Team Finland overview

[Noose]

Not until now I noticed how slow Korhonen was, and I wasn't the only one. I didn't see him on the ice after the first period.

Korhonen's season has been plagued by injuries and he still doesn't seem nearly 100%. In that defence he would easily be the go to guy, but since his ankle is still clearly bothering him - it's better to keep Korhonen on the bench.

Rämö wasn't as nearly as good as he's been in SM-liiga this season and Rask in the net in the next game wouldn't surprise me. Normally Rämö's rebound control is top notch, but today he couldn't do the job as well as he normally does. Also couple softies, which don't usually happen.

Korpikoski was really great and Tukonen wasn't bad himself either. Also Sailio improved significantly and now was using his strenghts, which he didn't do too much against Canada. Seitsonen was great on PP, and the Finnish PP was pretty good overall. Great puck movement near the blueline. Puck and men moving without wasting time with shots.

But yea, the D is just awful. Laakso is the only guy who can be trusted at the own end. Jokinen has really surprised me with his skills with the puck.

 

[Panopticon]

I think it's pretty clear that the Finns miss Nokelainen.

I'm also missing Mielonen. With him instead of Seppänen, the team would be a lot stronger...

 

[Pekka Lampinen]

After the quarterfinal

Old issues:

- Everybody keeps shooting at blocking players.
- No one can win a faceoff.
- No one can clear the puck on PK.
- No one can pass in the own zone.
- No one can pass in the neutral zone.
- The team can't stop a rush in the neutral zone.
- The units are just broken, no one is skating in the right direction in the right place at the right time.

Worsened issues:

- No one can pass in the offensive zone.
- Forwards trying to go through all alone.

New issues:

- Kept losing physical struggles.

Fixed issues:

+ The defense of the net. Yay!

Individuals:

+ Tuukka was pretty ok. Kinda.
+ Koistinen rules.
+ Leinonen laid a hit in the third period and was decent all around.
- Whereas people usually count mistakes and failed plays, in Seppänen's case it's better to just count the minutes the opponents are skating circles and passing pentagrams around him. You'd think the chances were that he's bound to wander to the correct spot for positioning unwittingly at least once in a while, but that just isn't happening. A high-sticking penalty at the end of the third while trying to hook a puckless player? Moronic.
- Leppänen tried to put an end to his good tournament.
- Tukonen lost his passing game again.
- Lindgren is getting softer by the game.


I can't believe there can be so many things wrong with the team. Looking forward, everybody lost a step near the end of the game against Sweden, and Rask, who is known for his lacking stamina, faced 53 shots yesterday... Finland doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell against Canada. Then again, they've got all the room in the world for improvement.