WC: Team Finland 2019 men's World Championships roster talk

[Husqvarna]

Kristian Kuusela. Only a 36-year old(!) newbie in the Finland team.

Way to go Jalonen!

 

[Husqvarna]

If there ever was a underdog in any Worldchampionship Tournament there ever has been - then Finland is the black dog this time around in Slovakia.

Runnin' around opponents in Kosice like rabid dogs ... and Finland ages (rages?!) from the age of 18 to 36!

 

[QnebO]

WTF?
Thats libel , false, and Putin troll factory level of ‘alternative facts’

Sounds like HS to me. Bs anyways. JJ is top coach

 

[FinPanda]

Jalonen is a god.

 

[FiLe]

Jalonen is a god.

Heh, HPK's fans have affectionately called him "JJJ" for more than a decade now (and even some others may have picked it up after 2011), with the middle initial standing for... guess what.

 

[Husqvarna]

Kakko - in for the kill!

 

[Esko6]

When teams focus on shutting down Kakko, who is going to score for this team? Rajala has looked dangerous, but he misses the net a lot.

But I am very happy about this team already. We will see how long having a fantastic coach with very poor roster can take them, but I really cannot be disappointed no matter what happens.

One thing I would do is give Vehviläinen some games, I believe he is better than Lankinen who has played well but is due for a regression towards his normal level.

 

[FiLe]

One thing I would do is give Vehviläinen some games, I believe he is better than Lankinen who has played well but is due for a regression towards his normal level.

Well, he gets a start today. Which is welcome, but also kinda curious. I thought he'd get the Slovakia game because it was a back-to-back. But now it looks like they were actually looking to give both him and Lankinen a "tough" opponent, which is quite smart because it acts as a more equal measuring stick.

 

[king89]

Some line changes

25 Toni Rajala - 21 Juhani Tyrväinen - 71 Kristian Kuusela
82 Harri Pesonen - 65 Sakari Manninen - 24 Kaapo Kakko
19 Veli-Matti Savinainen - 27 Eetu Luostarinen - 20 Niko Ojamäki
76 Jere Sallinen - 91 Juho Lammikko - 12 Marko Anttila

Thoughts?

 

[FinPanda]

Some line changes

25 Toni Rajala - 21 Juhani Tyrväinen - 71 Kristian Kuusela
82 Harri Pesonen - 65 Sakari Manninen - 24 Kaapo Kakko
19 Veli-Matti Savinainen - 27 Eetu Luostarinen - 20 Niko Ojamäki
76 Jere Sallinen - 91 Juho Lammikko - 12 Marko Anttila

Thoughts?

Looks good imo. Ilomäki probably didnt deserve to get dropped out of the lineup but it's good to give everyone a chance and see what works against good opponents.

 

[FiLe]

I also raised my eyebrows on the fact that they benched Ilomäki. On the other hand, this is a good time to experiment. It's kinda bizarre - we're 2-0-0 after two games, against two of the three toughest opponents in the group, yet the lineup shuffle is warranted, because we need more guys to score besides Kakko.

 

[fouba]

When teams focus on shutting down Kakko, who is going to score for this team? Rajala has looked dangerous, but he misses the net a lot.

But I am very happy about this team already. We will see how long having a fantastic coach with very poor roster can take them, but I really cannot be disappointed no matter what happens.

One thing I would do is give Vehviläinen some games, I believe he is better than Lankinen who has played well but is due for a regression towards his normal level.

Anyone following the Finnish league knows about Oliwer Kaski and what he can offer regarding scoring goals. Expecting to see some of that still in this competition although been quiet so far.

 

[ijuka]

Never really a huge fan of Ilomäki but it's pretty odd dropping him off the team because I think he's been quite good. But I guess this must be about roles or whatever. A strange time to experiment, against USA. Would have had a lot more time against the lesser teams.

 

[king89]

I also don't understand why they drop Ilomäki for Tyrväinen, and i had hoped that Kuusela would play powerplay only. I guess they want to test different lines. But i don't see this lineup work better.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

When teams focus on shutting down Kakko, who is going to score for this team? Rajala has looked dangerous, but he misses the net a lot.

But I am very happy about this team already. We will see how long having a fantastic coach with very poor roster can take them, but I really cannot be disappointed no matter what happens.

One thing I would do is give Vehviläinen some games, I believe he is better than Lankinen who has played well but is due for a regression towards his normal level.

Lacking secondary scoring is absolutely a problem for this Finland's team.
We can't trust always on that Kakko will score all goals.
We need secondary scoring starting today's USA game if we wanna win something in these IIHF men's worlds.

 

[fr9dd9]

Nice to see Luostarinen out there again, thought he player well against Canada!

 

[Svedu]

The Canes have a promising Finnish roster. If Saarela, Kuokkanen and Luostarinen take a roster spot in the future it will definitely be the franchise to follow. Saarela and Kuokkanen are perhaps in a need to get top 9 role but i could easily see Luostarinen fill a checking role in the middle with Mäenalanen on his wing. Exciting!

So excited to see Vehviläinen get the chance. I really do believe we have two good goalies in this tournament. Would want to see Jokiharju step up even more today. I love his style.
But this US roster is even better than Canadas on paper, no discussion. USA, Russia and Sweden are big favorites in this tournament. I don´t think Canada will be that much better than a decent Czech team or other underdogs as Slovakia and the Swiss.
My bet is a that USA and Slovakia wins today. C´mon Veini, Kakko, Jokiharju and Team Finland, give them hell!

 

[vanskillZ]

Vehviläinen so bad. Shades of that wjc that he played in.

 

[teravaineSAROS]

Thank god

 

[Finnswiss]

It's nice to see that not only Kakko can score. Pesonen and Ojamäki the scorer so far in this game. This is good for the team.

 

[JJTT]

Holy crap was Kuusela terrible in this game. Luostarinen was one of the best again, no idea why he was scratched last game.

 

[FinPanda]

7 out of 9 points against the three best teams on our group. Not what I expected in a good way.

 

[DoubleGold]

So glad Shithill is gone. J. Jalonen never disappoints.

 

[Saekk]

Yeah, doesn't matter how good he was in the rest of the game, first period sealed that Veini won't get any meaningful minutes in this tournament from this point on.

 

[FiLe]

7 out of 9 points against the three best teams on our group. Not what I expected in a good way.

Absolutely. Had someone said this before the tournament began, we would have all been happy to take it. Here we had that mandatory loss, and it was the mildest possible because we walked away with the loser point.

Right now, my biggest concern is Lammikko. No news yet about his situation. Let's hope he's able to come back. But if he isn't, at least it makes the centre situation crystal clear. They can put Ilomäki back into his own slot, and Luostarinen, who has been good, becomes a lineup regular, and Tyrväinen, while he wasn't all that good today, should still be decent enough for the bottom six.

And I think we're all in agreement that Kuusela should be the odd man out from here on. Although, while he's not clearly cut out for the tougher opposition, he could be useful against the lower-tier countries. But still, why use him there when you can just use those games to hone the lineup into the shape it should be when the final round begins.

Vehviläinen allowed a pair of softies early on, but I'd be willing to give him some more rope. The thing is, he may have been just a little slow in getting started - he was good from there on out, and Lankinen is no clear-cut better goalie. So I'd be willing to give him another start or two. If he still has dark moments, then pull him and ride Kevin to the bitter end.