Finland was third in the group, but doesn't have to go to Denmark. That's great and I didn't expect that. I wonder why it went this way? Is it because Finnish fans had preordered so many tickets to watch the games in Sweden, so there was a deal in place? So Finland is sort of like the third home team of the tournament (after Sweden and Denmark) and got this priviledge?
WC: Team Finland 2025
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SantosHalper
Get off my lawn
Lehtonen has experience edge over everyone, coaches/management values that and he didn't look bad against Canada either. So i'd say he is already in, Olympic team is in desperate need of a PMD. But naturally in the Olympics Lehtonen will be in much sheltered role. Heiskanen carries 1st pair, Lindell proved in 4Nations that he is capable doing that as well. So Lindell leading the 2nd pair and pair them up RR55 and Jokiharju. That leaves us with Lehtonen-Mikkola in 3rd, Mikkola will be more than perfect pair for Lehtonen. Shutdown pair Määttä-Matinpalo in 4th pair.
I don't know, but chances that few swedish blondes honeytraps team USA to have a long night today in Stockholm are high. Herning was most likely too small spot to excercise old traditions.
Because SWE was guaranteed a QF in Stockholm, and DEN was guaranteed a QF in Herning, no matter their seeding. And also, there were to be two QFs in both cities. So, from the Stockholm group, the travelers were Denmark's opponent, being CAN, and the lowest-seeded team, being AUT. This meant that apart from Sweden, Finland got to stay in Stockholm. It's nothing more complicated than that.
SantosHalper
Get off my lawn
Coaching staff failed in the QFs, after the so called black minute they failed to turn ship around. After the game Pennanen said that they runned out of gas for going too long with 3 centers. At that point TT should have been moved to middle.
First time since 2003-2005 when Finland loses 3 straight QF, this team today kinda reminded of those teams. The difficulty of scoring is back, or at least with our top euro league talents.
First time since 2003-2005 when Finland loses 3 straight QF, this team today kinda reminded of those teams. The difficulty of scoring is back, or at least with our top euro league talents.
JabbaJabba
Registered User
Yeah, Pendo and his gang need to go. Team was built horribly. Full of grinders. Not even best players from Liiga. No calls to Koivunen or Nyman, and yet they brought in Pyyhtiä? No actions to fix the PP or the PK even though they sucked the whole tournament. Usually special teams have been a strength for team Finland. Now they were something else. The team played really poorly most games and the Canada game was an anomaly. Why didn't they play like that the whole time? Latvia and Slovakia were too big of a challenge. France almost beat Finland. Unacceptable.
Pennanen's exit timer has started. They will give Pennanen next season to get some better results, which will cover the Olympic games' tournament and WHC. If there won't be any success, he's surely gone. For how long does his contract last anyways? Olli Jokinen will be the replacement.
SantosHalper
Get off my lawn
I agree somewhat with the comparasion to those old teams. But when I think of player prototype of that era. I mean there were guys like Hentunen, Hagman, Bergenheim bit later Pihlström. Honestly we lose on speed and puck battles compared to that time. And none of those guys were exactly giants. I don´t criticize the effort, but the ability isn´t there anymore.
I mean some people wanted Koivunen and Nyman. I have said that I would have strongly considered them. But they aren´t exactly strong skaters or puck battlers. And especially skating is huge factor if they can make it or not.
I did not see the Canada gama so I missed the best game. Poor tournament, but not as horrible as some make it seem. PK was quite horrible at times. That can be by big part give the blame to coaching. So many times losing their mens in front of goal. But to be honest our big defensive Ds looked like boys in front of our own goal. I kind of thought that we would be in solid level in that. For that you can´t blame coach.
Leppänen... Well he wasn´t horrible, but there were mistakes. Did not seem strong player for this level. But why did they pick him if they don´t use him in the one part where he COULD have helped us.
Saros and Teräväinen had strong tournament which is good for Olympic tournament. Tolvanen is still candidate. Lehtonen... well there was good and bad. Matinpalo did not impress me at all. But no real wild cards for that tournament from this team.
SantosHalper
Get off my lawn
FloridaPanthersFan84
Registered User
Maybe i'm lost my mind or something but i give one more chance for Pennanen.
If we ( Finland ) won't win at least bronze in Olympics then fire that bozo Pennanen and shoot him to pluto.
If we ( Finland ) won't win at least bronze in Olympics then fire that bozo Pennanen and shoot him to pluto.
Wasting NHL-Olympics with Pennanen is such a waste.
JabbaJabba
Registered User
Hey that's just a cruel thing to do. To pollute Pluto like that.
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FinPanda
Barky is good
SantosHalper
Get off my lawn
Nothing to worry about, end of this tournament doesn't dictate the next one. Erkka W lost in 2005 with a much better team but in Turin we were dominating the tournament.I'm worried for the Olympics. Will we have Pennanen there ruining maybe the best team Finland even?
We have 11 guys from best-on-best roster still playing in the conference finals..
Compete level has risen in the Worlds. Switzerlan, Germany, Latvia has won medals recently and now Denmark is in, and Austria made it to QF's. Tournament is getting tougher and hopefully that trend continues.
3 out of 4 teams in conference finals is carried by finnish players, we will do well in the Olympics.
Svedu
🇫🇮🇵🇸 🇨🇩Freedom,peace & SAUNA for everyone
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But where were our players from the Swiss League? Julius Nättinen?
Why did he never check exciting prospects from AHL or Kupari?
Why i'm actually mad is because after 3-2 Finland had nothing left. And this when i wasn't impressed by the US whatsoever. I actually thought they were the weakest winners in these QF's. Can't take Denmarks effort level away from them.
Sweden looked a lot better than the US as well.
The Swiss smashed Austria and the US. We weren't close repeating that. My point is, we didnt lose against the best team in the tournament and we still looked poor. Not satisfied at all with his selections and he should be heavily criticized because...? Teräväinen, Tolvanen and Saros performed greatly and actually saved his ass. It was the team that was lacking a whole lot. The effort, system and selections is to be blamed imo.
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FinPanda
Barky is good
Svedu
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Especially when it was clear and is afterwards that TT and Tolvanen were basically 99% of our offense.
I think no one will debate against that take either.
Svedu
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If PendoPaska can't step it up, play centers at center position and select the best players for the Olympics and also those who are hot this upcoming year, a joker or two who knows.
Actually have some f*cking balls? Then i dont even want him to coach our team in the olympics.
Kari or Jukka doesnt matter, right now i clearly prefer them. Otherwise get Maurice
Actually have some f*cking balls? Then i dont even want him to coach our team in the olympics.
Kari or Jukka doesnt matter, right now i clearly prefer them. Otherwise get Maurice
FinPanda
Barky is good
;Kari Jalonen would be my dream. Jukka has deserved his retirement from the Finnish national team.If PendoPaska can't step it up, play centers at center position and select the best players for the Olympics and also those who are hot this upcoming year, a joker or two who knows.
Actually have some f*cking balls? Then i dont even want him to coach our team in the olympics.
Kari or Jukka doesnt matter, right now i clearly prefer them. Otherwise get Maurice
Svedu
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If PendoPaska can't step it up, play centers at center position and select the best players for the Olympics and also those who are hot this upcoming year, a joker or two who knows.
Actually have some f*cking balls? Then i dont even want him to coach our team in the olympics.
Kari or Jukka doesnt matter, right now i clearly prefer them. Otherwise get Maurice
Hope he's enjoying Italy and life over there though.
Actually have some f*cking balls? Then i dont even want him to coach our team in the olympics.
Kari or Jukka doesnt matter, right now i clearly prefer them. Otherwise get Maurice
Perhaps he has. But a true best-on-best gold? He could be up for it who knows. And we actually have the material for that.
Hope he's enjoying Italy and life over there though.
FinPanda
Barky is good
He has done some good work already with Italy. We'll see what they are capable of next year.
In retrospect, it is easy to say that Pendo should have given Koivunen and Nyman a chance, especially given how anemic our PP was. But hindsight's always 20/20. I actually thought that we had decent enough winger selection even without those two. We shouldn't forget that apart from TT and Tolvanen, Pesonen and Puistola have already shown that they can generate offense on this level. Merelä was a PPG player in Switzerland this season, and he had three goals in the preliminaries. Hämeenaho also showed promise.
Only Puistola gets a clean sheet out of these guys who should have been our secondary scoring behind the NHL duo. But I don't think there was a reason to expect before the tournament that the rest would flop this badly. Although, I must say, this isn't an either/or question - Pendo could have brought all of the names mentioned here while also making room for Koivunen. Nyman didn't become available before the tournament was already underway - but we can debate if he should have been called as a late addition before Pyyhtiä.
My biggest concern before the tournament was centers. And I must say that they didn't quite flop. They simply played exactly to the expectation. Lammikko, for example, is a solid bottom-six center, but there is no major tournament where he should be centering the first line. And expecting that 36-year-old Ruohomaa and 37-year-old Järvinen who have never been factors on this level would suddenly turn out to be impact players was nothing but fool's gold. Björninen was Björninen. Pärssinen showed some flashes of brilliance, and I maintain that he should have been the 1C out of this selection, but like I also said, it's nothing but a testament to how thin we were down the middle.
Of course, it's not like Pennanen overlooked a ton of obvious better options for center, but sometimes I wish the coaches would take some fliers on the young unknowns in situations like these, instead of hoping that the worn-out faces somehow step up despite not having done so never before.
As for back end, I had no complaints about the selections for defense before the tournament, and still don't have, but there is a reason to question if they were all utilized correctly. Leppänen especially didn't always seem like he was given a chance to play with his strengths.
And you obviously don't say no to Juuse Saros if he wants to come.
It was also obvious that we lacked a consistent game plan - Pennanen and his staff simply failed to create a clear system that could have acted as a consistent tactical backbone. But on the other hand, Pennanen couldn't simply fall back on the road paved by his predecessor - the previous two tournaments had shown that Jalonen's plan had been picked apart by the opposition and was going stale. Even winning systems have their expiry dates. This creates a bit of a Catch-22 - if you attempt to create something new and it doesn't work, the temptation to fall back to the old ways grows, but unfortunately that old stuff might not be the answer either anymore.
In all, it's a mixed bag. Some things went wrong even though Pennanen and his staff did nothing wrong, and with some other things they definitely could have done better. If there's one piece of advice I could easily give, it's to stop chasing the fool's gold. Players nearing their 30s or over have already shown what they can do, and you can't suddenly expect them to find that next step. And while there is no guarantee that younger ones fare any better, at least the chance is still there.
Only Puistola gets a clean sheet out of these guys who should have been our secondary scoring behind the NHL duo. But I don't think there was a reason to expect before the tournament that the rest would flop this badly. Although, I must say, this isn't an either/or question - Pendo could have brought all of the names mentioned here while also making room for Koivunen. Nyman didn't become available before the tournament was already underway - but we can debate if he should have been called as a late addition before Pyyhtiä.
My biggest concern before the tournament was centers. And I must say that they didn't quite flop. They simply played exactly to the expectation. Lammikko, for example, is a solid bottom-six center, but there is no major tournament where he should be centering the first line. And expecting that 36-year-old Ruohomaa and 37-year-old Järvinen who have never been factors on this level would suddenly turn out to be impact players was nothing but fool's gold. Björninen was Björninen. Pärssinen showed some flashes of brilliance, and I maintain that he should have been the 1C out of this selection, but like I also said, it's nothing but a testament to how thin we were down the middle.
Of course, it's not like Pennanen overlooked a ton of obvious better options for center, but sometimes I wish the coaches would take some fliers on the young unknowns in situations like these, instead of hoping that the worn-out faces somehow step up despite not having done so never before.
As for back end, I had no complaints about the selections for defense before the tournament, and still don't have, but there is a reason to question if they were all utilized correctly. Leppänen especially didn't always seem like he was given a chance to play with his strengths.
And you obviously don't say no to Juuse Saros if he wants to come.
It was also obvious that we lacked a consistent game plan - Pennanen and his staff simply failed to create a clear system that could have acted as a consistent tactical backbone. But on the other hand, Pennanen couldn't simply fall back on the road paved by his predecessor - the previous two tournaments had shown that Jalonen's plan had been picked apart by the opposition and was going stale. Even winning systems have their expiry dates. This creates a bit of a Catch-22 - if you attempt to create something new and it doesn't work, the temptation to fall back to the old ways grows, but unfortunately that old stuff might not be the answer either anymore.
In all, it's a mixed bag. Some things went wrong even though Pennanen and his staff did nothing wrong, and with some other things they definitely could have done better. If there's one piece of advice I could easily give, it's to stop chasing the fool's gold. Players nearing their 30s or over have already shown what they can do, and you can't suddenly expect them to find that next step. And while there is no guarantee that younger ones fare any better, at least the chance is still there.
FloridaPanthersFan84
Registered User
Unfortunately Kari Jalonen is coaching DEL team Kölner Haie.
Terminating his DEL contract will not be cheap for jääkiekkoliitto so no KJ to leijonat.
FloridaPanthersFan84
Registered User
Who it should be then if not Pennanen.
Theese names who might get considered aren't available now.
Olli Jokinen is signed to HIFK
Raimo Helminen to Saipa
Tommi Niemelä to Ilves
Kari Jalonen to Kölner Haie ( German DEL team )
Petri Matikainen to JYP.
Toni Söderholm to TPS.
Mikko Manner to HPK
Jussi Tapola to SC Bern.
Jussi Ahokas to Kitchener Rangers.
Terminating Ahokas's OHL contract or K Jalonen's DEL contract or Tapola's NLA contract will not be cheap.
So when situation is this only option is to get foreign coach from Canada, USA or Sweden.
And last.
Ville Peltonen shouldn't be option at all to next leijonat head coach.
He failed so miserably in HIFK so he shouldn't be coaching any Finnish national team.
Pennanen will be coaching Team Finland 2026 olympics until further notice. Like it or not.
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