LMAO-I saw this one this morning and had a good chuckle.
Olympics: Team Finland 2022
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LMAO-I saw this one this morning and had a good chuckle.
So you are saying we can't have anyone but a Turku guy as our captain
. Just kidding (TPS is not so fond of Korpikoski though, lol). I'm from Helsinki myself but I gotta admit we got some pretty good leaders coming from Turku. Sauli Niinistö at least studied there as well. I believe that he's also from that area.I see it this way. Barkov is a good captain for Finland in the Olympics even if he is a silent & leading more with example type of captain. I'm sure that if Barkov isn't the loudest guy in the locker room there are guys in Florida who are loud and it doesn't always need to be the captain being loud. Assuming that for Finland Rantanen might be louder than Barky in the locker room is just fine. Barkov can still be the captain and Rantanen can be a strong assistant captain. It sounds great to me and we don't risk Rantanen taking anymore responsibility or pressure than he is used to in Colorado so we get the same old productive Rantanen (assuming that Laine-Barkov-Rantanen line which many think will be put together would work out well). Sometimes simple is the best and no need to over complicate it in my opinion.
Kind of sucks that Quenneville is gone now by the way. He had a good thing going on with Panthers and I wanted to see that thing continue.
Actually thinking about it more Jalonen might give Puljujärvi a bigger chance if it doesn't work out right away as you kind of said there also. Jalonen likes to keep some pairs intact in such a short tournament like this so (that has been his method in WHC) Barkov+Rantanen most likely would stay together no matter what and so would Aho+TT and if one of Laine or Pulju doesn't work out well enough in those lines, in JJ's mind he could swap their places in those lines for a game and see how it goes. That would be a very Jukka Jalonen like thing to do
I don't remember how many practice games Finland has, maybe just one? We might see changes after that game already before the actual tournament. My memory says that practice game is against a top nation (correct me if I'm wrong), so I don't see much slacking by players in that game and I see them treating it like a real game, so that game can tell a lot already about the line combinations working or not.
Speaking of small sample sizes. Haula hasn't started so great, +/- minus 2 last night. Ristolainen seems to be doing well in the second defensive pairing of Philadelphia and it seems right now that his place is indeed in the second pairing in team Finland also. Heiskanen+Lindell would be together then.
Ruotsalainen has started well and he might be a dark horse breaking into the Olympics opening game roster. We can't forget about him either.
Donskoi with the most minutes out of all forwards in Seattle last night and he seems to be answering the call pretty well. In an interview he was saying how he is being treated like a star player in Seattle with the player meetings between the coaching staff and so on, which wasn't a thing in Colorado for him.
Ruotsalainen has started well and he might be a dark horse breaking into the Olympics opening game roster. We can't forget about him either.
Donskoi with the most minutes out of all forwards in Seattle last night and he seems to be answering the call pretty well. In an interview he was saying how he is being treated like a star player in Seattle with the player meetings between the coaching staff and so on, which wasn't a thing in Colorado for him.
Of course, Haula's overall sample size is a fair bit larger than that. Naturally, the most recent showings should matter the most, so I say we just wait 'til the holidays and then see who deserves to make it to those last open spots. I don't personally view this as just a race between Haula and Lundell - we'll have to keep an eye on Luostarinen and Lammikko too. Both are Jalonen's familiars.
Seriously? Ruotsalainen to my eye has been one of the most underwhelming forwards in Buffalo, which is really not a good look for him, considering that the team has overall started the season surprisingly well. 1+0 in six games, stuck playing 4C in the last few, with no PP nor PK time doesn't look like a guy who's replacing any of our projected top- or bottom-six names. Well, he's +1, so if we can say one good thing about him - he hasn't been on ice when the Sabres have been scored on. But still, he needs to pick it up and preferably sooner than later if we are to give him more than just a few peripheral glances.
Well fair enough about Ruotsalainen. I did remember him being more productive than that for some reason. Well he did make a shootout goal and it's always good to have few good shootout guys in the team. In the assumed Olympics roster Barkov and Donskoi are pretty good at it and perhaps Laine would be next one.
To me Granny as #4 center sounds so good though. Lammikko didn't start so well but we'll see how things progress. When looking at the stats it's felt more like, when is Vancouver coach making Lammikko a healthy scratch.
SantosHalper
Get off my lawn
What would Jukka do? He is going to build the team around "his guys", core is going to be 2016 WJC Champions. And rest of the holes he is going to plug with familiar players to him, players from the 2019/2021 WC teams.
Finland always have taken players from the European leagues to play in the Olympics.
'98, 9 players
'02, 3 players
'06, 7 players
'10, 5 players
'14, 11 players
Only 3 players from Europe in Salt Lake City and Finland lost in Quarterfinals, coincidence?
Rantanen - Barkov - Laine
Teräväinen - Aho - Puljujärvi
Granlund - Hintz - Kapanen
Tyrväinen - Lammikko - Sallinen
Lundell, Björninen
Lindell - Heiskanen
Määttä - Jokiharju
Lehtonen - Hakanpää
Ohtamaa - Mikkola
Saros
Lankinen
Olkinuora
Only 5 players in this roster who haven't played under Jalonen, and those are basically 1st line players.
Finland always have taken players from the European leagues to play in the Olympics.
'98, 9 players
'02, 3 players
'06, 7 players
'10, 5 players
'14, 11 players
Only 3 players from Europe in Salt Lake City and Finland lost in Quarterfinals, coincidence?
Rantanen - Barkov - Laine
Teräväinen - Aho - Puljujärvi
Granlund - Hintz - Kapanen
Tyrväinen - Lammikko - Sallinen
Lundell, Björninen
Lindell - Heiskanen
Määttä - Jokiharju
Lehtonen - Hakanpää
Ohtamaa - Mikkola
Saros
Lankinen
Olkinuora
Only 5 players in this roster who haven't played under Jalonen, and those are basically 1st line players.
Fair enough but Finland lost a pretty close game against a stacked team Canada that smashed USA in the final. Got a bit unlucky playing the best team in that qf.
So you are saying we can't have anyone but a Turku guy as our captain
I see it this way. Barkov is a good captain for Finland in the Olympics even if he is a silent & leading more with example type of captain. I'm sure that if Barkov isn't the loudest guy in the locker room there are guys in Florida who are loud and it doesn't always need to be the captain being loud. Assuming that for Finland Rantanen might be louder than Barky in the locker room is just fine. Barkov can still be the captain and Rantanen can be a strong assistant captain. It sounds great to me and we don't risk Rantanen taking anymore responsibility or pressure than he is used to in Colorado so we get the same old productive Rantanen (assuming that Laine-Barkov-Rantanen line which many think will be put together would work out well). Sometimes simple is the best and no need to over complicate it in my opinion.
Kind of sucks that Quenneville is gone now by the way. He had a good thing going on with Panthers and I wanted to see that thing continue.
The question is who is going to climb the leadership steps to fill the koivu brothers' shoes when it comes to best on best tournies?
It will be tough spot. This theam is going to be quite young and relatively inexperienced in these kind of situations. And the preasure will be big. Interest toward this team in media and fans is probably bigger than ever. And people probably largely overestimate teams chances.
To be honest I don't see that being an issue. I think it will be more so during the skoda cup played at home. Either way, the majority of these guys have won a gold medal representing Finland. I think these guys know how to handle the pressure of winning. They will go in with the mentality of gold or bust-unlike previous generations. So either we get gold or no medal, the way I see it this time around.
HockeyHistorian
Registered User
- Mar 17, 2015
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While the argument itself that Jalonen might feature some of his familiars over players he hasn't coached before but are considered objectively better is not that outlandish, involving names like Tyrväinen and Sallinen into this lineup still feel like total larks. So I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt here and assume you're being at least somewhat facetious.
But if we are to play this game, there's a fair number of guys I can think of who are both objectively better and Jalonen familiars, thus having better odds of making this team before those two. Now, Björninen would actually make some sense - he's proven to be a darn good KHL level bottom-six forward, and is likely one of the first names Jalonen will pencil into the next spring's WC squad. But if he wants a bunch of grinder types he already knows over defensive NHL specialists like Armia and Lehkonen (and we ignore Kakko because the scoring lines are full), he can pick the first one from the same league: Joel Kiviranta. And out of Europe he can go for Iiro Pakarinen, Harri Pesonen and Niko Ojamäki. So that's like two lines' worth of wingers before Sallinen and Tyrväinen and their ilk would enter the mix.
SantosHalper
Get off my lawn
Ojamäki is not a grinder, hard worker for sure but he doesn't have the edge what im looking for. Kiviranta has a chance, but i think Jalonen is going to trust more for players from European leagues.
Pakarinen and Pesonen are great picks, both of them could be in this team instead of Tyrväinen and Björninen. I picked them because i like to have extra centers in the roster, Pakarinen can play in the middle too but Tyrväinen and especially Björninen are far better as centers.
If Jalonen is going to pick one grinder from Europe, it's going to be Jere Sallinen. Sallinen has played 2 WC tournaments and 30-40 national team games combined under Jalonen. And Sallinen has been an absolute warrior.
Okay... I guess this is where we have that awkward silence that occurs when you realize that the guy you thought was kidding was actually dead serious.
Santos just admit that you are a HIFK fan and wanted your old/ex HIFK boys Tyrväinen and Sallinen in 
.
Like File said, Björninen and some d-men from KHL are most likely to be there or maybe it's just Lehtonen, but I'm feeling 2 KHL d-men but the other KHL guy prob won't get a single game in the tournament, while Lehtonen might play all games. 3rd goalie Olkinuora isn't impossible but it would be a bit surprising. Olkinuora is a good locker room guy I believe.
.Like File said, Björninen and some d-men from KHL are most likely to be there or maybe it's just Lehtonen, but I'm feeling 2 KHL d-men but the other KHL guy prob won't get a single game in the tournament, while Lehtonen might play all games. 3rd goalie Olkinuora isn't impossible but it would be a bit surprising. Olkinuora is a good locker room guy I believe.
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I wonder who's that other KHL d-man you see there besides Lehtonen. Lindbohm? Pokka? Because in my book, the next most likely after Lehtonen is Vatanen, who plays in the Swiss league.
I personally don't see more than one d-man from Europe (Lehtonen) breaking this roster in an "everyone is healthy" scenario. At least if we assume Ristolainen is in.
I was thinking of Lindbohm but yeah Vatanen should be ahead of him. I just think that Jalonen wants to reward few of his loyal WHC guys whom he thinks will not be locker room cancers even if they don't get to play any games. So few suprise picks that aren't NHL players might get a chance over some better individuals. Olkinuora is maybe that kind of guy when it comes to goalies but isn't really a top-3 Finnish goalie at the moment. It's one reason I mentioned Ruotsalainen in my other post. He might be a surprise pick but may not play many games if at all.
mattihp
Registered User
Assuming Ristolainen is in would be weird. Wasn't he grumpy about not being in the meetings?
Lindell
Heiskanen
Määttä
Jokiharju
Are locks
Hakanpää
Lehtonen
Vatanen
Close to locks
Välimäki
Nutivaara
Kaski
Ohtamaa
Are possible too.
Niku
Lindbohm
Koivisto
Are less likely
Pokka could be there if there are injuries to the righties.
I think he mentioned few days ago that neither Jalonen or Lehtinen haven´t been in contact in him. To be honest these kind of situatuons may be bit of weakness of Jalonen.
In D we may ses few players who are playing in Europe. Does Vatanen actually have the motivation? I honestly don´t remember the reasons, but he hasn´t really been in NT that often? Overall I don´t see the difference between low end NHL players and the very top end Euro players that big. It comes down to preferences and the team building strategy. But personally I will wait and see until early December to make deeper team prediction. Then we have somewhat sample size of players season.
We can safely assume that Jalonen won't mess with the top-9 forwards or top-4 defense - he'll be picking the objectively best possible players here. As for those remaining spots, well, like I said, it's not outlandish to think that there might be some surprise euro picks, but there are also a couple of good arguments why we shouldn't treat it as a given. First is the 2010 Jokisgate. Jalonen burnt his fingers pretty badly there, and he knows that any controversial pick is going to generate a ton of critique and second-guessing unless Finland somehow wins gold.
The second, which is perhaps even more significant, is that if Jalonen wants some of his familiars into the locker room, he doesn't have to pick his euro familiars, because - unlike in 2010 - he now has NHL familiars. He knows three or four of his projected top-six forwards from the 2016 WJC squad. He doesn't have to pick Björninen, Sallinen and such for the fourth line, since he can pick from Kiviranta, Luostarinen and Lammikko. And when the selections get to those last defense spots... he doesn't necessarily have to bring in Lindbohm, Ohtamaa and like, since he has Määttä and Hakanpää who are also "his guys".
Perhaps the least surprising euro familiar name would indeed be Olkinuora - he's our top euro goalie right now, and the third string goalie can usually safely be picked for off-ice intangibles. But even in this case Jalonen also has Lankinen, especially if we have two better guys to make up the playing tandem.
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Going a bit off the tangent here, but the goalie situation is interesting overall. The safest name is Saros, who should be a lock for one of the dressing goalies. Lankinen's start has been horrible, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, since it's most likely because the entire Hawks team is playing horrible right now. Fleury's stats are even more crap than Lankinen's, so... yeah.
Then there's Korpisalo, who's been... so-so. But it's hard to fault the team in his case, as Merzlikins' stats look quite respectable.
But there is an NHL goalie who's genuinely looked good - small sample size notwithstanding - which is a bit surprising, considering it's a guy many of us had already written off. Take a look at what's going on in Edmonton.
The assumption that Ristolainen is in is based on the simple fact that he's among the four best Finnish d-men, and the selection behind him is not necessarily awful, but not exactly an embarrassment of riches either. So the only thing besides injury that would keep him out of this team is that he doesn't get along with the coach. Which would honestly be a horrible look for both the player and the coach, especially the latter.
And we honestly don't know what Ristolainen thinks of the coffee klatch snub - he's dodged the question whenever someone's inquired about it. Which could be either a bad sign or a positive one - if he already thinks he's not going to participate, he should have little inhibitions to hold his peace.
Not agreeing with every classification here.
We can safely move Hakanpää among the locks. A big, reliable stay-at-home who clocks steady minutes in the NHL and is a Jalonen familiar. I'd call him more of a lock than Jokiharju.
I'd place Lindbohm among the "possibles" and drop Kaski to the lowest group. He's cut of the same cloth as Vatanen and Jokiharju and, being an inferior version of them, doesn't have a hope unless one or both are sidelined. Pokka also belongs at least to the lowest group - he might not be as offense-oriented, but is not worse than Kaski otherwise.
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Puck Dogg
Puck life
- Mar 13, 2006
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I don't see likely more than maybe 2-3 players maximum from Europe and even that could be overestimation. Donskoi is certain to make the team and I think much needs to happen that Haula would be out. Add Lundell and there's not room for fourth liners from Europe.
The Dallas trio in defense is certainty and so is Ristolainen if he plays. Valimaki if he keeps regular spot in Flames defense is certain to make the cut. Maatta if he plays regularly for Kings is also not easy to leave out. Jokiharju is also in the picture. That's six defenseman.
Saros is likely starter, then there's Lankinen, Raanta and Korpisalo. Don't think that there's goalie in Europe who could bypass any of them.
The Dallas trio in defense is certainty and so is Ristolainen if he plays. Valimaki if he keeps regular spot in Flames defense is certain to make the cut. Maatta if he plays regularly for Kings is also not easy to leave out. Jokiharju is also in the picture. That's six defenseman.
Saros is likely starter, then there's Lankinen, Raanta and Korpisalo. Don't think that there's goalie in Europe who could bypass any of them.
IceHockeyDude
Registered User
Heiskanen (L) - Ristolainen (R)
Lindell (L) - Jokiharju (R)
Lehtonen (L)/Välimäki (L)/Määttä (L) - Hakanpää (R)
Ohtamaa (L) - Vatanen (R)
Left and right handed guy and offensive and defensive defenseman in every pairing. Good balance between PK and PP capabilities.
Lindell (L) - Jokiharju (R)
Lehtonen (L)/Välimäki (L)/Määttä (L) - Hakanpää (R)
Ohtamaa (L) - Vatanen (R)
Left and right handed guy and offensive and defensive defenseman in every pairing. Good balance between PK and PP capabilities.
Svedu
Registered User
- Apr 23, 2019
- 2,881
- 1,910
Robin Salo is so damn underrated. I hope they will consider him. He's been good in the AHL and I saw his games in the pre-season for the Isles., he was really impressing. The thing is the Islanders have a great D-core. I have a feeling Salo could be a top4 in many organizations already and it's not like it would be a big surprise in the way he's been taking steps every season with some solid years in the SHL. I´m telling you guys, he would not make a fool out of himself. He has that modern vibe to his game and has become the player i hoped Laaksonen, Vaakanainen would have been by now.
I still think a lot of you guys underrate Jokiharju as well. He's always been solid in the Leijonat jersey. Ristolainen has bigger lows in his game in my opinion. Sometimes he just looses his man or the eye for the game when he just focuses on a hit or whatever.
Here, I´ll call it. You "Filé" overrate Ristolainen. Salo is already better than Ohtamaa and especially Lehtonen. Do you guys or the Finnish management even watch the games? It's like you would choose a roster based on how they were three years ago. That's nothing but weird.
Regarding Granlund? I will eat my shorts if he keeps this up and admit he's a lock by now. Filé, there is a word called humble
I have always loved Luostarinen. He would be a great fourth center as well. Well rounded and a good skater. God damn, I do think we are really heavy at the center position right now with Barkov, Aho, Hintz, Lundell, Luostarinen, Granlund etc. Then you have players like Haula, Kuokkanen, Kotkaniemi and Kupari (not likely I know) who can play centers as well.
The question is if even Hintz can play as a winger? Because I wanna see both Luostarinen and Lundell in the team. I see Granlund as a winger when we have this depth.
I do know Sweden and the US have some good depth, but am I dumb if I believe we have the second best center depth after Canada right now?
Well, Haula is a respectable player but I just don't see him making the roster anymore. We have too much talent before him. I can buy the argument with roles etc, but I'm not sure he would be any better than Luostarinen in any role quite frankly and I would pick Lundell before him as well.
Korpisalo? Never liked his game. You just can't trust his game. Every freaking time I see the Jackets play (like 20 times since Laine arrived) he´s been underwhelming and not stable.
Saros, Lankinen, Raanta, Koskinen, Olkinuora. Those are probably the goalies I would personally prefer seeing in the team.
Lankinens numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. The Blackhawks is a mess.
Locks among forwards: Teräväinen, Laine, Aho, Rantanen, Barkov, Kapanen, i guess Granlund (he's proven me wrong), Puljujärvi (he's earned it), Hintz. Probably Donskoi?
Players I would love to add to this group? Luostarinen, Lundell, Kakko.
Good and possible alternatives: Armia (needs to step up hs game) Kotkaniemi, Kuokkanen, Kiviranta, Kupari ( I know he doesn't stand a chance but I do think he could be a decent winger if we get some players injured), Heponiemi as well, Tolvanen, Ruotsalainen, Haula, Ranta, Lammikko, Lehkonen.
Haula, Kiviranta, Lammikko, Ranta and Lehkonen could be role players more than the others. Tolvanen could be an asset in the second PP. Kuokkanen is well rounded. Kotkaniemi, if Jalonen wants to play a canes line.
Locks among D´s: Heiskanen, Lindell, Jokiharju (mostly because he's right handed).
Others worth mentioning: Välimäki, Salo, Ristolainen, Nutivaara, Niku, Hakanpää ( likely our third pair righter), Määttä, Riikola, Laaksonen (if any of our few righters get injured).
I still think a lot of you guys underrate Jokiharju as well. He's always been solid in the Leijonat jersey. Ristolainen has bigger lows in his game in my opinion. Sometimes he just looses his man or the eye for the game when he just focuses on a hit or whatever.
Here, I´ll call it. You "Filé" overrate Ristolainen. Salo is already better than Ohtamaa and especially Lehtonen. Do you guys or the Finnish management even watch the games? It's like you would choose a roster based on how they were three years ago. That's nothing but weird.
Regarding Granlund? I will eat my shorts if he keeps this up and admit he's a lock by now. Filé, there is a word called humble
I have always loved Luostarinen. He would be a great fourth center as well. Well rounded and a good skater. God damn, I do think we are really heavy at the center position right now with Barkov, Aho, Hintz, Lundell, Luostarinen, Granlund etc. Then you have players like Haula, Kuokkanen, Kotkaniemi and Kupari (not likely I know) who can play centers as well.
The question is if even Hintz can play as a winger? Because I wanna see both Luostarinen and Lundell in the team. I see Granlund as a winger when we have this depth.
I do know Sweden and the US have some good depth, but am I dumb if I believe we have the second best center depth after Canada right now?
Well, Haula is a respectable player but I just don't see him making the roster anymore. We have too much talent before him. I can buy the argument with roles etc, but I'm not sure he would be any better than Luostarinen in any role quite frankly and I would pick Lundell before him as well.
Korpisalo? Never liked his game. You just can't trust his game. Every freaking time I see the Jackets play (like 20 times since Laine arrived) he´s been underwhelming and not stable.
Saros, Lankinen, Raanta, Koskinen, Olkinuora. Those are probably the goalies I would personally prefer seeing in the team.
Lankinens numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. The Blackhawks is a mess.
Locks among forwards: Teräväinen, Laine, Aho, Rantanen, Barkov, Kapanen, i guess Granlund (he's proven me wrong), Puljujärvi (he's earned it), Hintz. Probably Donskoi?
Players I would love to add to this group? Luostarinen, Lundell, Kakko.
Good and possible alternatives: Armia (needs to step up hs game) Kotkaniemi, Kuokkanen, Kiviranta, Kupari ( I know he doesn't stand a chance but I do think he could be a decent winger if we get some players injured), Heponiemi as well, Tolvanen, Ruotsalainen, Haula, Ranta, Lammikko, Lehkonen.
Haula, Kiviranta, Lammikko, Ranta and Lehkonen could be role players more than the others. Tolvanen could be an asset in the second PP. Kuokkanen is well rounded. Kotkaniemi, if Jalonen wants to play a canes line.
Locks among D´s: Heiskanen, Lindell, Jokiharju (mostly because he's right handed).
Others worth mentioning: Välimäki, Salo, Ristolainen, Nutivaara, Niku, Hakanpää ( likely our third pair righter), Määttä, Riikola, Laaksonen (if any of our few righters get injured).
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