GDT: Latvia vs Finland, Dec 29, 8:30 est

[king89]

I've liked Lassila so far. One of few that have played with heart.

 

[Shocker]

It's not even close, but Finland isn't impressive in whole, gonna be a short tourney for us barring a miracle.

 

[WarriorofTime]

latvia is worse then swiss or norway by far lol

Too small a hockey playing populace to be consistently dangerous across all age groups

 

[Luolis]

I'm not a big fan of writing Finland out yet. Latvia is obviously way weaker but its not like Finland has been dog in this game. Sweden will be the real test of this team.

 

[ijuka]

Even if it's been effective, this PP still plays pretty dumb.

I'm not a big fan of writing Finland out yet. Latvia is obviously way weaker but its not like Finland has been dog in this game. Sweden will be the real test of this team.

Finland couldn't defeat Germany, how could they defeat Sweden?


Another thing I notice is that Finland is really bad at getting good scoring chances. All the opportunities look more or less forced. Even though Latvia's giving them all sorts of opportunities. That's not a good sign.

 

[Luolis]

Even if it's been effective, this PP still plays pretty dumb.


Finland couldn't defeat Germany, how could they defeat Sweden?

Winnipeg couldn't defeat the Sharks, yet no one is saying that theyre a bad team. Upsets happen. It's a short tournament and sometimes you just need one lucky bounce to spark the team up to do well. Wouldn't be the first time that a Finnish team starts slow in an international tournament to end up taking it.

 

[SantosHalper]

Deivs Rolovs must a latvian cousin of Dwayne Roloson.

 

[czechcanadian]

2 x pp goals
1 x 5 on 5 goal

vs Latvia



Pfft

Swedes will destroy us. Count us out

3 of 6 goals for Sweden were PP vs Latvia.

And 3 of 4 goals through 2 periods were PP.

Not a great argument sorry.

 

[ijuka]

Winnipeg couldn't defeat the Sharks, yet no one is saying that theyre a bad team. Upsets happen. It's a short tournament and sometimes you just need one lucky bounce to spark the team up to do well. Wouldn't be the first time that a Finnish team starts slow in an international tournament to end up taking it.

Yeah, a couple of things to note:

First, the level difference is far greater between Finland and Germany than it is between Jets and Sharks

Second, this is a short tournament where every team knows that every game matters. NHL has 82 games in the regular season, and it's natural for performance to vary over the course of the season.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

3 of 6 goals for Sweden were PP vs Latvia.

And 3 of 4 goals through 2 periods were PP.

Not a great argument sorry.

I did notice that Swedes struggled to score 5 on 5 vs Latvia
that was my only hope, positive for todays game and game vs Sweden

WAS

i didn't expect us to struggle scoring 5 on 5 vs Latvia

I just can't see us challenge Swedes, i want to believe, but the cards just say different story

 

[Luolis]

Yeah, a couple of things to note:

First, the level difference is far greater between Finland and Germany than it is between Jets and Sharks

Second, this is a short tournament where every team knows that every game matters. NHL has 82 games in the regular season, and it's natural for performance to vary over the course of the season.

It was just an example. If you want a better example, i can give Latvia's WHC run this year. Upsets happen in bo1s. Personally i think Finland will at best get 4th place, but games aren't won on paper and previous results have no effect on the future result.


Sweden isn't some unbeatable foe for Finland, and i think its funny that this same sentiment gets thrown around every year when the team even slightly looks off. Even in the years where we eventually won.

 

[Svedu]

Aren't impressed by Finland. If they win this game and get to the quarters I'm pretty sure they get demolished by the US.

But we can always hope for better.

 

[Svedu]

No,no, let's see what happens. Hyvä Oiva.

 

[King Woodballs]

This tournament should be 6 teams and a week long.
Games like this are embarrassing.

 

[Luolis]

This tournament should be 6 teams and a week long.
Games like this are embarrassing.

True, why would we want to grow hockey in other countries than the top 6?

 

[Svedu]

This tournament should be 6 teams and a week long.
Games like this are embarrassing.

No.

Latvian players are playing a tough game now. I hope they can keep it clean and not get too frustrated.

 

[ijuka]

True, why would we want to grow hockey in other countries than the top 6?

This is such a bizarre argument. Having a 0-25 goal differential will grow the game? Wouldn't it grow the game more for the team to be playing against other teams of its own level, in games that fans might actually want to watch?

Surely you realize that there are other levels of u-20s than the highest one, right?

 

[czechcanadian]

I did notice that Swedes struggled to score 5 on 5 vs Latvia
that was my only hope, positive for todays game and game vs Sweden

WAS

i didn't expect us to struggle scoring 5 on 5 vs Latvia

I just can't see us challenge Swedes, i want to believe, but the cards just say different story

They’re not as good as Swedes for sure, but it’s 1 game. Anything can happen. Canada has looked quite a bit better than Swedes so far and I think the game will be much closer.

 

[Luolis]

This is such a bizarre argument. Having a 0-25 goal differential will grow the game? Wouldn't it grow the game more for the team to be playing against other teams of its own level, in games that fans might actually want to watch?

Surely you realize that there are other levels of u-20s than the highest one, right?

Mate we just had Germany beat Finland for the first time in the history of this tournament. Do you think that would ever have happened if they were only stuck playing vs the other middle of the pack teams?

Edit: Not to mention a big part of why Latvia isn't a division below right now is the fact that Russia is (rightfully so) missing.

 

[King Woodballs]

True, why would we want to grow hockey in other countries than the top 6?

Because hockey isn’t really growing. It is a bit.

True, why would we want to grow hockey in other countries than the top 6?

the crowds in the games I have seen sure look like the game is growing

 

[Svedu]

Mate we just had Germany beat Finland for the first time in the history of this tournament. Do you think that would ever have happened if they were only stuck playing vs the other middle of the pack teams?

Edit: Not to mention a big part of why Latvia isn't a division below right now is the fact that Russia is (rightfully so) missing.

Valid point to be fair.

 

[ijuka]

Penalty for Latvia player not knowing how to receive a hit.

 

[Svedu]

And if hockey isn't growing it's probably because of it's pretty expensive compared to other sports.

 

[ijuka]

Mate we just had Germany beat Finland for the first time in the history of this tournament. Do you think that would ever have happened if they were only stuck playing vs the other middle of the pack teams?

Edit: Not to mention a big part of why Latvia isn't a division below right now is the fact that Russia is (rightfully so) missing.

Why not? If Germany was so good, Germany could have qualified to top 6 by winning the lower division, and then could have done the same thing vs Finland, right?

 

[Shocker]

Wouldn't have been surprised if they made this one a major when they already let us get away with 2 should-be majors earlier, lmao