I think we need to get lucky regarding injuries. A couple of injuries to let say Heiskanen, Lindell and we are in trouble.
Olympics: Team Finland 2022
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I think we need to get lucky regarding injuries. A couple of injuries to let say Heiskanen, Lindell and we are in trouble.
Agree 100%. Injury to Heiskanen, Barkov or Aho would be disasterous.
100% but nothing in comparison to the pastI think they underestimate us already to a certain degree
IceHockeyDude
Registered User
Unfortunately our defense is weak right now. It is not comparable to CAN, USA or SWE. Things haven't developed in a way we had hoped for considering the situation with of Heinola, Vaakanainen, Välimäki, Niku, Jokiharju, Juolevi etc. Now it looks like Heiskanen>>>>Lindell>Random guys with little ice-time on NHL and 1-2 candidates from Europe.
Ristolainen? I gues Jalonen has no choise but to choose him if he even cares to join anymore.
Ristolainen? I gues Jalonen has no choise but to choose him if he even cares to join anymore.
Yeah, Finland's future on defense was supposed to be bright but most of them ended up becoming marginal players or busts. Only Heiskanen managed to meet expectations. Would be a good idea to sit back and think about why that might be.
IceHockeyDude
Registered User
This is inacceptable, there are too many examples. Since 2014 there've been 7 Finnish dmen drafted in the first round and 4 in the second. Heiskanen is the only one of them playing regurlary in NHL.
I could see Atte Ohtamaa on the roster. Nothing wrong with it to be honest. Esa Lindell, Miro Heiskanen, Rasmus Ristolainen, Jani Hakanpää
Juuso Välimäki, Henri Jokiharju, Atte Ohtamaa. Could be worse. ..... On the other hand, what is going on with Määttä? He looked great in Latvia. I thought he would have sort of a bounce back season this Fall.
Well bit harsh. It is true that the situation isn´t as good as we hoped. But busts? It´s still early to say from most of the players. I would only say that about Honka. But true we should start to see steps from the 2017 draft group and Juolevi. Then again if you are late first round pick I would say the fair expectacion is to be NHL regular, not a difference maker. People may have overestimate the upsides and underestimate the competition.
But I agree. Never bad thing to ask questions. Should they play season or two more in Europe prior going to NA? Historically AHL hasn´t been exactly great developing league for Finnish skaters. And usually when you have 100 to 150 AHL games on your belt the odds that you become NHL career player are getting thin. Is there common factor preventing to them to take the next step? Could there be seen some problems in Finnish training? Is the CHL road good or bad?
Kakko or Donskoi in the active line up is an interesting one. It's hard to leave Donskoi out IMO but so is Kakko. Puljujärvi is also in that mix. Pulju looks good now but he's playing with McDavid and Drai a lot so who knows about him. On the other hand it would be fun to see him with Aho again. I think that all of those 3 will play some games. If I have to guess what Jukka Jalonen would do is that Donskoi might play all games, because it just sounds like a safer bet.
What about Granny to center? I understood that he plays center in Nashville or do I remember wrong?
Patrik Laine - Aleksander Barkov - Mikko Rantanen
Teuvo Teräväinen - Sebastian Aho - Jesse Puljujärvi
Kasperi Kapanen - Roope Hintz - Joonas Donskoi
Kaapo Kakko - Mikael Granlund - Joel Armia
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For me probably:
Barkov - Captain
Rantanen - A
Granny - A
Rantanen is a good candidate to be a captain but I want Rantanen to be an assistant captain just like he is in Colorado and being a captain won't bother Barkov at all as he is used to that in Florida. It's safer bet to see both of the players play their best in those roles in case Rantanen would for some reason take extra pressure for being a captain. No need to risk it.
It would also be very fun to see Barkov and Rantanen in the same line as Barkov is a very good mix of Landeskog and MacKinnon as a player. I see Barkov and MacKinnon as same level players with MacKinnon being more offensive player and Barkov more defensive player. If Laine is the 3rd link in that line, that sounds perfect to give more freedom to Laine while Barkov balances it.
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I agree but I also hate to agree that Saros is probably the one on the net. I prefer bigger goalies but Saros is super talented and I actually think that if he was bigger he could be the best goalie in the world even, but he isn't that big and that is a problem and a liability if we want to hope for a miracle gold result over Canada (don't kill me Canadians for suggesting that). We would also be giving up a lot in defense against Canada and Saros not being bigger hurts in that scenario. I wouldn't mind gambling with Lankinen for that reason and I actually wouldn't mind if Saros had a small injury during the Olympics. It would be a lot easier for our coaching staff to select Lankinen in that scenario to be our starter, because I think that they will select Saros if he isn't injured to be our starting goalie.
I think they underestimate us already to a certain degree
I think that Russians can't stop underestimating Finland when it comes to best on best tournaments. I hope that we meet them at some point of the tournament. I really think that they will never learn against Finland.
Its not just russians. Every single opponent of the Big Six tends to underestimate Finland.
karhukissa
Registered User
- Apr 2, 2019
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Which is quite funny because since -94 Lillehammer, Finland has won a medal in all best vs best Olympics except 2002.
I'm on the same boat as you, feel more at ease with a bigger goalie. But right now he is playing at a level that puts him in top 5 in his position.
Would not feel uneasy one bit with Lankinen or even Koskinen.
ButI don't think you'll get better odds for getting the goalie to "steal a game" than with Saros which is what is probably needed against the Can&Usa.
Defensewise. I wanna have size, RR&Hakanpää&Lindell on the team please.
Eight years ago, before Sochi, we had exactly four names clocking minutes in the league: aging Timonen and Salo, plus up-and-coming Vatanen and Määttä. Would you prefer that to the present situation? And even in the best of days we've usually had around 5-6 career NHL d-men.
So, even though today's situation is that we have only perhaps 2-3 names we could call bona fide stars, we do have additional 7-8 guys that are featuring in their club team lineups at least semi-regularly. It may be a disappointment when compared against the expectations we may have had and sure, it's a far cry from the selection some of the other contenders have, but saying the defense is weak "right now" may not be the best way to describe it, given it's still at its historical peak. If it's weak right now, then it's always been weak. But despite that weakness, we still haven't done half bad.
We can't completely forget about Tolvanen and Kuokkanen either. And even though I have them slotted as candidates for more defensive roles, I would be hardly surprised if Jalonen picks Lehkonen or Kiviranta. We've never had this much depth on wing, so trying to forcibly insert someone into the lineup just because they "deserve to be there" feels a bit outdated mindset - some really good players won't be making this team no matter what.
Yeah, Granlund plays predominantly center in Nashville, so slotting him down the middle would open an additional spot for one of those wingers who otherwise might not make it. But somehow I still see him more likely as a winger and Jalonen opting for a more traditional 4C for the bottom line (Haula, or perhaps Kuokkanen or Luostarinen, both his familiars).
While I think they all deserve to be on this team, I'm kind of iffy about that Kapanen-Hintz-Donskoi line. It's got tons of speed, hustle, bustle and all that, making it a very good "traditional" third line that goes out on the ice to give the top scoring units a moment to catch their breath. A decade ago I would have been very happy with a line like that, but now it feels like it somewhat wastes the depth we have - as there's little scoring flair in it. Kapanen is all about wheels, and while Hintz and Donskoi are definitely skilled, they still fall more on the utility side of things.
We're mostly debating between Kakko and Donskoi, but I somehow can't help thinking that the one who could best complement this lineup abilitywise might actually be Tolvanen. To begin with, he's been playing a lot with Granny this season, so there could be some potential synergies there (though they're still a far cry from being the kind of double act Aho and TT are), and he'd bring us that 2nd natural shooter option for PP when Laine is off the ice. Although, we probably should be expecting more from him productionwise before this becomes a serious argument.
IceHockeyDude
Registered User
I'm not sure which I'd prefer, probably neither. In Sochi 2010 we had at least a decent top 4 with Timonen, Salo, Lydman and Pitkänen. And when you consider the current power ratio between the top 6 countries the differences are even greater. Luckily the offense has more shooting skills than before and goalies are alright I gues.
Pretty much so, but I feel like Russians are the worst at that and will continue paying the price for it in the future as well.
IceHockeyDude
Registered User
I think WE or at least I am usually underestimating Russia. I always expect Russia to lose but having a chance to win others.
I take it you mean Vancouver 2010. The Sochi games were in 2014.
And if our top-four d-men this time around are Heiskanen, Lindell, Ristolainen and Hakanpää/Jokiharju, it's not really any worse. And whichever names from our present NHL crop end up making it to the remaining spots, they can likely at least match if not surpass Lepistö, Kukkonen and Niskala.
Then there's one complete wild card in Hartikainen. Pretty unlikely that Jere Lehtinen & Jalonen would pick him since he hasn't played in NA size rink in a while, but if I had to pick one forward who is not in the NHL/AHL right now I'd pick him.
Yes Tolvanen would have to start lighting it up pretty soon if he wants to be in the active line up at least. There are so many good forward candidates for the last few spots in the active line up. It is very difficult to choose them. Season will show who deserves to be in and also injuries will make those selections easier maybe.
I'm not completely sold on Haula though. During his Minnesota days he was more of a defensive center, but since Vegas I think his player profile has changed a bit... I haven't watched how Boston uses him and if he is indeed good in a more defensive role nowadays if Boston uses him in that way. I'd probably take Lundell over him if it's that defensive role, but Granny as defensive center might be better option than both of them.
On this line topic:
Kasperi Kapanen - Roope Hintz - Joonas Donskoi
I do like that line and I think that they can score and be well rounded. Kapanen nowadays is good in any role and he gets a lot better if he gets to play with good players. I and most others didn't give Kapanen our superstars as line mates now, but I think that Hintz and Donskoi are good enough players to elevate Kapanen to be a monster in that tournament. I think that these players could compliment each other and I don't see it leaking in the defensive end either with them.
IceHockeyDude
Registered User
Ahh yeah 2010 was in Vancouver, somehow I mixed the two while researching. The defense is still not on par with Sweden, USA and Canada, not even close.
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