WC Group B: Apr 24 GDT - Finland vs. USA (4-2)

[Faaxinho]

Maybe I am, maybe I'm not.

Pretty good game from Finland, although our defence was quite slow against the USA forwards. Nice game from "Teletubbies-line"(Hentunen - Kapanen - Pärssinen) and Pirjetä. Rintanen and Peltonen were good too. Only thing we need to improve is our defence.

 

[psycho_dad*]

It was no surprise Finns outshot USA, but Pirjetä's 2 goal night was surprising.

 

[Panopticon]

Finns win 3-1 or 4-2. Although the team is pretty weak this year...

Love being right. I actually won some money on that.

That was a great game. I almost went home after the first period, but I stayed and got my reward. Thanks guys.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Way to go Lasse!!!

 

[psycho_dad*]

It was pretty clear what was going to happen. If USA were about to score, it would be in 1st.

I did not expect them to lead 2-0, but I did expect their big d-men to slow down in 2nd and 3rd.

Way to go Lasse. You showed, once and for all, that an NHL player is still much more than an SM-liiga player...even if he wasnt a star.

 

[Panopticon]

BTW, did anyone else find it funny how the guy who got hit by Kapanen laid there for 10 minutes and then was able to skate by himself and play again in a few seconds. Got Kapanen basically thrown out because of that.

The acting in this sport is getting almost as bad as it is in soccer. It makes me a sad panda.

 

[Jussi]

Westrum was interesting player, as was the one playing in germany, Andy something?

Roach? I thought he was a defender, but appeared to play forward.

 

[oilforme]

I hope Niinimaa is scratched in the next game I counted to one, two, three, four big turnovers. if he is a huge lyiability defensively and produces extremely little he is of no use.

Niinimaa just finished a depressing playoff run with the Islanders where he was tied for tops in scoring, played a ton and played well. According to an Islander board, he is playing with an injury and still chooses to come out and play for his country because they are short NHL players.

This is the kind of appreciation that should encourage players to holiday and let their bodies heal rather than volunteer to play in these championships.

If Niinimaa had chosen to miss these games you would probably have bad mouthed him for that as well.

 

[Panopticon]

If Niinimaa had chosen to miss these games you would probably have bad mouthed him for that as well.

That's the way it goes. You screw up, you get bashed. You don't show, you get bashed. So the best thing to do is to show up and not screw up. That's if you can't handle a little negative criticism. If you can, then you can do pretty much what you wan't.

And that injury thing and the NHL playoffs are just excuses. And even if they are real reasons they don't matter.

I usually don't care about why something happens. If Finland loses 2-0, I won't care why, I'll just be sad. If Niinimaa screws up, I won't care why, I'll just be mad.

 

[psycho_dad*]

Niinimaa admitted he screwed up, he did say he was not used to such horrible ice, but it was still his mistake.

well it doesnt matter now, Finland won anyway. Much better than the 4 assists he gave to Bure in Nagano and dropped us from the final. Niinimaa is a great d-man, he just seems to have bad luck in team finland.

 

[chicpea*]

finland, finland, finland the country where I want to be

pony trekking or camping, or just watching tv

finland, finland, finland it's the country for me....

incawg, you're hired!

Congrats on the win today Finland!

 

[Paxon]

*damn, why is it so hard to type with mozilla? My keyborad seems to be running at like 120kph while the mozilla screen is advancing at like 80kph..

Try Mozilla Firefox as it uses less system resources. On the other hand, it doesn't have the pop3 client and some of the other features. I personally feel those are best left as external tools (ie. Mozilla Thunderbird), anyhow.

 

[clefty]

Lasse!!

Good boy!

The Magic of Lasse

 

[AEKaki]

Despite scoring the 2 goals, how did Pirjeta really look out there.
Some of you want him on the 1st line instead of Jokinen I see.
Can you tell me how he played.

He really played well at the end of the season for the Pens.

 

[ES]

BTW, did anyone else find it funny how the guy who got hit by Kapanen laid there for 10 minutes and then was able to skate by himself and play again in a few seconds. Got Kapanen basically thrown out because of that.

The acting in this sport is getting almost as bad as it is in soccer. It makes me a sad panda.

Yes it was, but referee made a right decision. Kapanen clearly hit Westrum behind, so 2+10 minutes is a minimum for that.

 

[AEKaki]

à want him on the first line to give Olli some rest

Pirjetä was solid, extremely good offense, good chemistry with Laaksonen (who might be on the block ) and solid defense. His goals were beauties, first one a hard slapper from the left I think and the second a wrister from the right. He didn't look very lazy out there and playing in pittsburgh must be good for his game because he didn't look this good in the last world champs...

Well obviously playing more helped him.
There's some hidden skill behind everyone (well, not everyone - Ian Moran).

 

[Padawan]

Even if the isless would've missed the playoffs Niinimaa would've been an awful choice. He doesn't have what it takes defensively to play on the national team. At times he was our worst player on the ice, it is never a good thing when Petteri Nummelin outplays you with a wide margin defensively...

Niinimaa is not the best D-man Team Finland has but he sure isn't the worst one. In World Championship tournaments Niinimaa has been one of the top d-mans Team Finland has had and he loves to play for his country. That's why he has always came to represent Finland on national level. Even if he has minor injuries, he has still came. For that kind of dedication he has earned my respect.

Sure, Niinimaa fell and gave away the first goal for Team USA but you have to remember that he just arrived there and he hasn't adjusted the bigger rink and time difference still affects his system. Wait until the Slovakia game and he'll be much better.

Oh, and why there are guys like Saravo and Mäntylä? I think it's better for the d-men to play with three pairings that are good than four pairings when there are two guys who continuesly makes mistakes...

 

[Panopticon]

Yes it was, but referee made a right decision. Kapanen clearly hit Westrum behind, so 2+10 minutes is a minimum for that.

True, but if he hadn't lost his balance before the hit it would've barely even been a hit. I agree that it was probably a right choice from the ref, but the way Westrum was acting was just ridiculous.