World Cup: 2016 World Cup — Team Finland

[HC Jets]

My Team Finland nominees:

(Gotta remember it doesn't necessary have to be
LW-C-RW,look what Canada did,they selected
best possible available line up, with more centers
than wingers,so C-C-C can work too)

I'd rather pick best possible team
and NO MORE ROLE PLAYERS THANK YOU,
its total BS to claim that we (team Finland)
don't have enough good, skilled players,total BS.

For Goal:

MKoskinen (St Petersburgh)
KLehtonen (Dallas)
JOrtio (Calgary)
ARaanta (Chicago)
TRask (Boston)
PRinne (Nashville)
JSaros (Nashville)

For Defence:

JHonka (Dallas)
JJokipakka (Dallas)
PLindbohm (St Louis)
ELindell (Dallas)
ALintuniemi (La Kings)
OMäättä (Pittsburgh)
KNäkyvä (Nashville)
JPitkänen (?)*
VPokka (Chicago)
RRistolainen (Buffalo)
SVatanen (Anaheim)

For Offence:

ABarkov (Florida)
JDonskoi (San Jose)
VFilppula (Tampa)
MaGranlund (Calgary)
MiGranlund (Minnesota)
JJokinen (Florida)
JKemppainen (Boston)
MKoivu (Minnesota)
LKomarov (Toronto)
LKorpikoski (?)**
JLehterä (St Louis)
TPulkkinen (?)***
MRantanen (?)****
MSalomäki (Nashville)
TTeräväinen (Chicago)

* his status is still uncertain,
he might,or not might make back
from injury to his full self,anything
can happen in a year.

** Arizona Coyotes might not exist anymore
one year from now.

*** Pulkkinen likely will resign with Detroit
but anything can happen

**** 2015 draft eligible,he might still play
in Liiga for TPS or play in the NHL for the team who
drafted him.

Joni Pitkanen is retired and hasn't played since 12-13 w. Carolina.

Eliteprospects link to prove it:
http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=2697

 

[FiLe]

Trade proposal: Johnny Oduya (defense) for your fourth goalie?

Which one of 'em do you mean?

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDo]

What is the argument for Rinne > Rask?

 

[FiLe]

What is the argument for Rinne > Rask?

It's certainly hard to set them apart by merit. Rask is a Vezina winner (and has a cup to his name, but only as backup), whereas Rinne probably would have won with his last season performance on most other years. Both have also been superb in the NT, with Rinne leading weaker WHC squads to success while Rask was perhaps the best netminder in Sochi.

I guess it just boils down to who your gut tells is the better goalie. Curiously, those preferring Rinne have been mostly Canadian, whereas the Finns in this thread are in favor of Rask. I'm inclined to agree with my fellow countrymen.

 

[BusQuets]

It's certainly hard to set them apart by merit. Rask is a Vezina winner (and has a cup to his name, but only as backup), whereas Rinne probably would have won with his last season performance on most other years. Both have also been superb in the NT, with Rinne leading weaker WHC squads to success while Rask was perhaps the best netminder in Sochi.

I guess it just boils down to who your gut tells is the better goalie. Curiously, those preferring Rinne have been mostly Canadian, whereas the Finns in this thread are in favor of Rask. I'm inclined to agree with my fellow countrymen.

Imo both can be absolute walls when they are on their game but the difference is that Rask's bad day is way better than Rinne's. I don't remember seeing Rask lose single handily game but Rinne sometimes does that like in the previous WC.

 

[illone84]

Last season during the first half Rinne was an absolute beast. Then after his injury he wasn't the same.
I watched all of Nashville's post-season games against Chicago, and Rinne didn't look good.
I was hoping he would have declined his invite to the WHC in CZE, because I was afraid he would play poorly.

Thus being said, I concour with most Finns, that Rask is the better man to play in net. And I believe he will be the 1 # goalie in Toronto for the World Cup.

Too early to tell or make predictions for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

 

[Raimo Sillanpää]

It's certainly hard to set them apart by merit. Rask is a Vezina winner (and has a cup to his name, but only as backup), whereas Rinne probably would have won with his last season performance on most other years. Both have also been superb in the NT, with Rinne leading weaker WHC squads to success while Rask was perhaps the best netminder in Sochi.

I guess it just boils down to who your gut tells is the better goalie. Curiously, those preferring Rinne have been mostly Canadian, whereas the Finns in this thread are in favor of Rask. I'm inclined to agree with my fellow countrymen.

I place Rask ahead on the national team purely because of character.
Not to mean that there's anything wrong with Rinne, just that Rask is the type of foul mouthed, no-nonsense, immediate feedback to slacking defenders - that Finns need.
The defence will be that one bit more on their toes around Rask, than around Rinne.

Otherwise its all down to form, identify the one in beast mode and ride him to the death.

 

[Periwinkle]

I don't remember either Rask or Rinne's track record completely, but with Rask, isn't there a potential issue with the final clutch personality missing? I mean the SC finals where as a part of a team meltdown he gave up those goals in the final seconds and Chicago won.

Or in the last Olympics where Finland was defending against the much better Canada, and Rask was very good, but then let in a softie in OT. I'm not trying to take away from the fact that without him the numbers could have been much uglier, just that there isn't that amazing track record of that final clutch gear, and seems quite emotional with his reactions.

With Rinne, he was the sole reason we reached the final in the 2014 World Championships, the team was so weak otherwise, so it's hard to hold the final loss in any way against him. I guess I like his celebral style more.

Or am I doing a great unjustice to Rask with these few examples?

Then again, another season to go through and see who is doing better when the time comes. The marginal, at this point, is probably too small to make a call either way.

 

[roto]

I don't understand how anyone can claim now that either Rinne or Rask will be the best choice to start in World Cup next year. Goalies don't win games by old merits. Even a good post season next season doesn't mean that the goalie will be equally good after the summer 2016.

In NHL regular season goalie can have many bad/average games and be still considered 'elite'. A short tournament is about winning all the games (at least important ones). It doesn't help if goalie performs generally very well if he stinks in QF. Both Rinne and Rask have ability to steal games and perform very well, but they both have bad/average days too.

Rinne has been in many WHCs so casual fans have noticed that he is mortal even though he's considered 'elite'. Rask has played only few games in national team so he still has his partial immortal status on. We need more samples from Rask to determine how he generally performs in short international tournaments. It doesn't mean that he can't be trusted but Rask isn't a guaranteed key to victory either.

 

[QnebO]

Who is better than Rask then? Not many, in any league not many.. And Rask is no where near old. Rinne is good competition for him. Both are used to small rinks. Goalies are generally better at around 30's than early 20's.

 

[Yarborough]

No matter the roster, I will be cheering for Finland at this thing.

 

[jfc64]

Which one of 'em do you mean?

Leftovers, Kari Lehtonen?

 

[HC Jets]

It's certainly hard to set them apart by merit. Rask is a Vezina winner (and has a cup to his name, but only as backup), whereas Rinne probably would have won with his last season performance on most other years. Both have also been superb in the NT, with Rinne leading weaker WHC squads to success while Rask was perhaps the best netminder in Sochi.

I guess it just boils down to who your gut tells is the better goalie. Curiously, those preferring Rinne have been mostly Canadian, whereas the Finns in this thread are in favor of Rask. I'm inclined to agree with my fellow countrymen.

Carey Price, Henrik Lundqvist, Jonas Hiller were all better than Rask at the Olympics in 2014. Rask was lit up against Austria and the only reason Finland won that game is because they scored 8 goals.

 

[HC Jets]

Trade proposal: Johnny Oduya (defense) for your fourth goalie?

A deal good for both sides!!!!!!!

 

[FiLe]

Leftovers, Kari Lehtonen?

Normally I'd tell you to go play with yourself, but given the bad comedy this whole thing already is... yeah, sure, why not?

And hey, it shouldn't be hard to sell it to Gary either. More marketable names into the tournament, because Finland doesn't have to bring an euro defenseman and Sweden avoids bringing an euro goalie.


Hmm, maybe we could turn this into a business... sell Rämö to Team Leftovers for Nino Niederreiter (because we could use a scorer too) and Saros to YoungGunz for Dougie Hamilton.

 

[FiLe]

Carey Price, Henrik Lundqvist, Jonas Hiller were all better than Rask at the Olympics in 2014. Rask was lit up against Austria and the only reason Finland won that game is because they scored 8 goals.

Despite being "lit up" in that one game, his totals aren't too shabby... it was the first game, and whole team was still finding its sea legs. Let's not forget Rask was the biggest single reason why Finland beat Russia in the QF and didn't do half bad either against USA in the bronze game. Many also say Finland would have been in the GMG if Rask hadn't caught the flu before the semi-final.

But I wasn't saying he was THE best, just "perhaps" the best. There are certainly names that can challenge.

 

[Zakkk]

Carey Price, Henrik Lundqvist, Jonas Hiller were all better than Rask at the Olympics in 2014. Rask was lit up against Austria and the only reason Finland won that game is because they scored 8 goals.

Did you even watch the games? After the first game Rask was Rask. Also, Price and Lundqvist had MUCH better defense playing in front of them.

Please try again.

 

[crowi]

Carey Price, Henrik Lundqvist, Jonas Hiller were all better than Rask at the Olympics in 2014. Rask was lit up against Austria and the only reason Finland won that game is because they scored 8 goals.

Rask was one of the main reasons Finland even got a medal. Laughable comment.

 

[Erikfromfin]

I quess could update prediction now knowing whose trending up and down in the bigleague.


Mikael Granlund - Aleksander Barkov - Teemu Pulkkinen
Valtteri Filppula - Mikko Koivu'C' - Joonas Donskoi
Jussi Jokinen'A' - Jori Lehterä - Teuvo Teräväinen
Leo Komarov'A' - Joonas Kemppainen - Lauri Korpikoski
Mikko Rantanen

Olli Määttä - Sami Vatanen
Esa Lindell - Rasmus Ristolainen
Jyrki Jokipakka - Ville Pokka
Petteri Lindbohm

Tuukka Rask
Pekka Rinne
Juuse Saros

Lauri Marjamäki



Keen eye on players outside mainly Erik Haula, Markus Granlund, Pakarinen/Salomäki/Hartikainen, euro defenders and Koskinen/Raanta/Lehtonen/Niemi/Rämö/Ortio

 

[FiLe]

I quess could update prediction now knowing whose trending up and down in the bigleague.


Mikael Granlund - Aleksander Barkov - Teemu Pulkkinen
Valtteri Filppula - Mikko Koivu'C' - Joonas Donskoi
Jussi Jokinen'A' - Jori Lehterä - Teuvo Teräväinen
Leo Komarov'A' - Joonas Kemppainen - Lauri Korpikoski
Mikko Rantanen

Olli Määttä - Sami Vatanen
Esa Lindell - Rasmus Ristolainen
Jyrki Jokipakka - Ville Pokka
Petteri Lindbohm

Tuukka Rask
Pekka Rinne
Juuse Saros

It's a minor detail, but no way at this stage is Pokka above Lindbohm in the regular lineup, right-hooked or no. It's still not a feature that books a slot over an otherwise better player. Especially in the bottom pair.

I also see Rämö or Ortio being 3rd goalie before Saros. Lehtonen/Niemi probably too high-profile for that.

 

[ToBBa]

Mi Granlund - Barkov - Pulkkinen
Teräväinen - Lehterä - Donskoi
Filppula - Koivu - Rantanen
Komarov - Kemppainen - Korpikoski
Ma Granlund, Haula

Vatanen - Määttä
Ristolainen - Lindell
Jokipakka - Lindbohm
Honka

Rask
Rinne
Saros

 

[Loffer]

Tell me guys just how suddenly this Donskoi guy is a lock on the team?? I mean, a guy who was so bad some few years back it wasn't even funny. All the guy did was trying to dangle through a maze and got lost while trying to figure it all out by looking down at his skates.

The guy who hasn't played one single NHL game. And one decent year in the Liiga plus one Skoda Cup with decency.

C'mon now, shiny new toy toddlers!

As I said, this ain't even funny.

 

[FiLe]

re: Donskoi

He's making the Sharks lineup, that's why. And while things are looking up, we're still not exactly swimming in prime age scoring wingers. If you look at established options, we have Juice Jokinen, and... that's about it. The rest are just glorified grinders like Komarov, Ruutu and Korpikoski. Sure, we have a bunch of centers some of whom can (and will) be slotted into wings, but sticking three guys with a pure "pass first" mentality into a line has never been a highly successful experiment.

So we're down to the unproven options, albeit ones whose prospects of breaking the league are looking good or at least decent. And out of them, only Pulkkinen currently has more merit than Donskoi. Rantanen could be one as the season passes and Armia too - Kapanen as well, but he's a long shot. A year from now will obviously be too early for Laine & Pulju - with luck we'll have one or both vying for spots by 2018.

Bottom line, there's plenty of nice-looking prospects, but not a great amount of NT/NHL ready players yet. And Donskoi, at the very least, is quite high on the list of "players likely to make it".


Luckily, it's all just a silly exhibition tournament. Here's hoping that we actually have a good selection of established names (preferably Donskoi among them) available by 2018.
And here's hoping too, that they actually get to go.

 

[JJTT]

Tell me guys just how suddenly this Donskoi guy is a lock on the team?? I mean, a guy who was so bad some few years back it wasn't even funny. All the guy did was trying to dangle through a maze and got lost while trying to figure it all out by looking down at his skates.

The guy who hasn't played one single NHL game. And one decent year in the Liiga plus one Skoda Cup with decency.

C'mon now, shiny new toy toddlers!

As I said, this ain't even funny.

Would you rather have another useless left handed grinder a'la Bergenheim or Ruutu there?

 

[Loffer]

Would you rather have another useless left handed grinder a'la Bergenheim or Ruutu there?

Tell me for example just when Donskoi became the better one compared to Armia.

Okay, maybe I should ask what the heck happened to Armia, instead. But anyways, it doesn't make Donskoi suddenly a top-6 guy in so called Team Finland.