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Olympics: Team Finland 2022

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Time to update the projection, I guess. I doubt many, if any, players will make it outside the two EHT squads. So:

Jussi Olkinuora
Harri Säteri
Christian Heljanko

Petteri Lindbohm - Sami Vatanen
Ville Pokka - Oliwer Kaski*
Miika Koivisto - Atte Ohtamaa
Tony Sund - Mikael Seppälä

Markus Granlund - Sakari Manninen - Teemu Hartikainen
Toni Rajala - Valtteri Filppula - Iiro Pakarinen
Harri Pesonen - Miro Aaltonen - Niko Ojamäki
Saku Mäenalanen - Hannes Björninen - Leo Komarov
+Joonas Kemppainen, Veli-Matti Savinainen

*I know I railed against R-R pairings earlier, but these two played together in all three of the Channel One Cup matches.
 
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FiLe said:
Time to update the projection, I guess. I doubt many, if any, players will make it outside the two EHT squads. So:

Jussi Olkinuora
Harri Säteri
Christian Heljanko

Petteri Lindbohm - Sami Vatanen
Ville Pokka - Oliwer Kaski*
Miika Koivisto - Atte Ohtamaa
Tony Sund - Mikael Seppälä

Markus Granlund - Sakari Manninen - Teemu Hartikainen
Toni Rajala - Valtteri Filppula - Iiro Pakarinen
Harri Pesonen - Miro Aaltonen - Niko Ojamäki
Saku Mäenalanen - Hannes Björninen - Leo Komarov
+Joonas Kemppainen, Veli-Matti Savinainen

*I know I railed against R-R pairings earlier, but these two played together in all three of the Channel One Cup matches.
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Why isn't Metsola ever considered? Is it only because of his smallish built? Because he's been one of KHL´s best goalies for at least five years or so...
 
Svedu said:
Why isn't Metsola ever considered? Is it only because of his smallish built? Because he's been one of KHL´s best goalies for at least five years or so...
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You'll have to ask Jalonen that. All I know is that he hasn't featured in any NT games since 2018 (including the EHT), so it's a safe bet he won't be making this squad out of the blue.
 
Yeah, i´m not questioning your thoughts on that. There is something Jalonen doesn't like about Metsola, that's clear.
That makes me wonder if Jalonen also would prefer Lankinen before Saros. I mean if it would come down to size.
I´ve never heard anything regarding Metsolas attitude or another indicator that could affect Jalonens selections. Bit strange.
There are others like Pulkkinen and Ristolainen and a couple of others that I´ve heard rumors about but never anything about Metsola. It's like he's been under the radar for his whole career. I believe he was behind Säteri in Tappara when he was young, both born 89 and ever since then it's like he's never been an option (more or less) for the Leijonat.
 
FiLe said:
Time to update the projection, I guess. I doubt many, if any, players will make it outside the two EHT squads. So:

Jussi Olkinuora
Harri Säteri
Christian Heljanko

Petteri Lindbohm - Sami Vatanen
Ville Pokka - Oliwer Kaski*
Miika Koivisto - Atte Ohtamaa
Tony Sund - Mikael Seppälä

Markus Granlund - Sakari Manninen - Teemu Hartikainen
Toni Rajala - Valtteri Filppula - Iiro Pakarinen
Harri Pesonen - Miro Aaltonen - Niko Ojamäki
Saku Mäenalanen - Hannes Björninen - Leo Komarov
+Joonas Kemppainen, Veli-Matti Savinainen

*I know I railed against R-R pairings earlier, but these two played together in all three of the Channel One Cup matches.
Click to expand...

No Tyraväninen? The guy was money in WC 2019 and is still as good.
 
Svedu said:
There is something Jalonen doesn't like about Metsola, that's clear.
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One thing to note about Metsola is that while he's been a solid KHL goalie, he's actually been a subpar NT goalie at the same time. He certainly got his fair shake with 10 EHT games between 2015 and 2018, and his SVS from those games starts with 8.
 
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Such a bummer year so far. It looks like Finland has a weaker roster in the WJC´s than we've had in many years, especially without Räty. Then this whole NHL thing when our top12 would be brutally stacked...
Well, let's hope Niemelä can show his potential and give us some extra joy.
 
Eye of Ra said:
No Tyraväninen? The guy was money in WC 2019 and is still as good.
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Like I said, I built this squad out of players who have featured on EHT this season. But that doesn't fully close out Tyrväinen, I suppose, as he was invited to Channel One Cup but had to drop out. So he's on the coach's radar and like you said, they already know what they've got in him.
 
Jalonen is going to build th team around the guys, who played in Karjala Cup and Channel One Cup.

Markus Granlund - Sakari Manninen - Teemu Hartikainen
Harri Pesonen - Valtteri Filppula(C) - Toni Rajala
Veli-Matti Savinainen - Miro Aaltonen - Niko Ojamäki
Leo Komarov(A) - Hannes Björninen - Iiro Pakarinen
Jere Innala, Marko Anttila

Petteri Lindbohm - Sami Vatanen(A)
Atte Ohtamaa - Oliwer Kaski
Miika Koivisto - Ville Pokka
Tony Sund - Hietanen/Rindell/Kemiläinen/Saarijärvi/M.Seppälä/Parikka

Jussi Olkinuora
Harri Säteri
Christian Heljanko/Niclas Westerholm

-Centers, are pretty much set in stone. Ufa-line is the 1st line therefore, Manninen is the 1st line center naturally. Filppula & Aaltonen are the middle-6 centers, and they don't have any challengers. Kemppainen played for the National team in Moscow for the first time in 3 years, and did anyone even see him on ice? Lehterä haven't played a single NT game in 2 years. Ruohomaa played in Karjala cup and in Riga, but Filppula & Aaltonen were light years ahead of Ruohomaa. And Björninen is best shut-down center in Europe, he is cemented in as a 4rth line center.

-Wingers, again i think it's quite clear situation, every role has been filled no need for players outside the past 2 EHT rosters. Innala and Karjalainen are fighting for the top-9 reserve player spot, both of them played quite well in Helsinki(Innala) and Moscow(Karjalainen). But Innala was better in Riga, so he should get the spot. Jalonen is likely going to pick Anttila, i just can't find him role other than the "Jukka Tammi"-role. I personally would pick Mäenalanen or Karjalainen instead.

-Defense, Jalonen must feel like a kid in the candy store, he can pick all of his favourite d-men. Lehtonen is supposed to injured for a long time, so the question is. Is Jalonen going to pick similar offensive defenseman for example Kemiläinen, Rindell, Saarijärvi, Hietanen or is Jalonen going to build a shut-down pair and pick more defensive minded defenseman like Mikael Seppälä or Jarkko Parikka?

-Goalies, Olkinuora- Säteri pair was in Riga, and Jussi was the number one goalie Helsinki. Säteri was the number one goalie in Moscow. The 3rd goalie is going to be the backup from the either one of the tournament, most likely Heljanko since Westerholm is injured.
 
behemolari said:
Well.. At least Finland has decent change for 1st gold
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Hopefully by spring the Omicron stuff has calmed down and we can have some NHL guys in WHC at Finland. I'd be pretty mad if that tournament would get canceled as well. It should be stacked with Finnish NHL players.
 
David OSullivan said:
And its an experienced bunch with an excellent coach. Its disappointing about the nhlers but I'm still excited to see this team. It will be a good one.
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Yea it will most likely be better team on paper than in the last Olympics. We're lucky to have some NHL level guys at Europe & KHL now (if you want to call KHL a part of Europe), like Vatanen, Lehtonen, Komarov and Filppula. Hartikainen, Manninen and Olkinuora could be there as well and maybe Björninen's face off specialty could even have him in the NHL and not buried in AHL. Could even mention some more players, so it's a good team for sure. Hopefully they all stay healthy and Covid won't be in the way of their trip to China.

It's kind of a lucky break for Chinese men's ice hockey team, since now we won't see USA & Canada crush them 18-0. Perhaps they will still crush them by 7-1 or something like that with their non NHL'ers, which isn't as bad for Chinese hockey's legitimacy.
 
FiLe said:
If he signs with a club in Europe and gets a handful of games over the next month (the team will be named on Jan 20), then there's a chance.
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Jari Kurri should call him right now or perhaps he would play for free in Ilves since that's the last team where he played in Finland.
 
Mestaruus said:
Jari Kurri should call him right now or perhaps he would play for free in Ilves since that's the last team where he played in Finland.
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It would be pretty ironic and hilarious if he signs with Ilves for peanuts just to get a shot at the olympic gold; then we also win the WHC on home ice and Rask and Filppula become the first Finns in the triple gold club.
 
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Svedu said:
Such a bummer year so far. It looks like Finland has a weaker roster in the WJC´s than we've had in many years, especially without Räty. Then this whole NHL thing when our top12 would be brutally stacked...
Well, let's hope Niemelä can show his potential and give us some extra joy.
Click to expand...

Is his age the main reason he's not on suggested rosters here right now or is there more to it?
 
Gutchecktime said:
Is his age the main reason he's not on suggested rosters here right now or is there more to it?
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This coach we have (and he's great, so this isn't criticism) operates in a specific manner - it is very difficult to make it into his major tournament squad out of the blue, no matter how much of a phenom one is; he'll want to check the player out first on the Euro Hockey Tour or some other preliminary game.

Niemelä was preparing for the WJC, so he spent the first half of the season with the U20 team playing under the U20 coach. His men's NT games number zero, and his opportunities to get some before the olympics also number zero. If he keeps doing what he's been doing in Liiga, he'll probably get picked to one of the spring's EHT legs, and if he distinguishes himself there, his chances of breaking the World Championships squad is not as close to zero.
 
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FiLe said:
This coach we have (and he's great, so this isn't criticism) operates in a specific manner - it is very difficult to make it into his major tournament squad out of the blue, no matter how much of a phenom one is; he'll want to check the player out first on the Euro Hockey Tour or some other preliminary game.

Niemelä was preparing for the WJC, so he spent the first half of the season with the U20 team playing under the U20 coach. His men's NT games number zero, and his opportunities to get some before the olympics also number zero. If he keeps doing what he's been doing in Liiga, he'll probably get picked to one of the spring's EHT legs, and if he distinguishes himself there, his chances of breaking the World Championships squad is not as close to zero.
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Thanks for the explanation, appreciate it.
 
FiLe said:
It would be pretty ironic and hilarious if he signs with Ilves for peanuts just to get a shot at the olympic gold; then we also win the WHC on home ice and Rask and Filppula become the first Finns in the triple gold club.
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In Ilves he could also play on the home arena of the next WHC. I'm slow for not realizing that right away. Ilves please activate the cheat and call him.
 
Mestaruus said:
In Ilves he could also play on the home arena of the next WHC. I'm slow for not realizing that right away. Ilves please activate the cheat and call him.
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Honestly, though, it is extremely unlikely to happen, as Ilves doesn't really need him. They should have one of the better goalies in Liiga in Langhamer, and Zherenko has used his chance to show that he's a capable backup.

If Rask were to sign for some moderate sum, it would normally be a no-brainer anyway - as the extra eyeballs he'd draw onto the stands would likely more than cover it. But, unfortunately, in the present situation those eyeballs may not even be allowed into the arena...
 
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Mestaruus said:
It's kind of a lucky break for Chinese men's ice hockey team, since now we won't see USA & Canada crush them 18-0. Perhaps they will still crush them by 7-1 or something like that with their non NHL'ers, which isn't as bad for Chinese hockey's legitimacy.
Click to expand...

*shrug* Canada 28-0 Finland

scores like that are all over Finnish hockey history, we turned out all right. The only thing wrong with a score like that is peoples reaction, in reality it has no effect.
 
FiLe said:
Time to update the projection, I guess. I doubt many, if any, players will make it outside the two EHT squads. So:

Jussi Olkinuora
Harri Säteri
Christian Heljanko

Petteri Lindbohm - Sami Vatanen
Ville Pokka - Oliwer Kaski*
Miika Koivisto - Atte Ohtamaa
Tony Sund - Mikael Seppälä

Markus Granlund - Sakari Manninen - Teemu Hartikainen
Toni Rajala - Valtteri Filppula - Iiro Pakarinen
Harri Pesonen - Miro Aaltonen - Niko Ojamäki
Saku Mäenalanen - Hannes Björninen - Leo Komarov
+Joonas Kemppainen, Veli-Matti Savinainen

*I know I railed against R-R pairings earlier, but these two played together in all three of the Channel One Cup matches.
Click to expand...

This is stronger roster than the golden one from 2019.
 
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