kelsier
Registered User
- Aug 17, 2013
- 4,280
- 1,741
Going with no reinforcements from AHL/NHL since there are never any guarantees:
Heponiemi - Kupari - Tolvanen
(why Kupari? Because he's the only one who has successful resume playing C in the Liiga who - in my opinion - is fast enough and skilled enough as 1st C, the other two are no-brainers)
Koivula - Kotkaniemi - Vesalainen
(again why Kotkaniemi who plays wing in the FEL? The guy is frigging huge for his age, has great skills and it's his natural position)
Talvitie - Somppi - Turkulainen (nice blend of experience and skill)
Ylönen - Räsänen - Tuulola (some size spiced up with scoring ability)
Ikonen (underwhelming season but a good backup player)
Kakko (insanely skilled and well bodied kid, but no experience outside JrA, which is a shame)
Heiskanen - Vaakanainen
Juolevi - Välimäki
Salo - Jokiharju
Luukkonen
This is what I'd like to see. Of course I would see how Kotkaniemi and Kupari would perform first at the pre-games/camp before actually slotting them into these roles. If the initial impression was anything opposite to promising, then move them at the wings. Still, both are playing FEL at the moment so I have little doubt they'd have trouble handling the competition at this level. We've seen how well Tolvanen performs with a speedy skilled center and I think Kupari is just that. I've watched Kotkaniemi in FEL as well this year and he's like a man-child. Should have no trouble handling the physical side of the game against few years older match ups. Maybe a bit unorthodox lineups but could be worth a shot especially considering the blue line this year. Don't think I've ever seen this talented defense from Finland at U20s. While knowing who we have there, it's like a safety net you can use to try and optimize the scoring while knowing you can trust the back-end is going to cover for mistakes.
Heponiemi - Kupari - Tolvanen
(why Kupari? Because he's the only one who has successful resume playing C in the Liiga who - in my opinion - is fast enough and skilled enough as 1st C, the other two are no-brainers)
Koivula - Kotkaniemi - Vesalainen
(again why Kotkaniemi who plays wing in the FEL? The guy is frigging huge for his age, has great skills and it's his natural position)
Talvitie - Somppi - Turkulainen (nice blend of experience and skill)
Ylönen - Räsänen - Tuulola (some size spiced up with scoring ability)
Ikonen (underwhelming season but a good backup player)
Kakko (insanely skilled and well bodied kid, but no experience outside JrA, which is a shame)
Heiskanen - Vaakanainen
Juolevi - Välimäki
Salo - Jokiharju
Luukkonen
This is what I'd like to see. Of course I would see how Kotkaniemi and Kupari would perform first at the pre-games/camp before actually slotting them into these roles. If the initial impression was anything opposite to promising, then move them at the wings. Still, both are playing FEL at the moment so I have little doubt they'd have trouble handling the competition at this level. We've seen how well Tolvanen performs with a speedy skilled center and I think Kupari is just that. I've watched Kotkaniemi in FEL as well this year and he's like a man-child. Should have no trouble handling the physical side of the game against few years older match ups. Maybe a bit unorthodox lineups but could be worth a shot especially considering the blue line this year. Don't think I've ever seen this talented defense from Finland at U20s. While knowing who we have there, it's like a safety net you can use to try and optimize the scoring while knowing you can trust the back-end is going to cover for mistakes.
