I'll riot if he doesn't play with Tolvanen at WJC. Then put a bigger guy like Vesalainen as the last guy to retrieve pucks for them and voilà you have the next Laine-Aho-Pulju
Are you really sure that he will not be played as a center in the junior national team?Only way them to play together is, if the other one plays RW because both are LW's
Heponiemi-????-Tolvanen
Koppanen?
I was thinking Vesalainen-Heponiemi-Tolvanen. Finns are lacking top tier centers so he'll probably play there. I know you said he is bad at faceoffs but so are many NHL centers and they still do fine in the position.Only way them to play together is, if the other one plays RW because both are LW's
Heponiemi-????-Tolvanen
Koppanen?
100% He would be a horrible center,absolute bum on face-offsAre you really sure that he will not be played as a center in the junior national team?
I was thinking Vesalainen-Heponiemi-Tolvanen. Finns are lacking top tier centers so he'll probably play there. I know you said he is bad at faceoffs but so are many NHL centers and they still do fine in the position.
Kuokkanen is the next best C option, i guess
If Heponiemi isn't doing it, Kuokkanen is the only one I trust to play 1st line minutes. Neither Kupari or Kotkaniemi will be thrown to get 1st line matchups as center at this age. Who else is good enough to play big minutes vs lines like Middlestadt-Brown-Yamamoto, and Steel-McLeod-Kyrou (or whatever they'll throw at us). Ikonen, Räsänen, Koppanen are all decent but nothing to celebrate aboutThere is no way that he will play center,our coach is grade A
he is not blind and going to make a huge mistake like that.
We have great center selection for the wjc,what are talking about?
Maybe you remember how that coach exactly played Sebastian Aho as a center, although he had always played as winger before that? Maybe you even remember what was the result of that blind decision? And no, Finland does not have that good center lineup really. It is in fact pretty much the biggest weakness of this years U20 team.There is no way that he will play center,our coach is grade A
he is not blind and going to make a huge mistake like that.
We have great center selection for the wjc,what are you talking about?
Maybe you remember how that coach exactly played Sebastian Aho as a center, although he had always played as winger before that? Maybe you even remember what was the result of that blind decision? And no, Finland does not have that good center lineup really. It is in fact pretty much the biggest weakness of this years U20 team.
If Heponiemi isn't doing it, Kuokkanen is the only one I trust to play 1st line minutes. Neither Kupari or Kotkaniemi will be thrown to get 1st line matchups as center at this age. Who else is good enough to play big minutes vs lines like Middlestadt-Brown-Yamamoto, and Steel-McLeod-Kyrou (or whatever they'll throw at us). Ikonen, Räsänen, Koppanen are all decent but nothing to celebrate about
Are you watching Hepo play a lot this season? Because it really sounds weird how bad you claim he is at faceoffs, and at the same time at the Panthers board some people have been praising how good he has been with facoffs. I’m not sure whom I should trust with this really?Sebastian Aho is good at face-offs,Hepo's face-off ability is a joke.
- there is no way Hepo plays center position
his FO% is 38.1 right now. Not very good but that wont be the thing that stops him from playing C. McKinnon is at the same numbers this season. Rantanen takes some of the faceoffs for Avs because of that, and I dont see any reason why they couldnt do the same thing in WJC.Are you watching Hepo play a lot this season? Because it really sounds weird how bad you claim he is at faceoffs, and at the same time at the Panthers board some people have been praising how good he has been with facoffs. I’m not sure whom I should trust with this really?
You know, there's a lot more to playing center than just faceoffs.Heponiemi can't play center period
He-is-terrible at face-offs. He loses 70-75% of his face-offs,
also he has played this and last season as a winger,
so it makes no sense what so ever to switch his position.
ARäsänen,Kotkaniemi,Koppanen,Somppi,Ikonen is great center fivesome
And Borgström is scary good too. Scoring with a 2.00 PPG pace in university hockey. I think that is as close to record pace as Heponiemi’s scoring pace has been in the WHL. Unbelievably skilled two players for Florida and of course the Finnish national team. Both guys have especially incredible hands, but Borgs is a great goal scorer and Hepo is an amazing passer, maybe they could be a very dynamic duo at some point?Tippett - Trochek - Heponiemi
Or
Huberdeau - Barkov - Heponiemi
Scary future lines for the Cats, but they need to fix that defense...
Tippett - Trochek - Heponiemi
Or
Huberdeau - Barkov - Heponiemi
Scary future lines for the Cats, but they need to fix that defense...
I think they want Huberdeau& Barkov to have a shooter, both of them prefer to be playmakers.
Add Borgstrom+ Dadonov and they should have a dangerous top9.
Forgot about him oops. Panthers have an amazing future forward core. Plus they also have Mascherin.And Borgström is scary good too. Scoring with a 2.00 PPG pace in university hockey. I think that is as close to record pace as Heponiemi’s scoring pace has been in the WHL. Unbelievably skilled two players for Florida and of course the Finnish national team. Both guys have especially incredible hands, but Borgs is a great goal scorer and Hepo is an amazing passer, maybe they could be a very dynamic duo at some point?