GDT: Group B • Dec. 26 • Finland 1, Canada 8 • Part II

[4thliner*]

Yes, he's benefiting playing with Huberdeau.

So Huberdeau plays for the Wheat Kings in the Dub too cuz Stone was the leading CHL scorer and was scoring at will in the pre-tourney competition @ will when Huberdeau was on the sidelines just the same.

 

[f1nn]

The way i see it in a short tourney like this is you can always improve from the first game, never the last... stop trying to be pretty Finland, you're not Russia.. and if yoou do get a nice pass PUT THE PUCK IN THE NET.. we need to start teaching shooting skills from an earlier age.. Markus off the first line, Barkov in.. he's go the size to get the dirty work done and the skill to make the nice pass..

 

[rick3652]

DSP out for 4 to 6 weeks. Canada will miss him a lot. I was glad to see Strome started to play like he use to play last year.

 

[Jesus Christ Horburn]

Losing DSP sucks, but if guys like Scheifele, Pearson, Connolly, Howden, etc. can find their stride like Huberdeau, Stone and Strome have, I think we should be okay.

 

[habsrule4eva3089]

Losing DSP sucks, but if guys like Scheifele, Pearson, Connolly, Howden, etc. can find their stride like Huberdeau, Stone and Strome have, I think we should be okay.

Especially Connolly! I expected much more from him returning from the NHL! Hopefully he gets that spring in his step and starts breaking out the next couple of games here.

 

[MMANumminen]

huh...

good that i got drunk before the game and fell asleep...

Embarrassing numbers...come home, its not a holiday

 

[Proust*]

Had Stone not finished of those 2 set-ups from behind the net beautifully ESPECIALLY that big 3rd goal that was the turning point after the fins got back into it and started skating, Hub would not of had those assists. The 3rd goal he went to the net and like so many goals scored later by Canada i.e. Hubby's was meaningless by then. But Stone's first 2 goals were HUGE.

Mark Stone scored 3 goals. We don't need his mother coming in here to hype him.

 

[leafsfuture]

Great game all around!

Ryan Strome made up for his lack of production in the pre-games and the scrimmages. Was strong on the puck and complemented Stone and Huberdeau well.

When healthy, Huberdeau is by far the most talented player we have, has more offensive skill than Connolly, Schwartz, Stone anyone. Hopefully his skating can improve because hes not going to have the same kind of space he had today against Sweden and Russia and the US.

Stone is sick. Nuff said.

Brandon Gormely may be the tourney's best defenceman. He is so solid on both ends of the ice, and looks a step above the competition, much like Pietro did 2 years ago. That being said its only Finland

Dougie Hamilton had a good game, but im not sure if hes ready for the minutes. He fumbled the puck in his own zone a few times, and made some mistakes. You can see the potential, and I know he will be a big time player, but I wonder if it would be better if Pysyk took his position right now so that Dougie can focus more on offence

Murray and Harrington, especially the latter were simply solid. Murray seems like his mobility still isnt where it has been, but you can see his smarts. Harrington especially could be the surprise of the tourney. Reminds me a bit of Scandella, except his 18

Schiefele has to step it up. Im not seeing anywhere near the desire or puck poise that I saw when he played for the Jets against Toronto and was unlucky to only get 1 goal. The talent is there, but when the US and Russia show up with their strong teams we are going to need multiple sources of offence. Thats him.

Overall, as good a 1st game as possible. That being said Finland, for all its offensive talent, has absolutely no defence, and they struggled to gain puck possession. Guys like Brodin and Klinberg on Sweden, and Merrill and Forbort on the US arent going to give up the puck that easy and will push the pace. We saw that in the Sweden game how much faster they were. Canada will have to adapt.

 

[OttawaRoughRiderFan*]

Is there a way to tie Visentin to the middle of the net???

If he loses the net like he did tonight against the Americans, we will lose and finish 2nd in the division.

If he gives up good (not great) goaltending, we will win on New Years Eve.

 

[Gags89]

Anyone have some video of the ceremony after the game?

 

[llwyd]

Awful, awful, awful. It doesn't really matter that Canada was clearly the better team. Finland will often play against stronger teams and it will often lose to them. But. Our trademarks are discipline, intensity, tight team defence. Not to be like headless chickens in our own zone. This game was a disgrace, and as fond I am of Helminen, a true legend, he seems not to be up to the task at all. He bears the ultimate responsibility for this debacle.

Anyway, didn't watch the game to the bitter end, and am now hearing of a Canadian time-out when the game was 8-1. Is this true? So, Finland was so bad that it doesn't need to be respected? Not very classy if true.

 

[RorschachWJK]

GG Canada.

Couple of things seemed evident considering Finland:

1. The team was not ready and not as physical and gritty as they can be. I blame coach Helminen for that. This was the biggest thing.
2. The D-men were clearly too young and inexperienced to handle this. Some of them have size but yet they were wholly ineffective in front of the net.
3. We tried to play big-ice hockey which will never work against a NA team in a small rink.
4. Mi Granlund needs to shoot more and we need people in front of the net.

 

[RorschachWJK]

its all about Helminen but not Granlund,Pulkkinen,Armia, Barkov and other mighty finns, right

Still bitter about the lacrosse goal? ;-)

 

[RorschachWJK]

Sometimes when a player gets neutralized it is because the opposition does a good job shutting him down, too. Don't put it all on this kid. I'm sure he wanted to do better out there.

He wasn't shut down, he was creating a lot of chances. The problem was that he didn't shoot at all. That's what he should've done when the others weren't burying the chances he was creating. Specifically Markus Granlund needs to be moved to the 2nd or 3rd line.

 

[Lennu]

He wasn't shut down, he was creating a lot of chances. The problem was that he didn't shoot at all. That's what he should've done when the others weren't burying the chances he was creating. Specifically Markus Granlund needs to be moved to the 2nd or 3rd line.

This. Mikke should've earned maybe 0+3 but Pulkkinen and Markus just didn't score.

Would love to see Salomäki or Armia with Mikke and Pulu.

 

[Lennu]

wrong thread

 

[Roland of Gilead]

The whole finnish team:

Bunch of scared little lambs running away from hits

 

[Hagged]

^ at least they look happy little lambs.

 

[cenas*]

^ at least they look happy little lambs.

Atleast they knew nearly no Finns actually watched the game..


Using Helminen as a coach is similar to having Doug Weight as the coach.

 

[QnebO]

Now when slept over the night I have very good north american style explanation for this: No one gives a **** about WJC anyway

 

[Pajicz]

The way i see it in a short tourney like this is you can always improve from the first game, never the last... stop trying to be pretty Finland, you're not Russia.. and if yoou do get a nice pass PUT THE PUCK IN THE NET.. we need to start teaching shooting skills from an earlier age.. Markus off the first line, Barkov in.. he's go the size to get the dirty work done and the skill to make the nice pass..

Barkov is too slow to play as winger, I'd probably put either Donskoi or Salomäki to the left wing.

 

[bebl]

WC gold made me blind.... Didn't member finnish style is freeze in these kind of games.

 

[vsk92]

terrible game last night from the finns, but hopefully that was a wake-up call and lessons have been learnt and we can kickstart from here

 

[llwyd]

terrible game last night from the finns, but hopefully that was a wake-up call and lessons have been learnt and we can kickstart from here

But what lessons? That they are Finnish hockey players and are supposed to play the bloody game on ice, to have discipline, intensity and tight team defence? And the wake-up call would be that they should not sleep there? Canada's press wasn't even especially aggressive for Canada but our defenders looked like headless chickens out there. Finns are supposed to know how to defend against Canada, even if we are likely to lose most games with best teams. That was a bloody, embarrasing shambles yesterday.

 

[ThinMcWhistle]

I am going to single out a few players here.

Gibson was awful... Enough said. He made a few decent saves in the 1st, and after that collapsed completely... Giving up soft goals from mediocre shots from the side.

Helminen.... Not pulling Gibson after it was 4-1. I realize that it may have been due to an injury to Aittokallio though (why not dress the 3rd goalie during the intermission?).

Finnish defense was like watching a bunch of Janne Niinimaas standing around the net and doing imitations of blocking shots. Especially horrid was Ristolainen who looked like a pylon planted near the net on at least 2 of the goals that Canada scored.

Teemu Pulkkinen... Did not shoot the puck at the net when he had chances. Opted to pass the puck to waste instead.

Only positive goes to Mikael Granlund who created chances on the ice but did not have a shooter worth his salt. Also mention to Alex Ruuttu, for his nice goal.

All I can say is this team better pull it's head out of it's collective ass sooner than later or we will be lucky to make it through this tournament without relagation.

/rant