WC: 2016 Team Finland Pt. II

[Jussi]

If Puljujärvi was fully healthy, I would have taken him over Pillu.

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[FiLe]

If Puljujärvi was fully healthy, I would have taken him over Pillu.

I would have taken J.Sallinen over Pillu. Had Hartikainen and Joensuu been healthy, I would have taken them over Pillu (and Puljujärvi). And something tells me Jalonen would have taken Kuusela over healthy Puljujärvi.

Puljujärvi may have been an option, but he was never nothing more than a fringe option, even if fully healthy.

 

[QnebO]

Jukka Jalonen and Antti Törmänen are among those claimants. When you add to that Marjamäki's mysterious "mishandling" of Pulju in the playoffs and KJ being rather unenthusiasted about him, is it really so difficult to fathom they simply didn't see the same things in him than they saw, f.ex in Laine? Or Aho? Because that's a whole lot of Finnish coaching muscle disagreeing with the "public opinion".

There is zero doubt about these things. But "soon" is not "now".

I think he would survive from WHC quite well with a chance to succes very well there. The reason he is not in the team is there is better and more ready players available.

 

[FiLe]

I think he would survive from WHC quite well with a chance to succes very well there. The reason he is not in the team is there is better and more ready players available.

Perhaps he would have. After all, we will never know for sure. But the amount of those "better and more ready" players was so great regardless that he was never a serious candidate.

On a leaner year it could indeed have been a different story. And if he's available next year, I expect him to be in, no question.

 

[TheKurkey]

I would love to see Backstrom as starting goalie. Don't like Koskinen that much but Saros is a beast.

Oh my... the PP looks deadly. Pulkkinen and Laine as shooters. Granlund, Koivu, Jokinen, Barkov, Aho... Hietanen is right-handed and able to shoot.

Definitely no Pulju on the team. He is dead tired and have all those little injuries. And also, like said, he's not ready to play in WHC. He was great in WJC and U18. Now that we got all these NHL stars, no room for Pulju in top-9. I take Pillu any day in my 4th line in WHC. Yes, Pulju could've been maybe 13rd forward. But still too risky. Markus Granlund > Pulju. And Markus didn't make the team.

Not so sure about Laine being in 1st and 2nd line automatically. He was good in those ehxibition games vs Sweden but I'm pretty sure Kojo is starting him in 3rd line or maybe 13nd forward. If he shows he can have an impact in that level, he'll be higher.

Good team we got. Gonna be interesting how Finland is actually favorite to win teams like Usa. Maybe even Sweden. Canada and Russia will be tough but Finland is right behind them.

 

[QnebO]

I would love to see Backstrom as starting goalie. Don't like Koskinen that much but Saros is a beast.

Oh my... the PP looks deadly. Pulkkinen and Laine as shooters. Granlund, Koivu, Jokinen, Barkov, Aho... Hietanen is right-handed and able to shoot.

Definitely no Pulju on the team. He is dead tired and have all those little injuries. And also, like said, he's not ready to play in WHC. He was great in WJC and U18. Now that we got all these NHL stars, no room for Pulju in top-9. I take Pillu any day in my 4th line in WHC. Yes, Pulju could've been maybe 13rd forward. But still too risky. Markus Granlund > Pulju. And Markus didn't make the team.

Not so sure about Laine being in 1st and 2nd line automatically. He was good in those ehxibition games vs Sweden but I'm pretty sure Kojo is starting him in 3rd line or maybe 13nd forward. If he shows he can have an impact in that level, he'll be higher.

Good team we got. Gonna be interesting how Finland is actually favorite to win teams like Usa. Maybe even Sweden. Canada and Russia will be tough but Finland is right behind them.

I'm confident hes playing top lines tomorrow with Barkov or Koivu line. That's where you realy utilize Laine's shot. He will not be playing 3rd line. 13th forward is possible, but I see him getting a chance.

Granlund has some nifty passes, it would be exciting to see them together with Koivu at center spot. Because this Laine kid has better shot than any one in the Minnesota Wild.

 

[kunekune]

There is only Canada that is better than the best FEL teams in group stage. Of Course Laine gets a place in 1st/2nd and will be dominant at least in group stage.

 

[1Gold Standard]

Maybe I haven't paid close enough attention in past years, but I don't think I've ever seen a Finnish roster thread hit Pt. II before the tournament started. Gotta love the hype.

 

[FiLe]

Oh my... the PP looks deadly. Pulkkinen and Laine as shooters. Granlund, Koivu, Jokinen, Barkov, Aho... Hietanen is right-handed and able to shoot.

Yeah, it will be. We'll have more viable possibilities than we'll have slots in the two units. However, there are still ten who stand out.

While we have four d-men we could plant on the blueline, namely, Hietanen, Lindell, Pokka and Salmela, I figure only the first two will feature. The rest will be all forwards. And even picking that eight is not all that difficult. Barkov, Koivu, MiG, Jokinen, Pulkkinen and Laine are the six obvious picks. I believe that eightsome will be topped off by Komarov and Aho. Rantanen looks to be the odd man out here.

Yeah, that's 24K gold right there. No people on those units who're going to be there simply because we lack better options.

 

[HockeyHistorian]

In my opinion Laine should be given the best possible linemates, because he is a special goal scoring talent and you should maximize his scoring chances and perhaps help him out defensively. This is why I'd put him with Barkov and Jokinen. I think there's too much talk about earning top-6 minutes in hockey; if you play the players according to their strengths, most likely the whole team benefits. Laine isn't on this team because of solid two-way play and backchecking prowess; he is on the team solely because he can put pucks into the net like only a few can. In fact, Laine's scoring touch is pretty much the only thing where he is clearly ahead of Puljujärvi and as we all know, Puljujärvi is not on the team despite being closer to that solid two-way guy.

In short: Laine is on the team to score goals. Minimize his defensive weaknesses and maximize his scoring chances by playing him with Barkov (or Koivu).

 

[ergi24]

detriment

Tuukka Rask

Sami Lepistö
Sami Vatanen
Rasmus Ristolainen
Jyrki Jokipakka

Teuvo Teräväinen
Petri Kontiola
Erik Haula

not missing
Joel Armia
Iiro Pakarinen
Lauri Korpikoski

 

[QnebO]

detriment

Tuukka Rask

Sami Lepistö
Sami Vatanen
Rasmus Ristolainen
Jyrki Jokipakka

Teuvo Teräväinen
Petri Kontiola
Erik Haula

not missing
Joel Armia
Iiro Pakarinen
Lauri Korpikoski

+
Jori Lehterä
Joonas Donskoi
Markus Granlund
Valtteri Filppula
Olli Määttä
Pekka Rinne

From on top of my head. If this is about potential World Cup players that are not in.

 

[schmiedi]

Saros should start tomorrow.

Nr. 1 Goalie ( i hope saros) should play Belarus, Usa, France, Canada
Nr. 2 Goalie (Koskinen) should play Germany, Hungary, Slovakia

I think for Saros this situation is the same as he have in milwakee. He must be better because he is younger. If booth will have the same performance Koskinen will get the do or die games.

 

[JJTT]

What about the d-pairs?

Jaakola-Hietanen
Lindell-Pokka
Kukkonen-Salmela
Kivistö-Ohtamaa

 

[jalperi]

On Iltasanomat have good lines:
http://www.iltasanomat.fi/mmkiekko/art-2000001170559.html (Finnish)

Laine-Barkov-Jokinen
MiGranlund-Koivu-Pulkkinen
Aho-Koskiranta-Pyörälä
Komarov-Sallinen-Rantanen
Pihlström,Lajunen

Lindell-Pokka
Jaakola-Hietanen
Kukkonen-Ohtamaa
Salmela,Kivistö

What came about defence pairings I dont believe that KJ venture to put Lindell and Pokka on same pair.

 

[FiLe]

What came about defence pairings I dont believe that KJ venture to put Lindell and Pokka on same pair.

Me neither. I believe it'll be:

Lindell - Hietanen
Salmela - Pokka
Kukkonen - Jaakola
(Ohtamaa - Kivistö)

Lindell is our #1 d-man and therefore the rightful man to take his spot on the #1 pair with Hietanen. If we roll with three pairs, Kukkonen - Jaakola are familiars, having spent many a tournament as a shutdown pair. That leaves Salmela and Pokka to form the 2nd pair. And if we have four pairs, Ohtamaa and Kivistö are the bottom feeders here.

 

[kunekune]

Lindell played last year with Salmela and Jaakola-Hietanen have played the whole camp together so I don't think they will be separated. Therefore I'm quite sure these will be the defensive pairings.

Jaakola-Hietanen // Good pairing for both ends
Salmela-Lindell // Very offensive pairing.
Kukkonen-Pokka // Lasse with kid Pokka. Mix of offensive and defensive talent.
(Kivistö-Ohtamaa)

For offense 2 first lines are pretty locked. Would swap Komarov to 3rd so he can play with Aho.

Laine-Barkov-Jokinen // Florida duo with Laine scoring goals.
Granlund-Koivu-Pulkkinen // Minnesota duo with Pulu scoring goals.
Komarov-Koskiranta-Aho // Computer Aho passing the puck around. Komarov making room for Aho and scoring in the meantime. Koskiranta realiable 2-way forward who can also score.
Pyörälä/Pillu-Sallinen/Lajunen-Rantanen // 4th line with limited minutes and some pk-specialist. If they play 0-0 they have done their job. Rantanen adds some offensive threat.

 

[tade]

Puljujarvi... or Laine? Both? Hmm.

Let's face it - you guys have very good problems.

 

[FiLe]

Lindell played last year with Salmela and Jaakola-Hietanen have played the whole camp together so I don't think they will be separated. Therefore I'm quite sure these will be the defensive pairings.

Well, they had to plant someone next to Hietanen since Lepistö was and is not available. It's not like him and Jaakola are bosom buddies or anything.

If we go with three pairs this time, it will usually lead to the pairs getting a bit uneven TOIs. That's when you put your biggest minute eaters in the same pair. And in this team, they'll be Lindell and Hietanen.

Additionally, it helps with PP as well. Since we fully expect to have 4F-1D in both PP units, those sole d-men are most likely Lindell and Hietanen. In that case, you can ice pairs #2 and #3 for the following two ES shifts without having to mix'n'match.

But we'll see what KJ figures out.

 

[HockeyHistorian]

Komarov-Koskiranta-Aho // Computer Aho passing the puck around. Komarov making room for Aho and scoring in the meantime. Koskiranta realiable 2-way forward who can also score.
Pyörälä/Pillu-Sallinen/Lajunen-Rantanen // 4th line with limited minutes and some pk-specialist. If they play 0-0 they have done their job. Rantanen adds some offensive threat.

I think they are going to roll the lines pretty evenly during even strength like they always have. Certainly now that we have quality players on every line. I would also keep Pyörälä - Koskiranta - Aho intact, because they have played well together and Aho and Pyörälä know each other so well.

 

[rduck1]

Regarding pairings on defense, I seem to recall Lindell and Pokka playing together in U-20, and quite well at that. On the other hand Pokka played regularly with Ohtamaa for Kärpät, I think. Reuniting one of those would make a lot of sense IMO.

 

[Gaps]

Lines:


Not present at practice:

 

[HockeyHistorian]

Lines:


Not present at practice:

Nice. Although I think that once the real games start Sallinen is/should be the one centering Komarov and Rantanen.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

There's just no sense putting Laine with Barkov and Jokinen,just because.

Jokinen has played the entire season left side,versatile or not,it will mess up his game
for sure and why? just because they have to put Laine with Barkov,can't understand,
nor accept.

1) Jokinen-Barkov-Pulkkinen
2) Laine-Koivu-Granlund

Pulkkinen to 1st PP unit
Laine to 2nd PP unit

 

[kunekune]

There's just no sense putting Laine with Barkov and Jokinen,just because.

Jokinen has played the entire season left side,versatile or not,it will mess up his game
for sure and why? just because they have to put Laine with Barkov,can't understand,
nor accept.

1) Jokinen-Barkov-Pulkkinen
2) Laine-Koivu-Granlund

Pulkkinen to 1st PP unit
Laine to 2nd PP unit

Granlund is also LW so "the problem" would still be there even if Laine and Pulu and swapped.