I'm well aware Tolvanen is having a great season in Europe however I personally would rank Nylander, Pettersson, Mittelstadt, Tkatchuk, Kyrou, Steel and Svechnikov all as better forwards at the moment. Tolvanen was virtually invisible last year in the world juniors so I'm still waiting to see him perform on North American ice. And I was just making the point that I'm curious to see if Finland will have the forward depth to go far because their bottom 6 is weak compared to Canada and the US in that division.

What are you talking about? Tolvanen dominated against his peers on a smaller ice in 2015-16... he scored freaking 9 goals in 5 games in the WHC-17, not good enough for you? And funny how you are "waiting for Tolvanen to perform on NA ice", yet you say Pettersson is superior even though Tolvanen has been better every time they've played against similar competition. And you expect Steel, Svechnikov and Tkachuk to be better than him... are you serious? Brady Tkachuk, really? Oh god, people really are in for a surprise.

 

[BB88]

Hoping for Eemeli Rasanen to play his way into the top 6. Big boy. Bomb of a shot. Likes to play angry.

I'll say it again, nothing against Rasanen but our top6 is the best that I've ever seen, and making it this is a tough tough ask and if he doesn't make it it doesn't make him a bust.

His size& NA experience are 2 things he has going for him.

 

[Hockeyisl1fe]

No doubt you should have high hopes. This finnish team is legit. But outside of those 4- solid forwards, the rest of the forwards would have a difficult time being invited to camp for Canada and the US.

Still, the top talent will more thab make up for it. Tolvanen honestly should be a cheat code in this tournament... I just replied a guy who thought players like Steel and Tkachuk are better than him. For sure I wouldn't expect too much from this team in that case either.

 

[BusQuets]

I agree that our biggest battle in this tourney is the ice, too many bad memories.

The players who won gold in the u18 on small ice have bad memories playing on small ice..?

 

[LeafChief]

Still, the top talent will more thab make up for it. Tolvanen honestly should be a cheat code in this tournament... I just replied a guy who thought players like Steel and Tkachuk are better than him. For sure I wouldn't expect too much from this team in that case either.

Tolvanen is much better (at least offensively) than Steel and Tkachuk.

 

[BB88]

The players who won gold in the u18 on small ice have bad memories playing on small ice..?

I have from our coaches.

We play a lot better in Europe.

 

[Halfy]

What line is Vesalainen on?

 

[Hockeyisl1fe]

What line is Vesalainen on?

1st line with Kuokkanen and Tolvanen most likely.

 

[Halfy]

1st line with Kuokkanen and Tolvanen most likely.

Nice! As a Jets fan that’s good to hear! Hope he tears it up. IMO he plays like the Finnish Blake Wheeler.

Still odd the natural Heponiemi (passer) Tolvanen (Sniper) connection isn’t united yet.

 

[carlhockey]

What are you talking about? Tolvanen dominated against his peers on a smaller ice in 2015-16... he scored freaking 9 goals in 5 games in the WHC-17, not good enough for you? And funny how you are "waiting for Tolvanen to perform on NA ice", yet you say Pettersson is superior even though Tolvanen has been better every time they've played against similar competition. And you expect Steel, Svechnikov and Tkachuk to be better than him... are you serious? Brady Tkachuk, really? Oh god, people really are in for a surprise.

I watched every Finland game last year in the world juniors he honestly was not very noticeable. And yes, Brady Tkatchuk is slated to g

What are you talking about? Tolvanen dominated against his peers on a smaller ice in 2015-16... he scored freaking 9 goals in 5 games in the WHC-17, not good enough for you? And funny how you are "waiting for Tolvanen to perform on NA ice", yet you say Pettersson is superior even though Tolvanen has been better every time they've played against similar competition. And you expect Steel, Svechnikov and Tkachuk to be better than him... are you serious? Brady Tkachuk, really? Oh god, people really are in for a surprise.

Look Ive watched him alot, hes one of the best players in the tournament but don't make him out to be the best by far because he is not. Last year in the juniors he was not that impressive. And yes Svechnikov and Tkatchuk are both going top 5 in this years draft..Steel was the WHL player of the year last year and is very elite. May they all end up being better than him maybe not but right now I'd put them all at similar levels if you think otherwise you're kidding yourself.

 

[Statsy]

I watched every Finland game last year in the world juniors he honestly was not very noticeable. And yes, Brady Tkatchuk is slated to g

If you watched every Finland game last year than you probably know that they had a coach who didn't put Tolvanen on the powerplay in the shooter's position, (a spot in which he tore it up at the U18 tourney) which led straight to the mid-tournament dismissal of that coach and the hiring of the U18 coach, Ahokas. Subsequently, Tolvanen was now in his preferred spot, and the powerplay magically started working with Tolvanen picking up a bunch of late tournament points as the Finns started winning games. But of course you know this because you watched every Finland game last year, right? Right??

 

[McClelland]

What are you talking about? Tolvanen dominated against his peers on a smaller ice in 2015-16... he scored freaking 9 goals in 5 games in the WHC-17, not good enough for you? And funny how you are "waiting for Tolvanen to perform on NA ice", yet you say Pettersson is superior even though Tolvanen has been better every time they've played against similar competition. And you expect Steel, Svechnikov and Tkachuk to be better than him... are you serious? Brady Tkachuk, really? Oh god, people really are in for a surprise.

Tolvanen had 2 goals and 4 ass at the WJC 2017 ! The points came against Latvia(3 points) who they played 2 times(relegation meeting) The swiss 2 points and 1 p against sweden!

That wasnt impressive, and the finns ended dead last in their group.They had Denmark and Swiss before them!

He has slowned down in Khl also, still have impressive numbers! 39 gp 17g 15 ass 32 points!

 

[Hockeyisl1fe]

Tolvanen had 2 goals and 4 ass at the WJC 2017 ! The points came against Latvia(3 points) who they played 2 times(relegation meeting) The swiss 2 points and 1 p against sweden!

That wasnt impressive, and the finns ended dead last in their group.They had Denmark and Swiss before them!

He has slowned down in Khl also, still have impressive numbers! 39 gp 17g 15 ass 32 points!

No one in that team was very impressive. Our coach was clueless, even the players told that. Before that he has always succeeded well to play vs his peers. I would say he was almost as good as Puljujärvi in the u18s.

 

[Hockeyisl1fe]

I watched every Finland game last year in the world juniors he honestly was not very noticeable. And yes, Brady Tkatchuk is slated to g

Look Ive watched him alot, hes one of the best players in the tournament but don't make him out to be the best by far because he is not. Last year in the juniors he was not that impressive. And yes Svechnikov and Tkatchuk are both going top 5 in this years draft..Steel was the WHL player of the year last year and is very elite. May they all end up being better than him maybe not but right now I'd put them all at similar levels if you think otherwise you're kidding yourself.

Yeah you watched him last year and you expect him to not to do better? He was a double underager. Like I said, Pettersson was hardly noticeable there too. Tkachuk and Steel don't have the gamebreaking skill of Tolvanen. Svechnikov is skilled, but he is a double underager as well. By the way Tolvanen was the most noticeable forward in the previous EHT (men's national team) tournament, that is "slightly" higher competition. Wait and see.

 

[kabidjan18]

Oh, so the war started before I got here...

Just curious. Is the last cut likely Juha Jaaska? He seems the least decorated of the remaining people.

 

[LOFIN]

Turkulainen is 10 times better skater(would have probably been the best skater in Finnish team) in pretty much every way than Palmu which is crucial difference in small ice.

Not going to argue about wether Turkulainen should be on team or not, but Palmu has been one of the fastest if not the fastest skater I've watched this season in Liiga. He creates offense with his speed. I haven't seen pretty much anything from Turkulainen but if it is like you said then man, he must be a good skater.

 

[FiLe]

Letters:

C - Välimäki
A - Kuokkanen
A - Heiskanen

It's kinda peculiar that Juolevi who had the C last year (as a year younger, even) still features but now didn't even get an A. Additionally, all three of these also were there last year but no letters then - though that is not so unusual.