Why is Finland underrated year in year out

[SotasicA]

It's impossible to predict national team success based on a track record. It's a different roster each and every tournament. Even different coaches.

Maybe Finnish players have a good understanding and foundation of the basics of hockey, and are good at playing a simple, raw game, like what is necessary at international tournaments. Like up and down skating, hustle, goaltending. I mean, goaltending is an island. And others overtake them in a more intricate environment where specific skills are required. Like passing, positioning, set plays, checking.

 

[NJ Fan 12]

Nattinen is a interesting fella, i wonder how he'd do in the NHL right now, he's what, 23?

Was wondering about possible non-NHL players who might be candidates for Finland's Olympic team and noticed that Nattinen is now playing in Sweden; his third league in three years.

While he would seem to be a long shot, I remember he was pretty highly regarded coming out of junior and was wondering why his career has sort of gone sideways.

Is there any likelihood of him having a Donskoi-like resurgence?

 

[Zub]

It's impossible to predict national team success based on a track record. It's a different roster each and every tournament. Even different coaches.

Maybe Finnish players have a good understanding and foundation of the basics of hockey, and are good at playing a simple, raw game, like what is necessary at international tournaments. Like up and down skating, hustle, goaltending. I mean, goaltending is an island. And others overtake them in a more intricate environment where specific skills are required. Like passing, positioning, set plays, checking.

This is a outdated assumption that was relevant in 2013.

 

[llwyd]

It's impossible to predict national team success based on a track record. It's a different roster each and every tournament. Even different coaches.

Not quite - there can be a national system, a culture of playing international tournaments. And I think we clearly have it: a unified playing style, constant focus on disciplined, well defending play under a highly professional coaching team. "Meidän peli" ("Our game") was developed over the years quite collectively and purposefully in various seminars and interactions - Team Finland is a system aimed at succeeding against better materials from tournament to tournament, it's not reinvented out of nothing each year.

 

[mattihp]

Not quite - there can be a national system, a culture of playing international tournaments. And I think we clearly have it: a unified playing style, constant focus on disciplined, well defending play under a highly professional coaching team. "Meidän peli" ("Our game") was developed over the years quite collectively and purposefully in various seminars and interactions - Team Finland is a system aimed at succeeding against better materials from tournament to tournament, it's not reinvented out of nothing each year.

Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and the Czech republic have also had (to some extent) focuses that have carried over from coach to coach and from team to team.

 

[llwyd]

Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and the Czech republic have also had (to some extent) focuses that have carried over from coach to coach and from team to team.

I think that makes a lot of sense for many countries - Canada probably can afford to start from zero every year, but to my mind even they embraced a clear system after the early disappoinments. And Finland probably has taken this kind of approach the furthest - for us it is a no-brainer that we need to constantly over achieve to finish in top places and there needs to be a certain long term infrastructure in place for us to be able to do that.

Of course now we have an unprecedented amount of top talent, so we'll have to see how that will work with the traditional framework of humble and disciplined team work.