Between his crazy hyping of Laine, and consistent downplaying of Rantanen, I hope he learned the meaning of sustainable performance and bad puck-luck.
W/C Mikko Rantanen (2015, 10th, COL) II
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BB88
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- Jan 19, 2015
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I can't do highlights but we have few Finns here who have done in the past, especially for Laine. Maybe/hopefully one of them could help.
9 points in the last 9 games.
Do you mean extended highlights?
www.dtmts.com is amazing, I use it over the NHL website. If you mean just a highlight compilation of Rantanen, I don't think there's anything out there for this year.
10 in 16 games now as well. A 51 Point pace over a full season.
I honestly think he has a chance at cracking 60+ this season. He's playing with Mack on the top line, getting solid minutes and PP time, and he's making magic happen every night.
He'll sneak his way into the Calder conversation by late January as well.
I honestly think he has a chance at cracking 60+ this season. He's playing with Mack on the top line, getting solid minutes and PP time, and he's making magic happen every night.
He'll sneak his way into the Calder conversation by late January as well.
tigervixxxen
Optimism=Delusional
Mikko was great tonight, he's a real bright spot in an otherwise depressing situation. Both goals he was in on tonight were created by a zone entry and puck protection along the wall and then a great pass to the point. He tipped the rebound behind the goalie to get the goal on the first one. Just real smart, difference making plays. He's carrying the puck with confidence. Hope to see him shoot more too but that will come.
Kaako Kappo
Kaako Kappo
Jack DiBiase
Team Iceland Coach
- Nov 15, 2008
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They all will go down and quiet eventually. I had the same argument two years ago, when Mikko still played in his hometown team in the Finnish Liiga.
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1649767&page=3
teravaineSAROS
Registered User
- Jul 29, 2015
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good problem for Finnish fans to have though. We're producing so much top talent per capita it's almost tiring haha
Well me not writing here lately has nothing to do with how well Rantanen has been playing or not. Just have been very busy in personal life and at those times I rarely write that much here.
But this Rantanen's play can be still seen in different ways. I do have to admit that he has surprised me at least a bit. He has been a bit better than I thought, but his weaknesses are still as obvious as I have seen them already for quite a while. And by no means he has been really as excellent as some of his greatest fans here seem to constantly praise him to be. He is in general not a very efficient player. He is playing in the top line and I can't say that his production has been more than sufficient even lately.
His eye for shooting and his shooting technique are both really pretty bad. Especially for a top line player. Also the real lack of driving to the net has been in general his problem. Last night though he scored a nice rebound goal by driving quickly and with determination to the net. If he will start doing that more, I might really start changing my opinion on him. But I also really hope he fixes his shot and shooting attitude. With that size and strength it is just an abysmal shot that he has.
But anyway, as there is no point to really only talk about his flaws in this thread, I have to admit that his skating has improved from last season in a very impressive way. Laine could definitely benefit from developing to the same level skater as a big guy, and he even might do it in the future. Rantanen wasn't really a better skater than Laine in the past. It really seems that Rantanen gained a lot of explosive strength to his legs during last summer training. Laine is using the same extremely praised Finnish power and strength trainer (Hannu Rautala), so it is very interesting to see how both of their development in the power and strength will be after next summer. I believe that even Rantanen can still improve even more with his power and skating, although Laine definitely has much more of unused developing potential there.
You guys really seem to think that I hate or dislike Rantanen. I absolutely don't hate him and dislike him. But I also don't like it when certain passive style of playing gets too much praised in any case. Barkov is in fact a player that I see as probably the most overrated Finnish player that there is, and unfortunately I have seen some alarming similarities in Rantanen's and Barkov's play. Hopefully I am wrong with this though. Unfortunately if Barkov will not pick up on his extremely passive and even too defensive playing style, he might be a lost case as a player completely misusing his skill set, and ruining it with overly defensive and passive attitude. I definitely hope that Rantanen goes the different direction. But I still want to see him develop his shot and shooting attitude and also gain much more positive kind of aggressiviness in his play.
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teravaineSAROS
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It can't.
And the rest of the post directed to Rantanen is senseless drivel at best.
Plural
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Don Corleone
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3G 6A in the last 9GP. The best totals and player of the team during those games. That is not more than sufficient? Ok then.
Cousin Eddie
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In a team as bad as the Avalanche is, I wouldn't call it by itself that great merit. Well ok, for a 20 year old it is pretty impressive. But I see Rantanen having such great tools in general as a hockey player that it's a pain for me to see how his shot and relatively passive attitude waste such a huge potential. Unfortunately players with a weakish shot and flegmatic attitude don't become even close to what they could be. And they definitely don't become superstars in hockey unless they somehow manage to develop their shooting and the attitude to the needed level.
I'm pretty sure Barkov is this kind of a case, and as I already mentioned, I see similar signs in Rantanen. Although honestly to me it is starting to seem as Rantanen is having a better attitude than what Barkov has, so I kind of do expect Rantanen to become a better player than Barkov. But it doesn't necessarily mean that much, as I don't see Barkov becoming a real top class player in the NHL. Some Finns especially still seem to believe that he is really special, but as he is not at all a leader, not at all a winner and lacks the killer instinct completely, it would be a miracle if a Barkov would still become a very special hockey player.
I for sure hope Rantanen is a different case after all. He is also definitely much more likeable as a person than Barkov. But me critising Rantanen is more about me being very disappointed so far for him not using his exceptional physical talent and very good skill in a better and more efficient way. I am like this always towards players who have the tools, but lack some of the attitude that a try star still needs to have.
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Kopitar is a way, way better player than Barkov. Offensively clearly better, and has the killer instict that a true star player has to have. Only real similarities between them is really the playing position, quite big frame and the defensive play. Otherwise I see Kopitar probably two tiers higher than Barkov as a player.
But this has otherwise nothing to do with Rantanen, except that I very much hope he will become clearly a better player than I think Barkov is and will be.
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Gsus
MVP
So is Aho a tier above Kopitar or what. I'm just trying to figure out your mind. And if Rantanen will become clrealy a better player than Barkov is or will be, that would mean Rantanen would become a superstar in the league. Considering how good Barkov already is (easily top20 C), this sounds really weird coming from your keyboard.
Nice strawman you made there. I never claimed that Aho is a better player than Kopitar. Kopitar is at the moment probably two tiers above Aho, Rantanen and Barkov. I have said that Aho was in my opinion a better player than Rantanen, and I still believe that it applies at the moment in bigger rinks. But in the NHL I see Aho and Rantanen pretty much at the same level at the moment. Rantanen benefits from his team being so weak with their depth. Carolina definitely has more solid depth, so Aho has more of competition for ice time over there. Also Rantanen is so much readier physically than Aho, which gives him also some advantage at the moment in the smaller rink. But still I see them at the same level even now, and I believe that Aho will be in a few years the better of the two quite clearly, when he gains much more strength and becomes more accustomed to the North American hockey.
I project Aho pretty much to become a player like Zetterberg was at his prime. They both are so amazingly similar as players. Even their height is the same, and as Aho gains strength he will be able to better use all his magnificent tools like exceptional hockey sense, great puck control skills and extremely quick reacting to situations.
I believe that Rantanen might be a 60 point guy at his best, but I'm still not that sure if he will really reach that potential. I honestly will be extremely surprised if in two years from now Aho is not having the clearly better NHL career of these two.
Oh, and in my books Barkov is completely overhyped, and is definitely not among the top 20 centers in the league. He is most probably not even the best center that the Panthers have...
Bear of Bad News
"The Worst Guy on the Site" - user feedback
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STOP WITH THE PERSONAL ATTACKS.
Please? I'm so very tired of deleting half of the posts each time.
Please? I'm so very tired of deleting half of the posts each time.
BB88
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- Jan 19, 2015
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Barkov definitely is Floridas best C and he has 6 points in his last 6 games, with few shootout winners.
Carolinas forward group isn't that great today, they have some good players that can develop into better players but today they don't have star players and the bottom6 isn't offensively very talented.
Aho is a high IQ player and that's why many of us are so high on him, but Rantanen is a high IQ player with size. That makes him such a valuable prospect.
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