FiLe
Mr. Know-It-Nothing
- Oct 9, 2009
- 6,928
- 1,296
For the one time I try not to be racially indiscriminating, it backfires...Not brother but that's ok
I'm still trying to understand how we ended up with 3 lines of grinders. Erkka's usually been a skill coach so this is baffling. I also don't know what he thought he would get out of OJ with linemates like that considering there's probably no other Finnish coach who knows OJ better than him. With Erkka's recent logic I won't be surprised if Haula ends up on the 4th line.
Yeah, I've been trying to make sense of it too. Only somewhat reasonable explanation I can come to is a combination of bad luck and Erkka having a different view on some players.
Let's keep in mind that we "lost" Aaltonen even before the games began. Okay, Erkka replaced him with another skill guy when he took Palola, so the ratio essentially remained the same. However, then we lost Jormakka and he's not fully a grinder either.
Finally, while we think players like Komarov, Pakarinen and Salomäki as nothing but grinders, Erkka might actually see some hidden skill in them. Or not so hidden actually, if you look at their club team stats. Before the games began, I suspected that Erkka might see some Tuomo Ruutu lite in Salomäki.
Let's keep in mind that in Sochi, OJ was starting the games with Korpikoski and Ruutu and not being half bad with them - so it's not entirely unreasonable to assume Erkka thought it might work here too. Well, it didn't - pretty obviously for the reason that those two are high-level NHLers and you can just place two Euro/AHL substitutes in their stead and expect similar results. I don't want to dis Komarov, but he might need some more time in the NHL to get on the same page.
Looking at tonight's lineup, I have to say though that Erkka is not completely thick. It's a pretty clear indicator that he's come into realization that the stuff he's planned has backfired royally. A little too late, but eh, better late than never. I'm just happy there's finally an interesting lineup and also that we seem to have averted the relegation threat, so I can just put my feet up and enjoy the rest of the games no matter what happens.