GDT: Group H • May 13 • Finland 0, United States 5

[FinnswissX]

The hit of Salmela was really dirty and useless. It's good that he is banned for the next 3 games and if Finland goes on playing like the last game against USA for the rest of the tournament. He is a shame for the NT.

Ok it was for the Finns a frustrating game but this is no excuse. As coach I would really rethink to let him play again in the NT.

I really hope Finland finds a way to improve their play again and finds back to the level of the Canada game in first period and beginning second. In this game they had also bad luck with 2 shots on the post.

 

[Joe MacMillan]

Perhaps underdogs compared to the opposition, but they still both got teams consisting of the most talented Finnish player crop ever - aged to their prime. Finland has never had a team as strong on paper as they had in the last World Cup.

Jalonen never got that chance - he operated largely with the same material, but the years had taken their toll. Resultwise, that puts the Vancouver bronze on line with those achievements. Gameplaywise, that tournament of course left a lot to be desired, I'm not going to deny that.

So yeah, Jalonen may not be the undisputed best coach Finland has ever had, but he is definitely a contender.

What about the team in '06 after getting a total of 7 withdrawals, including two of our top goalies and a young offensive defenseman who was having a career year, which was the highest number among all teams. That team and defense got friggin' Antero Niittymäki the MVP award. It was far from a stacked team and was considerably weaker on paper than the Canadian and Russian teams which our team held scoreless. They executed the gameplan perfectly under Westerlund and completely streamrolled their way to the final, having a record of the least GAA and the best GF in 7 games until the final.

 

[FiLe]

What about the team in '06 after getting a total of 7 withdrawals, including both of our top goalies and a young offensive defenseman who was having a career year, which was the highest number among all teams.

It was still essentially the same team as in the World Cup. All the key players were pretty much the same and the drop in level between the declining players and their replacements was hardly noticeable.

It was one of the most shining accomplishments of Finnish hockey, sure. But like I said, the fact that Jalonen got bronze with a squad that had the same core, but on a brink of retirement and severely banged up.

In the end, I'm not saying who was the better coach, Westerlund/Summanen or Jalonen, all I'm saying is that the amount of talent in player pools is so wildly different between their eras that they don't exactly compare. If you make Raato or Erkka coach the same squads Jalonen has, the result may not be any better - nor worse.

 

[William H Bonney]

Caps reporter Tarik El-Bashir confirmed that Carlson was asked and declined. Nagging injury and he's also an RFA.