2017-2018 liiga talk

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Artorius Horus T

sincerety
Nov 12, 2014
19,124
11,839
Suomi/Finland
8.9.2017 IT BEGINS,LESS THAN 2 MONTHS AWAY,
51 DAYS 22H 27 MIN TO BE EXACT,JIPPPIIIIII :yo: :popcorn:

17-18 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDHULE

http://liiga.fi/ottelut/2017-2018/runkosarja/

TRADES FOR 2017-2018
- as they were 13th of july

http://liiga.fi/uutiset/2017/07/13/tassa-ovat-liigan-pelaajasiirrot-kaudelle-20172018

------------

2016-2017

top3 : Tappara <gold> Kalpa <silver> JYP <bronze>

top 6 reg (60 games) :

Tappara 44 w | 127 points | goals for 187 goals against 129
TPS 38 w | 114 points | goals for 167 goals against 123
Kalpa 37 w | 112 points | goals for 168 goals against 140
JYP 37 w | 111 points | goals for 160 goals against 123
HPK 35 w | 98 points | goals for 153 goals against 136
Pelicans 31 w | 93 points | goals for 157 goals against 150

------------

I think after 17-18 season there will be a new champion

3 most interesting teams,in my mind are: (not in particular order
nor do i claim that these 3 will be the best 3 in the league,
yet more interesting and whom i think will do great and
have a change to be in top 6 after season ends)

HPK,JYP,ILVES

ILVES:

i think they have the best goalie duo,
Lehtonen was already one of the best goalies
last season and Ruusu addition,gives them great duo,
young,but great.

super interesting young players in their forwards line up
Otto Koivula,Joona Koppanen,Ville Meskanen,Juho Liuksiala,
Eemeli Suomi,Niko Ahoniemi,Arttu Ruotsalainen,Joona Ikonen
...their young vet Rautiainen (25),new comers; Lepaus&Kuronen
both under 25

best PK player in the league Laakso as their captain
and if they finally can get a healthy season from their best vet
Sandell,that be a huge plus

HPK gonna be great,were good last season,improves

this team has another young,yet strong goalie duo
Larmi was top 5 goalie last season and having this years
54th overall pick (Sabres) Luukkonen backing him up isn't
bad at all

they are one of the biggest teams in the league in upcoming
season 13 players at 6 foot 2 - 6 foot 7 range 10x 200 pounds
or more

this team also gots great young forwards,not as many
as Ilves but,enough in key roles,Vesalainen,Turunen,Tuulola,
highlight the absolute best and whom be playing in key roles,
other youngs include Ruokonen,Innala and Kainulainen

two former star players; Janne Lahti&Mikko Lehtonen,quality
center trio Paajanen,Leino,Keränen,can't say much about the
new comer swede Backman who arrives from norway,
scored 27 goals,56 points in 42 games last season

JYP in my books,one of the favorites to win the league

this team goes for experience and putting the old band back together,
14 players in 26-37 age range

F: Immonen,Hytönen,Tuppurainen,Louhivaara,Lahti,
Kolehmainen,Puustinen

D: Mäenpää,Kalteva,Kuukka,Yonkman

above highlight the best of the veterans

but...JYP is not all experience,their best player;
forward Antti Suomela is only 23 and one of JYP
top players; forward Jerry Turkulainen is only 18,
very impoertant role player forward Henri Kanninen
is only 22

solid goaltending duo Olkinuora&Laurikainen
- although Laurikainen is a question mark

---

well this was my opening for this one,please lets talk more
(hopefully this one gets to be the one,which gets the sticky treatment)
 
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ChicagoBullsFan

Registered User
Jun 6, 2015
6,078
1,909
Finland
Here's my liiga predictions.

Regular season
1 Tappara
2 JYP
3 HPK
4 Kalpa
5 Pelicans¨
6 Ilves
7 TPS
8 Kärpät
9 Saipa
10 Kookoo
11 Lukko
12 Ässät
13 Jukurit
14 Sport
15 HIFK ( HIFK is total mystery they can make playoff qualification round if all goes perfect but they can flop too. Turbulence is back)

Medal teams
Gold Tappara
Silver JYP
Bronze HPK

Top Scorer Tomas Zaborsky
Best goal scorer Tomas Zaborsky
Best Defenceman Miro Heiskanen
Rookie of the year Jesperi Kotkaniemi
Best Goalie Ukko Pekka Luukkonen
First coach fired Ari Pekka Selin
Best coach Antti Pennanen
Most penalized player Joe Finley.
Best referee Jari Levonen.
 

Artorius Horus T

sincerety
Nov 12, 2014
19,124
11,839
Suomi/Finland
Here's my liiga predictions.

Regular season
1 Tappara
2 JYP
3 HPK
4 Kalpa
5 Pelicans¨
6 Ilves
7 TPS
8 Kärpät
9 Saipa
10 Kookoo
11 Lukko
12 Ässät
13 Jukurit
14 Sport
15 HIFK ( HIFK is total mystery they can make playoff qualification round if all goes perfect but they can flop too. Turbulence is back)

Medal teams
Gold Tappara
Silver JYP
Bronze HPK

Top Scorer Tomas Zaborsky
Best goal scorer Tomas Zaborsky
Best Defenceman Miro Heiskanen
Rookie of the year Jesperi Kotkaniemi
Best Goalie Ukko Pekka Luukkonen
First coach fired Ari Pekka Selin
Best coach Antti Pennanen
Most penalized player Joe Finley.
Best referee Jari Levonen.

I don't think Tappara is gonna repeat.

Once again they will be fighting for the nr 1 spot
in the regular season,but i think their roster
isn't deep enough this season to win it,Tappara
didn't acquire enough talent to replace the
players that left the team,Zaborsky alone just
isn't enough,big troubles in scoring goals for
Tappara,particularly in the play-offs. also,
Hrachovina is going to play too many games.

I do agree about HIFK's situation,they are in big trouble i think
their roster looks so bad,even more so if Dallas thinks
Heiskanen is ready,which more and more starting to seem
he just might be.

KVesalainen,ETuulola,one of the Ilves young guns
will have better chance of winning the rookie of the year,
but i think Kotkaniemi might be in that list,there are
so many players this season who can win it,at least 10.

My prediction for the top scorer would be,(if i'd had to predict)
from Ilves, Otto Koivula,he is big (194cm 102 kg) fast,
strong,had a great rookie season (12+23) scored 8
pp goals,at times totally dominated in the play-offs
versus Tappara,he just have that special something.
 

ChicagoBullsFan

Registered User
Jun 6, 2015
6,078
1,909
Finland
I don't think Tappara is gonna repeat.

Once again they will be fighting for the nr 1 spot
in the regular season,but i think their roster
isn't deep enough this season to win it,Tappara
didn't acquire enough talent to replace the
players that left the team,Zaborsky alone just
isn't enough,big troubles in scoring goals for
Tappara,particularly in the play-offs. also,
Hrachovina is going to play too many games.

I do agree about HIFK's situation,they are in big trouble i think
their roster looks so bad,even more so if Dallas thinks
Heiskanen is ready,which more and more starting to seem
he just might be.

KVesalainen,ETuulola,one of the Ilves young guns
will have better chance of winning the rookie of the year,
but i think Kotkaniemi might be in that list,there are
so many players this season who can win it,at least 10.

My prediction for the top scorer would be,(if i'd had to predict)
from Ilves, Otto Koivula,he is big (194cm 102 kg) fast,
strong,had a great rookie season (12+23) scored 8
pp goals,at times totally dominated in the play-offs
versus Tappara,he just have that special something.

Yeah HIFK's roster is huge questionmark Erik Thorell and Juhani Tyrväinen are OK signings Selin has front his coaching careers hugest challenge.
To get that really mediocre HIFK playing well and perhaps making playoff qualification round which is the maximum result to HIFK this season.

As a HIFK fan i really hope that HIFK flops and badly.
That will be exactly that wakeup call what HIFK's management really needs to make that necessary change what HIFK fans have been waiting for years.
Yes i'm talking firing Tom Nybondas.

When i thought liiga's rookie of the year this season i named Jesperi Kotkaniemi because he was very good in U18 WJC's this past April.
And he's probably only 2000 born player who will have some chances to make Finland's world junior team.
Also i do think Kotkaniemi will have bigger role in Ässät's liiga team than Niklas Nordgren has in HIFK.

Of course as HIFK fan i wanna see Niklas Nordgren being rookie of the year in liiga this season but i don't think he'll get much games in HIFK's liiga team.
Nordgren will be that HIFK player who'll get my attention this season if Heiskanen really makes it in Dallas and plays to NHL.

Yeah Tappara has lost their key players after last season ( 2016-2017) but they have still one of the best teams in liiga.
There is chance if Sebastian Repo won't get NHL spot in Florida it's really likely Repo returns to Tappara in that situation.
And that world junior fiasco in Montreal won't change that fact Rautakorpi is really good liiga coach especially to older players.
 
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rduck1

Registered User
Dec 26, 2013
1,078
9
Finland
Tappara is an absolute, unquestionable favourite IMO. They dominated the past few seasons, and this iteration looks even stronger at this point. Their defence and wingers are just ridiculous, and while they seem a bit iffy at center, you just know they're going to get a top-tier reinforcement out of nowhere at the transfer deadline. I would put their odds of winning both the regular season and the championship above 50% if it weren't for the strange coaching change.

JYP does seem like they can give them a decent challenge though, but beyond those two I don't see any other team having a very good chance. Kärpät, TPS, Lukko and HIFK are all in weird transition periods(so it's quite hard to tell how they'll do), and the rest don't really have the resources to pose a significant challenge unless they get get carried by a number of unexpected breakout performances.
 

Sanf

Registered User
Sep 8, 2012
1,943
902
I believe it may be start of the hangover for Tappara. Replacing Savinainen and Lajunen is hard and this far I don´t see them doing particularly good job

I´m goalie enthusiast and there is big group of young goalies in league. Excited to see if there is goalies that can raise their game for EHT level. I have expected lot from Janne Juvonen. Hoping that he would be able to take the next step. I believe that Kähkönen and even Lankinen has potential to raise their game to that level. Niilo Halonen has been under radar for while but I have high hopes for him though playing time might be limited in HIFK. NCAA has been good road for Finnish goalies lately. Tirronen is very interesting. And I truely hope that Sebastian Ylönen gets a contract with Lukko.

Ofcourse it´s hard to predict when the preseason hasn´t even started yet.
 

filip85

Registered User
Feb 7, 2017
1,589
779
Croatian forward Borna Rendulic (25) signed one year contract with Lahti Pelicans.
 

master4071

Registered User
Nov 30, 2011
311
0
Why Jussi Tapola was moved from head coach to Director of Hockey Operation role? Is this because of his national team duty? Do you guys think he can be next Finland head coach after Marjamaki or it's too soon for him?
 

ChicagoBullsFan

Registered User
Jun 6, 2015
6,078
1,909
Finland
Why Jussi Tapola was moved from head coach to Director of Hockey Operation role? Is this because of his national team duty? Do you guys think he can be next Finland head coach after Marjamaki or it's too soon for him?

Hopefully not Tapola hasn't achieved much success international stage so hiring him next Finland men's national team head coach is big mistake.
If next head coach isn't Karri Kivi or Jukka Jalonen or Jussi Ahokas then give that job for a north american coach.

Tapola is good liiga coach but huge questionmark in national team just like Marjamaki is / was.
 
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filip85

Registered User
Feb 7, 2017
1,589
779
Is it possible to buy Liiga games to watch it online, but for whole season and for one team ? Like in NHL and KHL.
 

loits

Registered User
Sep 13, 2017
1
0
Hey ! Just subscribed after seeing you guys talking about the Ruutu subscription to watch Liiga...

I tried to do it, but it requests a finnish adress to complete the subscription... Is this really working for foreigners or is there another way to watch Liiga?

Thanks a lot for your help, folks !
 

Bakayoko Ono

Registered User
Aug 12, 2007
4,659
713
Helsinki
Their Q&A page certainly states that Liiga games are available globally. You should contact their customer service or just use some random but valid Finnish address like Salomonkatu 17 B, 00100 Helsinki.
 

QnebO

Wheel, snipe, celly
Feb 11, 2010
9,763
644
Hey ! Just subscribed after seeing you guys talking about the Ruutu subscription to watch Liiga...

I tried to do it, but it requests a finnish adress to complete the subscription... Is this really working for foreigners or is there another way to watch Liiga?

Thanks a lot for your help, folks !

I sent your question to Ruutu via their feedback form on their website. I hope they actually read them and answer it. I will then post the solution here If I get one.

I bet it works if you just put random finnisha address in though.
 

ChicagoBullsFan

Registered User
Jun 6, 2015
6,078
1,909
Finland
What's wrong with HIFK.
It's hard to believe that one top teams in liiga which have biggest player budget ( 3,2 million) every season is right now bottom five team with Ilves,Sport,Jukurit and Saipa.

In Wednesday night HIFK lost after shootout contest vs Ilves.
Yeah HIFK has once again several players sidelined due to injuries.

This isn't looking good and it's matter of time when Selin gets fired.
HIFK's 120th anniversary season is turning into a big fiasco.

Also guys like Joonas Rask, Erik Thorell and Patrick Carlsson are flopping due to expectations.
Actually whole team is big disgrace right now.

Only player who's worth of his salary is Atte Engren.
Sad but true.
 

Icejoker

Registered User
Sep 14, 2015
501
164
What's wrong with HIFK.
It's hard to believe that one top teams in liiga which have biggest player budget ( 3,2 million) every season is right now bottom five team with Ilves,Sport,Jukurit and Saipa.

In Wednesday night HIFK lost after shootout contest vs Ilves.
Yeah HIFK has once again several players sidelined due to injuries.

This isn't looking good and it's matter of time when Selin gets fired.
HIFK's 120th anniversary season is turning into a big fiasco.

Also guys like Joonas Rask, Erik Thorell and Patrick Carlsson are flopping due to expectations.
Actually whole team is big disgrace right now.

Only player who's worth of his salary is Atte Engren.
Sad but true.
Didnt You predict the team to get last. But your other predictions are not so good. The best defenceman is injured,the best goolie not in the league and when should the top scorer start to score.
 

Rcknrollkillnmachine

Registered User
Sep 22, 2017
576
402
Finland
What's wrong with HIFK.
It's hard to believe that one top teams in liiga which have biggest player budget ( 3,2 million) every season is right now bottom five team with Ilves,Sport,Jukurit and Saipa.

In Wednesday night HIFK lost after shootout contest vs Ilves.
Yeah HIFK has once again several players sidelined due to injuries.

This isn't looking good and it's matter of time when Selin gets fired.
HIFK's 120th anniversary season is turning into a big fiasco.

Also guys like Joonas Rask, Erik Thorell and Patrick Carlsson are flopping due to expectations.
Actually whole team is big disgrace right now.

Only player who's worth of his salary is Atte Engren.
Sad but true.

I was about to start a thread on this. Glad someone asked. Total shambles but this was coming from last season.
 

ChicagoBullsFan

Registered User
Jun 6, 2015
6,078
1,909
Finland
And looks like a 1-3 loss to Jukurit in the final two minutes. Long season ahead.

You're right the season will be extremely long.
It's coming really obvious sooner than later coach Selin gets fired.

But if HIFK will do that then it means that Tom Nybondas must go as well.
Mr Nybondas is lousiest sport manager in Finnish liiga that moron do not have any clue how to build SM liiga championship contender liiga team every year.

And yes HIFK lost 2-3 for Jukurit.
 

SoupyFIN

#OneTerritory
Nov 7, 2011
41,382
3,380
It's coming really obvious sooner than later coach Selin gets fired.
And what purpose is that going to serve, other than pleading to the masses with pitchforks?

Look at the roster and the groundwork left by Törmänen from last season. The results shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.
 

Albatros

Registered User
Aug 19, 2017
12,273
7,723
Ostsee
What's wrong with HIFK.
It's hard to believe that one top teams in liiga which have biggest player budget ( 3,2 million) every season is right now bottom five team with Ilves,Sport,Jukurit and Saipa.

To be honest their roster doesn't look anywhere near the most expensive in the league. Maybe it's difficult to lure top Finnish talent with Jokerit next door, but if someone thought that Patrik Carlsson would be a legit 1C ready to carry a team then that's all on him.
 

ChicagoBullsFan

Registered User
Jun 6, 2015
6,078
1,909
Finland
To be honest their roster doesn't look anywhere near the most expensive in the league. Maybe it's difficult to lure top Finnish talent with Jokerit next door, but if someone thought that Patrik Carlsson would be a legit 1C ready to carry a team then that's all on him.

Only who thought that was mr Nybondas.
That braindead idiot do not have any liability on whatsoever and also no clue how to build a hockey team.
 

ChicagoBullsFan

Registered User
Jun 6, 2015
6,078
1,909
Finland
And what purpose is that going to serve, other than pleading to the masses with pitchforks?

Look at the roster and the groundwork left by Törmänen from last season. The results shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

Firing Selin do not serve nothing.
Only who should get fired is Tom Nybondas.
But firing him is nearly impossible because Nybondas is a guy who works for HIFK's owner liiga IFK föreningen or whatever that owner was.

So if someone will lost his job it's Selin.
Nybondas won't lost his job so long before HIFK is near bankruptcy.
 

Rcknrollkillnmachine

Registered User
Sep 22, 2017
576
402
Finland
I watched the HPK - Kärpät match which was great. HPK look quite good and Kärpät look to be recovering after last season. Great sets of fans.

IFK again another loss this time to Saipa. As a friend of mine said: "Selin. Right coach, wrong team."
 
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