FiLe
Mr. Know-It-Nothing
- Oct 9, 2009
- 7,039
- 1,427
One thing we can blame on Jalonen is not making adjustments to the lineup when it was evident everything didn't click. It doesn't of course mean that it's some miracle cure to the scoring struggles, but it's no excuse for not even trying something different.Finland controlled every game like always, but d-men were way too slow and fast team like Canada will use it brutally for their advantage. What can you do if we can't score? Is it really Jalonen's fault?
Now, we know why he stubbornly stuck with his chosen lines - because he trusted the system. It provides a rational explanation, but doesn't absolve him of the mistake.
Now, I don't wanna say that there's some obvious thing he should have done. It's far too easy to succumb to the train of thought that if he'd done X instead of Y, everything would have been different and we would now be looking forward to the semi. But it still a mistake to not even try X when Y isn't working.
Another thing Jalonen could have adjusted but never did was powerplay. Our 1st unit was a literal one-trick pony: get the puck to Hartikainen in the middle of the diamond for one-timer. When the opponent made sure that option's not on the table, all our guys could do was move the puck around. It was, in fact, truly bizarre that Jalonen stuck to having five lefties in that unit - was it really that difficult to have at least one rightie? Especially since that should not have been due to the lack of options with Kakko, Kapanen and Armia in the lineup.
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