WC: 2016 Team Finland

[Risingwind]

Yeah, like there's room for just one "pure" scorer.

I wouldn't wonder about it, though. I mean, we Finns usually have about 0-1 to fit in the lineup, so having whopping two at our disposal could be kind of mind-bending, leaving the coach in utter confusion.

There are many versatile players that can play a hard and consistent defensive game who are left looking in from the sides. It's great that Pulkkinen and Laine can score, but can they do everything else as well? Pulkkinen looks a lot better compared to a year ago, so the main question becomes how good of a 2-way game will Laine show us in the WHCs.

 

[HockeyHistorian]

Yeah, like there's room for just one "pure" scorer.

I wouldn't wonder about it, though. I mean, we Finns usually have about 0-1 to fit in the lineup, so having whopping two at our disposal could be kind of mind-bending, leaving even the clearest of heads in utter confusion.

That being said, I don't really like the idea of a MiG-Koivu-Aho -line. It'd be a line of three playmakers with pass-first mentality. Good players in their own regard each and every one of them, but there's still a single unit's internal roling to think about it in there.

And the studio crew actually conceded that while Aho has earned top-6 minutes, he fits much better into the fourth line than, say, Pulkkinen. Aho will get enough minutes playing fourth line, PP and PK.

 

[fr9dd9]

is it just me that would like to see a line like this.

Laine, Barkov, aho? cuz I have to say, I have watched alot of Panthers games. And I dont care if even Barkov says that he and jokinen has some kind of kemistry cuz they dont. And aho would bring some speed in to a otherwise pretty slow formation. I hope Jalonen goes with that, or atleast someone else then jokinen

 

[Mestaruus]

That being said, I don't really like the idea of a MiG-Koivu-Aho -line. It'd be a line of three playmakers with pass-first mentality. Good players in their own regard each and every one of them, but there's still a single unit's internal roling to think about it in there.

That's why we could consider Aho with Barkov-Jokinen. I think Barkov-Jokinen are better goal scorers than Koivu-MiG, but of course then we'd miss out on the Tappara connection which most people want to happen. I'm fine with either.

 

[Mestaruus]

is it just me that would like to see a line like this.

Laine, Barkov, aho? cuz I have to say, I have watched alot of Panthers games. And I dont care if even Barkov says that he and jokinen has some kind of kemistry cuz they dont. And aho would bring some speed in to a otherwise pretty slow formation. I hope Jalonen goes with that, or atleast someone else then jokinen

Yes but most of us don't even consider that option anymore after KJ said Koivu+MiG, Barkov+Jokinen are locked. I mean these aren't our fantasy line ups anymore. These are of realism + fantasy together. Fill the other slots that are not locked with X players.

If USA game on Tuesday would look like schít and I don't see why it would go that way, then we can start speculating on that Laine-Barkov-Aho again I suppose.

 

[fr9dd9]

Yes but most of us don't even consider that option anymore after KJ said Koivu+MiG, Barkov+Jokinen are locked.

yeah, and that sucks! I remember it being like that last time Barkov played in WC to, or was it OG? I dont remember. However I dont like Barkov playing with Jokinen..

LAINE, BARKOV, AHO! Thats what I hope the formation will look like couple of games in to the tournament

 

[Mestaruus]

yeah, and that sucks! I remember it being like that last time Barkov played in WC to, or was it OG? I dont remember. However I dont like Barkov playing with Jokinen..

LAINE, BARKOV, AHO! Thats what I hope the formation will look like couple of games in to the tournament

I like Laine-Barkov-Jokinen because it gives more freedom for Laine to do his magic in the offensive zone when you have 2 very good 2-way players with him taking the defensive duties if needed.

OG started with Selänne-Barkov-MiG (2 games I think and then Barkov got injured) and last year's WC had Barkov-Jokinen and same coach now so it will take a lot for him to break Barkov+Jokinen duo, even if USA game goes bad.

 

[FiLe]

There are many versatile players that can play a hard and consistent defensive game who are left looking in from the sides. It's great that Pulkkinen and Laine can score, but can they do everything else as well? Pulkkinen looks a lot better compared to a year ago, so the main question becomes how good of a 2-way game will Laine show us in the WHCs.

Like I said, it's all about the internal roling of the line. When you have players with different strengths and weaknesses within a single unit, it's actually more likely that they are more eager to utilize their own strengths while they also cover each other's weaknesses. So, why should one be worried about Pulkkinen or Laine's two-way game in a line that's going to feature Barkov/Koivu?

Of course, this does not mean that said players get to just hang around the offensive blueline and do their best Ovechkin "controller disconnected" impression while playing downwards. But they don't have to utterly splendid two-way players either. It's enough that their two-way game is adequate.

 

[Risingwind]

And the studio crew actually conceded that while Aho has earned top-6 minutes, he fits much better into the fourth line than, say, Pulkkinen. Aho will get enough minutes playing fourth line, PP and PK.

It's true that Aho fits almost anywhere, also his production has been great. PK with Koivu or Komarov sounds good to me. I think he's somewhat wasted on the bottom six.

The nice part about this is that so many of the combinations are feasible, it doesn't really matter all too much since the final lines are probably going to get shuffled around a bit during the tournament.

 

[HockeyHistorian]

Like I said, it's all about the internal roling of the line. When you have players with different strengths and weaknesses within a single unit, it's actually more likely that they are more eager to utilize their own strengths while they also cover each other's weaknesses. So, why should one be worried about Pulkkinen or Laine's two-way game in a line that's going to feature Barkov/Koivu?

Of course, this does not mean that said players get to just hang around the offensive blueline and do their best Ovechkin "controller disconnected" impression while playing downwards. But they don't have to utterly splendid two-way players either. It's enough that their two-way game is adequate.

I couldn't agree with you more. When you play with Barkov-Jokinen or MiG-Koivu you don't have to be the best two-way guy there is. In fact, Laine and Pulkkinen complete those lines very well.

 

[fr9dd9]

I like Laine-Barkov-Jokinen because it gives more freedom for Laine to do his magic in the offensive zone when you have 2 very good 2-way players with him taking the defensive duties if needed.

OG started with Selänne-Barkov-MiG (2 games I think and then Barkov got injured) and last year's WC had Barkov-Jokinen and same coach now so it will take a lot for him to break Barkov+Jokinen duo, even if USA game goes bad.

Aho is pretty great 2 way aswell, But yeah I get your point! =)

 

[Risingwind]

Of course, this does not mean that said players get to just hang around the offensive blueline and do their best Ovechkin "controller disconnected" impression while playing downwards. But they don't have to utterly splendid two-way players either. It's enough that their two-way game is adequate.

That's kind of the question I was asking. Does Laine have a 2-way game that's adequate for the WHCs? Maybe he has, I guess we'll see in the USA game.

I wouldn't want to have our top lines be babysitting kids while trying to win games.

 

[HockeyHistorian]

It's true that Aho fits almost anywhere, also his production has been great. PK with Koivu or Komarov sounds good to me. I think he's somewhat wasted on the bottom six.

The nice part about this is that so many of the combinations are feasible, it doesn't really matter all too much since the final lines are probably going to get shuffled around a bit during the tournament.

I would gladly put Komarov on the fourth line instead, but it doesn't seem plausible at the moment.

 

[Risingwind]

How about

Laine-Barkov-Jokinen
Pulkkinen-Koivu-Aho
Komarov-MiG-Rantanen
T.Sallinen-Koskiranta-MaG
Kuusela

Or have we given up on MiG as a C? I'd be much more comfortable in faceoffs with these lines. Jokinen, Aho, Komarov, and Sallinen would be the second faceoff choices. MaG and Kuusela can be switched any time.

 

[FiLe]

How about

Laine-Barkov-Jokinen
Pulkkinen-Koivu-Aho
Komarov-MiG-Rantanen
T.Sallinen-Koskiranta-MaG
Kuusela

Or have we given up on MiG as a C? I'd be much more comfortable in faceoffs with these lines. Jokinen, Aho, Komarov, and Sallinen would be the second faceoff choices. MaG and Kuusela can be switched any time.

I see nothing wrong with that lineup. The lines are all well roled internally (save for perhaps the 4th, but in that unit, it does not matter that much, as long as they all have good two-way game), but we have pretty much given up MiG as a C since KJ flat out stated he intends to place him on Koivu's wing, just like the Wild did in the playoffs.

 

[Mestaruus]

How about

Laine-Barkov-Jokinen
Pulkkinen-Koivu-Aho
Komarov-MiG-Rantanen
T.Sallinen-Koskiranta-MaG
Kuusela

Or have we given up on MiG as a C? I'd be much more comfortable in faceoffs with these lines. Jokinen, Aho, Komarov, and Sallinen would be the second faceoff choices. MaG and Kuusela can be switched any time.

KJ said he is not breaking Koivu-MiG, so why even speculate?

 

[Loffer]

I see nothing wrong with that lineup. The lines are all well roled internally (save for perhaps the 4th, but in that unit, it does not matter that much, as long as they all have good two-way game), but we have pretty much given up MiG as a C since KJ flat out stated he intends to place him on Koivu's wing, just like the Wild did in the playoffs.

Pulks. Yikes. Can this kid play hockey apart from shooting the puck pretty good? An honest question. I haven't much followed him lately. But last time I watched he looked like a big ass duck on the ice. No offense. The guy comes arcoss like a easy going level-headed likable dude through intervies but has he ever been a good hockey player in the proper sense of the term?

 

[FiLe]

Pulks. Yikes. Can this kid play hockey apart from shooting the puck pretty good? An honest question. I haven't much followed him lately. But last time I watched he looked like a big ass duck on the ice. No offense. The guy comes arcoss like a easy going level-headed likable dude through intervies but has he ever been a good hockey player in the proper sense of the term?

He's actually one of the better skaters on this team. Smooth and fast. Makes him a decent forechecker.

With all the other aspects of the game, he's, well, adequate. Neither particularly good nor glaringly bad. But since he brings something the others - maybe apart from Laine - don't, he ought to get a pass. Like I said, put him in a line that allows him to play to his strengths and has other guys to cover for his weaknesses, and he should do fine for us.

 

[Risingwind]

I see nothing wrong with that lineup. The lines are all well roled internally (save for perhaps the 4th, but in that unit, it does not matter that much, as long as they all have good two-way game), but we have pretty much given up MiG as a C since KJ flat out stated he intends to place him on Koivu's wing, just like the Wild did in the playoffs.

He's probably happier there, but I'm just thinking about who to put as 3C against Canada for example. It starts to look a bit uncomfortable quickly.

If the Barkov-Jokinen and Koivu-MiG combinations are set in stone

Laine-Barkov-Jokinen
Pulkkinen-Koivu-MiG
Komarov-Koskiranta-Aho

The top9 looks maybe ok. The fourth line is a problem, Rantanen-T.Sallinen-MaG or something. It doesn't look like it fits in.

Actually, I don't like it at all. I'm going to stick with MiG as 3C.

 

[illone84]

He's actually one of the better skaters on this team. Smooth and fast. Makes him a decent forechecker.

With all the other aspects of the game, he's, well, adequate. Neither particularly good nor glaringly bad. But since he brings something the others - maybe apart from Laine - don't, he ought to get a pass. Like I said, put him in a line that allows him to play to his strengths and has other guys to cover for his weaknesses, and he should do fine for us.

What's the deal with Pulkkinen in detroit anyways? I see he is a RFA starting this upcoming 2016-2017 season.
Man, I hope he is done in Detroit. He hasn't had much luck there. I mean, the beginning of the 2015-2016 season was a decent start, but everything went downhill after that injury he sustained by getting CZEd into the boards by Martin Hanzal.


I hope to see some of this during the upcoming WHC :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MB3UVZpVZg

 

[Loffer]

He's actually one of the better skaters on this team. Smooth and fast. Makes him a decent forechecker.

With all the other aspects of the game, he's, well, adequate. Neither particularly good nor glaringly bad. But since he brings something the others - maybe apart from Laine - don't, he ought to get a pass. Like I said, put him in a line that allows him to play to his strengths and has other guys to cover for his weaknesses, and he should do fine for us.

So, the effort he put on learning to skate in his later years IIRC has really paid of then? Nice.
Well, tbh I did burst to a small laughter during the (earlier?) RUS-FIN game when this Juusela (?) dude said something "and look how Pulks flies over there with his smooth fast skating" and I looked and it still looked a bit like a duck trying to get going on a shiny slippery ice lots of footwork but not much progress.

 

[FiLe]

So, the effort he put on learning to skate in his later years IIRC has really paid of then? Nice.
Well, tbh I did burst to a small laughter during the (earlier?) RUS-FIN game when this Juusela (?) dude said something "and look how Pulks flies over there with his smooth fast skating" and I looked and it still looked a bit like a duck trying to get going on a shiny slippery ice lots of footwork but not much progress.

His style is distinctive, that's for certain. And maybe it'd be wrong to call him particularly fast, he certainly ain't no Pihlström. I think the best word to describe this thing he's got is maneuverable. The guy can turn on a dime with skates on. Almost as if he had a figure skating background (which he does not, at least to my knowledge), since those guys do occasionally look like "slipping ducks" as well.

It also relates heavily to his shooting ability. If we again compare him to Laine, the latter's release simply comes from his upper body and longer stick for extra leverage, whereas Pulu shoots using his entire body - which is, of course, somewhat required since he is a shorter player. So it directly ties to his unique skating style, since it's very much his footwork that contributes to both the velocity and accuracy of his shot.

 

[Jussi]

Doesn't anyone here know that Pulkkinen is a right wing?

 

[schmiedi]

Saros Not Called aß 3rd goalie to Preds so the Way shoutout go to russia in hope

 

[Nixa]

Saros Not Called aß 3rd goalie to Preds so the Way shoutout go to russia in hope

Hopefully it's Saros who's coming or Antti Raanta. I't still weird that Tuukka Rask have not said anything. I heard that he's expecting to have a child soon but who knows.