Filppula is a royalty or a bonus. I do feel like Jalonen and Lehtinen will ask him, unless he has signaled already that there's a 0% chance that he'd join. To me it never sounded like he has 100% quit in the NT. He brings a lot of leadership to the team. Actually it makes the line up building a lot easier if he doesn't come. Your point about Filppula winning the Swiss league championship could indeed be something that would make him not want to join.
Team Finland WC 2023
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Filppula is a royalty or a bonus. I do feel like Jalonen and Lehtinen will ask him, unless he has signaled already that there's a 0% chance that he'd join. To me it never sounded like he has 100% quit in the NT. He brings a lot of leadership to the team. Actually it makes the line up building a lot easier if he doesn't come. Your point about Filppula winning the Swiss league championship could indeed be something that would make him not want to join.
Dunno how likely this would be if Lundell was also there. But we'll see. Also, dream case scenarios rarely come to pass, so we're in a good spot already with Suomela and Manninen as guarantees. I sure remember leaner years.
Because no-brainers rarely garner that much attention. We all know Säteri should/will be there. The only question is if we're going to get anyone who's an upgrade over him. And honestly, with Saros and Husso out of the picture, the only one might be Lankinen. Kähkönen or Luukkonen likely won't take preference.
2016 with Kari Jalonen was the best squad I remember when it comes to WHC, although back then many of the guys were not mature enough as hockey players, but they were already very good. This year has a chance to top that one, especially the improvement with the defenders would be huge if Dallas goes out.
MoeTheHobo
Registered User
- Jan 24, 2017
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Why not both Lank and Säteri?
Personally I'd rate Lankinen's 2019 worlds higher than Säteri's OG but let them fight for the #1 spot in the groups.
Why not both Lank and Säteri?
Personally I'd rate Lankinen's 2019 worlds higher than Säteri's OG but let them fight for the #1 spot in the groups.
I do agree. 2019 was a magical showing by Lankinen & Mörkö especially. We were huge underdogs vs those 3 stacked teams in the knockout stage. This was a Finnish version of miracle on ice.
In the Olympics Finland was the favorite to win gold. Slight favorite over Russia/ROC in my books even before the tournament had started. It's possible that Olkinuora would've got the job done as well and we would've got Olympic gold with him as a starter as well.
I don't know who'd be the starter between Säteri and Lankinen now. The games in the tournament would have to show that as you said.
If we're strictly talking about the roster on paper, I might actually take the 2018 squad over the 2016 one. And the on-ice display was quite entertaining too - as long as it lasted. That Sebastian Aho -show during group stage play was something else, and the backup dancers weren't too shabby either, since we ended up having a whopping seven PPG guys in a single tournament.
Of course, those games ended in a rather embarrassing QF exit, and most folks around were already pretty fed up with Marjamäki, so small wonder it hasn't left a lasting memory.
Aho+TT show right and QF exit against the Swiss. That did hurt. I think they would've got their shit together after that game and they would've made the final probably. Not sure about gold however. Count the head coaches as parts of the rosters and certainly Marjamäki vs Jukka Jalonen makes a difference.
Absolutely. And the same applies to Kojo too. I remember being frustrated all tournament long in 2016 because I absolutely loathed the lesser Jalonen's line building and player management. That squad was never a cohesive whole, and only got as far as it did due to the stacked roster full of solid individuals. I was hardly even surprised when it stumbled on that final hurdle.
With Jalonen the Greater, the whole process aims towards the team having its stuff together by the time the final round begins. Kojo never quite cracked that nut.
That's true. Kari Jalonen indeed got very lucky with the roster that time and what has always disappointed me is that Jukka Jalonen never got a roster (on paper) that good in a WHC tournament. I do want to see Jukka Jalonen with a truly loaded team with NHL players and the time might be now.
In 2016 U20 tournament Jukka Jalonen kind of did get a great roster and we saw a different play style with that team. Same with the Olympics last year and it really felt like all of the games were in control, despite of the low scoring in most of the games. Again it felt like a bit different type of Jukka Jalonen team. Maybe we can see something different by Jukka Jalonen this year too than the all too defensive approach. I think his speciality is that he knows how to utilize the players' strengths he has very well and he just knows what it takes to win and as you said part of that is being ready in the games that matter the most.
Btw if I remember right, Kari Jalonen was also the guy who alienated Rasmus Ristolainen for good from the WHC tournaments. Big part of it is in Ristolainen himself not being the bigger man and over coming or forgetting that but just an interesting thought that what if Ristolainen would've joined in a lot of WHC tournaments without that incident. We might also be lucky that Ristolainen hasn't been there, because we did get a lot of success without him, so can't complain about it really.
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Great news about Laine! Not so great to hear about Jokiharju, didn't know about his injury. Then again Laine was injured not too long ago and seems to be fine now so who knows. Hopefully it's something minor with Jokiharju too.
One guy i started to think about is Mikael Granlund. He always comes so most people (including myself) just assumes he's in. He had a rough year so might need some time off. Who knows, Armia might be on the same boat too. Just my random speculation.
Florida and/or Dallas going out in the 1st would really give us a ton of options and there would be multiple variations of a competitive team. Something like this would be pretty good:
Laine - Barkov - Luostarinen
Manninen - Hintz - Kapanen
Ma Granlund - Lundell - Tolvanen
Hartikainen - Björninen - Anttila
Suomela/Pesonen
Lindell - Heiskanen
Määttä - Lehtonen
Välimäki - Hakanpää
Ohtamaa - Pokka
Lankinen/Säteri/Olkinuora
And that's not even the best case scenario.
One guy i started to think about is Mikael Granlund. He always comes so most people (including myself) just assumes he's in. He had a rough year so might need some time off. Who knows, Armia might be on the same boat too. Just my random speculation.
Florida and/or Dallas going out in the 1st would really give us a ton of options and there would be multiple variations of a competitive team. Something like this would be pretty good:
Laine - Barkov - Luostarinen
Manninen - Hintz - Kapanen
Ma Granlund - Lundell - Tolvanen
Hartikainen - Björninen - Anttila
Suomela/Pesonen
Lindell - Heiskanen
Määttä - Lehtonen
Välimäki - Hakanpää
Ohtamaa - Pokka
Lankinen/Säteri/Olkinuora
And that's not even the best case scenario.
Obviously, very hard to make lines without knowing who's coming but Jalonen teams have had some identity lines past few world cups that really revolve around Manninen-Hartikainen and Bjorninen-Antilla. Without doubt I keep these chemistries together. Also, they know Jalonen's system for success and execute it to perfdction. If Dallas and Florida go out and they all come I would look a little to future and put Hintz Barkov Laine as top line. Thats the potential first line in a best on best tournament. Mig went with Manninen line last time out and it worked great. Continue the chemistry. Armia would be a great fit for Bjorninen line.
Hintz Barkov Laine
Mi Granlund Manninen Hartikainen
Loustarinen Lundell Kapanen
Armia Bjorninen Antilla
Think that lineup has a Jalonen feel to it.
Hintz Barkov Laine
Mi Granlund Manninen Hartikainen
Loustarinen Lundell Kapanen
Armia Bjorninen Antilla
Think that lineup has a Jalonen feel to it.
Would literally cream my pants if we get that roster!Great news about Laine! Not so great to hear about Jokiharju, didn't know about his injury. Then again Laine was injured not too long ago and seems to be fine now so who knows. Hopefully it's something minor with Jokiharju too.
One guy i started to think about is Mikael Granlund. He always comes so most people (including myself) just assumes he's in. He had a rough year so might need some time off. Who knows, Armia might be on the same boat too. Just my random speculation.
Florida and/or Dallas going out in the 1st would really give us a ton of options and there would be multiple variations of a competitive team. Something like this would be pretty good:
Laine - Barkov - Luostarinen
Manninen - Hintz - Kapanen
Ma Granlund - Lundell - Tolvanen
Hartikainen - Björninen - Anttila
Suomela/Pesonen
Lindell - Heiskanen
Määttä - Lehtonen
Välimäki - Hakanpää
Ohtamaa - Pokka
Lankinen/Säteri/Olkinuora
And that's not even the best case scenario.
That's a good looking lineup too. I hope we get all these guys but even if some are missing there's still Tolvanen and Pärssinen. We also have a lot of good forwards in Europe too. Some nice depth upfront for sure.
I'm more worried about the defence if Dallas advances or those guys decline. Not too confident in guys like Saarijärvi,Tuomisto,Riikola...
SantosHalper
Get off my lawn
Roope Taponen, Iiro Pakarinen, Tommi Tikka, Juho Lammikko joins the camp roster. And Lehtonen & Lindbohm, but they were already mentioned before.
Leijonat - Leijonat saa kolmannella leiriviikolla vastaansa Ruotsin - Kokoonpano Uumajaan
Leijonat - Leijonat saa kolmannella leiriviikolla vastaansa Ruotsin - Kokoonpano Uumajaan
Taponen is my homer vote for #3 if there's no NHL goalie. Lammikko and Pakarinen would be good bottom6 options depending on who else joins.
I'm a bit worried about Dallas vs Minny turning to an all out tough as nails 7 game series. So there might be some bumps and bruises to heal.
I would leave my wife for a squad like that.Great news about Laine! Not so great to hear about Jokiharju, didn't know about his injury. Then again Laine was injured not too long ago and seems to be fine now so who knows. Hopefully it's something minor with Jokiharju too.
One guy i started to think about is Mikael Granlund. He always comes so most people (including myself) just assumes he's in. He had a rough year so might need some time off. Who knows, Armia might be on the same boat too. Just my random speculation.
Florida and/or Dallas going out in the 1st would really give us a ton of options and there would be multiple variations of a competitive team. Something like this would be pretty good:
Laine - Barkov - Luostarinen
Manninen - Hintz - Kapanen
Ma Granlund - Lundell - Tolvanen
Hartikainen - Björninen - Anttila
Suomela/Pesonen
Lindell - Heiskanen
Määttä - Lehtonen
Välimäki - Hakanpää
Ohtamaa - Pokka
Lankinen/Säteri/Olkinuora
And that's not even the best case scenario.
SantosHalper
Get off my lawn
mattihp
Registered User
Pakarinen is also weirdly enough a good third cog on a scoring line. Really ups his game with the national team.
SantosHalper
Get off my lawn
Yeah, i was expecting that one goalie joins straight to the final team and no camp required. Since Saros and Husso declined, it was going to be Lankinen or Säteri. But now Taponen arrives, im started to think is Säteri even joining. Or Taponen could be a plan B, just in case if something happens.
I think Taponen is there just to battle with Lehtinen for the #3 spot. Then there's also Larmi in the SHL finals.
Or they have an open spot for a goalie right now, you know, while more prestigious names are still busy with their day jobs, and they're using the opportunity to give the fresh face his first NT games.
Seriously, try not to overthink it.
SantosHalper
Get off my lawn
How much battling is there over a such small role? 2021 Juvonen got the 3rd goalie role just for being in the camp roster the whole time. But time will tell.
Would literally cream my pants if we get that roster!
I would leave my wife for a squad like that.
Yeah i guess it was a bit optimistic. I think there might be more Euro players than people here are predicting. I'll do one more with a bit more realistic touch and then i promise i won't post these for a while.
Laine - Barkov - Kapanen
Mi Granlund - Manninen - Hartikainen
Pesonen - Suomela - Armia
Lammikko - Björninen - Anttila
Ma Granlund
Välimäki - Lehtonen
Määttä - Vatanen
Ohtamaa - Pokka
Lindbohm - Tuomisto
Säteri
Olkinuora
