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Team Finland WC 2023

Call me delusional but i seriously believe Seattle Kraken eliminates Colorado Avalanche.
And why's that so let me tell.

Seattle has been pleasant surprise in their 2nd NHL season.
They aren't best team in the league but still made playoffs which is great for them.

Colorado has fought with injuries almost whole season.
There was a moments when it was totally open will Colorado make even playoffs.

MacKinnon has been injured, Lehkonen has been injured, also Nitchuskin has been injured
and Landeskog has been injured whole year and still he's out ( surgery required knee injury )
now Makar took 1 game suspension due to illegal hit last Seattle Kraken game
and Nitchuskin is again out now due to alcohol problem if rumors are true.

Only Rantanen has played all games this season and carried Avalanche alone.
Game 5 is this morning and nobody knows what happens.

So if Seattle wins this morning they have 3-2 lead and chance eliminate Avalanche next game.
Eliminating Avalanche would release Rantanen and Lehkonen to IIHF worlds.

Especially Rantanen would be massive add and i cannot see Jalonen saying no
for a guy who scored 55 goals and 50 assists =105 points
in 82 NHL regular season games this season.

Florida Panthers season is on the line this morning boston leads 3-1.
Eliminating Panthers would release Barkov, Lundell and Luostarinen to IIHF worlds.
Luostarinen won't come due to contract situation ( contract expires )
but Barkov and Lundell could be available.

Yes Barkov has looked disinterested in NHL playoffs
but who even knows is he just playing ''shitty'' to avoid injuries
to get win IIHF worlds gold with his best friend Patrik Laine in their hometown.

Think about that how dominant 1st line Laine Barkov Rantanen will be if they play together.
That line in 5 vs 5 and powerplay oh boy. But lets see first how games turn out.
 
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Even if Colorado loses I doubt Lehkonen or Rantanen would come. They had a very long season last year so I'd think they want to actually rest for once. Ofc I hope I'm wrong but thinking the best for these two guys.
 
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FinPanda said:
Even if Colorado loses I doubt Lehkonen or Rantanen would come. They had a very long season last year so I'd think they want to actually rest for once. Ofc I hope I'm wrong but thinking the best for these two guys.
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My feeling is 90% on Rantanen coming, because he rarely gets a chance to play for Finland. It would be mentally tough to handle the defeat to Seattle but he'll feel better after few days.

I feel like ~30% on Lehkonen. We can't be sure if he ever fully recovered from the surgery. I feel like Colorado rushed it and his finger I believe could've taken some unnecessary damage while playing now. Second reason, as I said before I feel like his dad would suggest to him not to come, but I could be wrong on both reasons regarding Lehkonen.

Next NHL round of games is rather boring but hopefully New Jersey takes 3-2 lead over Rangers. The night after that is insanely interesting for us Finns with the 4 most interesting series played on the same night. Carolina, Florida, Dallas and Colorado all play on the same night.
 
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Loustarinen has a contact for next year Chicago. Expires 2024.

I think it's Barkov who declines unfortunately. Just a feeling he has some injuries.

Think Lundell and Loustarinen would be strong possibilities.

I think Rantanen would join because that's what Rantanen does. He just always joins when he's available. He wouldn't be a bad add I suppose.😀

It's going to be interesting after round one. And still hope Granlund and Lankinen I think.
 
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David OSullivan said:
Loustarinen has a contact for next year Chicago. Expires 2024.

I think it's Barkov who declines unfortunately. Just a feeling he has some injuries.

Think Lundell and Loustarinen would be strong possibilities.

I think Rantanen would join because that's what Rantanen does. He just always joins when he's available. He wouldn't be a bad add I suppose.😀

It's going to be interesting after round one. And still hope Granlund and Lankinen I think.
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Agreed. Doubt barkov would join and also highly doubtful regarding lehkonen.
 
Do we have to take Savinainen? The guy is so clutch. I wouldn't mind if he comes competing for a spot to the EHT Czechia tournament.

The Discovery TV5 team with Ismo Lehkonen wouldn't select Mörkö to the final team now. That was quite interesting, but I think unrealistic. I see that Mörkö will definitely start the tournament in the active roster, but time will tell if they'd consider giving his spot to someone else during the tournament. I would let Mörkö play the entire tournament probably.

Positive about that Sweden vs Finland game tonight was that Olkinuora is looking good. One game accident? Not sure yet. We need a bigger sample size on that if Olkinuora could even be a starter. I'd personally be open for Larmi (selected as SHL playoffs MVP now) or Säteri as well. Who knows if Lankinen is a consideration as well.

Kapanen looked quite off, but it's understandable because it's his first game and new line mates. It might continue to look like that, but I don't think there's any question that he should be in the final team. It's probably not even in Jalonen's consideration that he would drop him.

Suomela didn't show anything special tonight, but as with Kapanen, new line mates. Give this guy good line mates and some games with them and I believe that he will deliver.

I wonder what happened to Pakarinen? Injury or equipment problem when he walked to the dressing room?
 
Mestaruus said:
Do we have to take Savinainen? The guy is so clutch. I wouldn't mind if he comes competing for a spot to the EHT Czechia tournament.

The Discovery TV5 team with Ismo Lehkonen wouldn't select Mörkö to the final team now. That was quite interesting, but I think unrealistic. I see that Mörkö will definitely start the tournament in the active roster, but time will tell if they'd consider giving his spot to someone else during the tournament. I would let Mörkö play the entire tournament probably.

Positive about that Sweden vs Finland game tonight was that Olkinuora is looking good. One game accident? Not sure yet. We need a bigger sample size on that if Olkinuora could even be a starter. I'd personally be open for Larmi (selected as SHL playoffs MVP now) or Säteri as well. Who knows if Lankinen is a consideration as well.

Kapanen looked quite off, but it's understandable because it's his first game and new line mates. It might continue to look like that, but I don't think there's any question that he should be in the final team. It's probably not even in Jalonen's consideration that he would drop him.

Suomela didn't show anything special tonight, but as with Kapanen, new line mates. Give this guy good line mates and some games with them and I believe that he will deliver.

I wonder what happened to Pakarinen? Injury or equipment problem when he walked to the dressing room?
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Mörkö all the way. He will play all the games on the fourth line and penalty kill. People will complain before and during, and they'll be happy after. But as discussed a lot, this might actually be his last time playing in the WC (at least with such an important role)
 
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santeri said:
Mörkö all the way. He will play all the games on the fourth line and penalty kill. People will complain before and during, and they'll be happy after. But as discussed a lot, this might actually be his last time playing in the WC (at least with such an important role)
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I think so too. It's hard to question him because we've had to much success with him. I think we need to ride the Mörkö train until the success stops or that he decides to quit his NT career himself. It's just interesting that Ismo Lehkonen & team would drop Mörkö. Commentators did give praise to Mörkö today though. I think that they may disagree with the TV5 studio team on this matter.
 
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The matter about Anttila is not so much if he could still contribute (he absolutely could), but if there's going to be room for him. So it's more or less the same debate as it is with Suomela.

If the selection stays as it is, both Anttila and Suomela will make it. But... there's still a decent possibility that we'll get 3-5 additions from overseas. (The Florida trio, Rantanen and/or Lehkonen or alternately Tolvanen, Kakko...) And Hartikainen looks likely to join too. While none of these guys are in direct competition for Mörkö's spot, the game of musical chairs won't be isolated to the top-9.

Right now we have Laine, Kapanen, Armia (all locks), MaG and Pesonen who are going to be in the top-9 if they make it. (There are other names too like Kuokkanen and Ruotsalainen, but they'll be easy cuts if need be.) If we add Härski, that'll be the top-9 winger spots full. And, on top of this, let's say we add three names from overseas, two of whom will be slotted to the wings. Those two will mean that one of Pesonen/MaG is going to get cut... aaand it will knock Armia down to 4th line RW. And for Mörkö, that would mean an exit from the lineup. (Just like getting two centers would be bad news for Suomela.)

Bottom line, I'd wait 'til the NHL picture is clearer before saying who's gonna make it and who's gonna not.
 
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illone84 said:
Changing everyday due to the unpredictability of the postseason. Heck maybe even a trio of rantanen, barkov and kakko? We shall see but I'm dead sure at least 3-4 nhl reinforcements are soon on the way. Thankfully this year the first round ends well before the tournie starts.
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It is looking like a very stripped down tourney this year. Your guys path to the finals is wide open...
 
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