WC: Team Finland 2019 men's World Championships roster talk
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Artorius Horus T
sincerety
Ah yes, I forgot the USA they are on the Swiss level. But it depends on who is coming, sometimes they show a strong performance at the WC, sometimes they are not so good, but I think they are beatable for Switzerland.
Concerning Finland they will be possibly stronger than I thought. Ok I know preparation games are not very meaningful but Finland won against Russia with their NHL-stars, they beat the Czechs and lost only against Sweden . So 2 wins in 3 games against top teams.
It seems that Finland has a solid team, may be it's also because they have with Jukka Jalonen now a better coach. Perhaps Finland can even reach the semi-final although they have so far only 2 players from the NHL in the team. But the "Swiss" players from our national league seem to do a good job in these preparation games, especially Harri Pesonen who plays for Lausanne.
When the WC begins, preparation games don't count at all. We will see in the first game against Canada what the last results of Finland are worth when it counts.
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Well the US are coming to Slovakia with an awful roster including Kane, Gaudreau, Eichel etc. Swiss level definitely!!!!
Ok, you convinced me in this case the favourites are Sweden, Canada, USA, Russia and .... Finland I don't know they were good at the exhibitions games but the WC is still another topic. I wonder how they will play in the first game against Canada.
In any case the quarterfinal shouldn't be a problem neither for Finland nor Switzerland.
BennsGonnaGetYou
Registered User
Lankinen looks a bit more shaky today and our finishings doesn't look determined enough so far.
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free0717
Registered User
What overexaggerate? Kivihalme is clearly the better player in every way.
Dallas can eliminate St. Louis today (3-2 wins). It's a day game and Dallas' home game. If they fail, the G7 would be at St. Louis. It's a very interesting match regarding team Finland's WHC roster. The game starts around 22:15 Finnish time already.
Boston has 3-2 over Columbus. I think Hännikäinen would come even without a contract. Would be nice to a have a work horse like that in the team.
Boston has 3-2 over Columbus. I think Hännikäinen would come even without a contract. Would be nice to a have a work horse like that in the team.
Prediction time. If there's no last-moment surprise additions from overseas, this is what I guess the roster will be:
Vehviläinen, Lankinen, Olkinuora
Jokiharju, Lehtonen, Lindbohm, Koivisto, Kaski, Hakanpää, Ohtamaa, Mikkola
Ilomäki, Ruotsalainen, Manninen, Tyrväinen, Lammikko, Rajala, Kakko, Leskinen, Turunen, Savinainen, Pesonen, Anttila, Nättinen, Ojamäki
Vehviläinen, Lankinen, Olkinuora
Jokiharju, Lehtonen, Lindbohm, Koivisto, Kaski, Hakanpää, Ohtamaa, Mikkola
Ilomäki, Ruotsalainen, Manninen, Tyrväinen, Lammikko, Rajala, Kakko, Leskinen, Turunen, Savinainen, Pesonen, Anttila, Nättinen, Ojamäki
Not just that, Ohtamaa is a Mestis level player. Awful with Kärpät. I predict he'll have massive issues on both ends of the ice and will likely end up being an extra in the end.
Mestis level players don't usually average 23 minutes a game in the Liiga finals, or playoffs in general. Ohtamaa's point totals could be better (0+3 in 17 playoffs games), but his playoffs plus-minus is +5, with only Hakanpää, Kivihalme, Friman and Laatikainen having better from the final two's d-men.
In other words, Ohtamaa has not been "awful". He's been perfectly mediocre, at least for a player of his stature. (For a player with less prestige, those stats would actually be fairly good.) The reason Jalonen wants him is because he's no stranger to the WHC, and thus brings some experience. In the end, no one should expect wonders from him, but he probably won't be a liability either.
FinPanda
Barkov Stanley cup champ!
Metsola is a curious creature. He often posts impressive club team stats, but constantly fails to translate that play into the NT. For example, this season he was completely overshadowed by Vehviläinen on EHT. When you add the possibility of getting an NHL goalie - at least that was still a possibility by the time he had to make the decision about joining - he was probably calculating that he might end up being the third string and declined as a result.
In general, he's in that peculiar spot where there's a better goalie or two available almost every year, but at the same time he's a little too prestigious to accept being the third string. Of course, with the way things turned out this year, he could have easily been at least the backup.
In general, he's in that peculiar spot where there's a better goalie or two available almost every year, but at the same time he's a little too prestigious to accept being the third string. Of course, with the way things turned out this year, he could have easily been at least the backup.
This seems the safest bet. Jalonen had habit of taking these "veteran" first timers like Tuppurainen, Haataja, Viitaluoma and Vahalahti in his last stint. None of them really had good tournament. Interesting to see if he picks Kuusela. He is even slightly older than the mentioned when they were picked.
Larmi might be the odd man out. Lankinen has been good. Vehviläinen has good showings in EHT and Olkinuora has beem inconsistent, but had his moments. And Olkinuora has been with the team for long time. I´m slightly doubtful about Vehviläinen and fan of Lankinen. Lets see how that plays in the tournament.
Listening Jere Lehtinen it seems that Filppula and Komarov isn´t coming.
If I'd asked you two months ago who will be playing for Finland in Kosice, how many of these guys would you have included in your list of 25 players?
Yes, for him the money from endorsing a foreign betting company is more important than wearing the jersey of our national team. A fifth column man through and through.
