WJC: Dec 28 GDT - Finland 6 Czech Republic 2

[Fawkes]

excellent game by pikku-leijonat, great pick to move Osala to the first line. He continues to impress me.

Yes, good move by Tolvanen to promote Osala to the first line. Osala was Finlands best player today. Also Lehtonen played pretty good today. Rask was solid, didnt do anything magical but made same good saves in third period and was calm. That´s exactly we need from him. Lindgren was ok, Laakso was our best d-men and even Joensuu did something (one roughing penalty ). Altough Finland did play quite well, we must remember that Czechs played really poorly. I dont remember seeing the red team play so badly many times. Pavelec wasnt concentrating at all and he was pulled of after 3 goals. But the skaters werent much better. Nothing from Voracek, Hanzal or the others. They have to improve a lot if they want to get something out of this tournament.

 

[edd1e]

This is just great! too bad i missed the game because of work. I hope Joensuu could start to produce points too.

 

[Incarnation]

Quick review:

1st line did some serious damage out there and will do in the future too. This line's forwards almost fit to classical roles: Osala (does the dirty work) - Lindgren (the playmaker) - Lehtonen (the goalscorer).
4th line played also very well.
I'm happy to see that this team can make some goals after all.

But the numbers don't tell it all. Czechs had their moments and I think Finland should be relieved that Czechs got only 2 goals. Czechs were unfortunate, lucky for our team.

Did anyone else notice how good player Komarov is? He scored nice goal, I didn't see him lose any faceoffs (stats, anyone?) and made some nice play.
Can you imagine that this is the guy that was so bad on season 04-05 that he had trouble to get any ice time on Ässät A-junior team?
(OFFTOPIC: Anyway, I'm so ******* pissed off because of his decision to move to Pelicans from Ässät. He has played all season in 4th line in Pelicans but in Ässät he would have had a spot in 2nd or 3rd line.
Maybe it was better this way, because with this act he showed that he has no gratitude for the team that made him who he is now.)

 

[Joretus]

Maybe it was better this way, because with this act he showed that he has no gratitude for the team that made him who he is now.)

Hold your horses a bit. You mean guy who joined to your precious team at age of 17 and played whopping 2 seasons with your team was product of Ässät? Only reason him being so good is Ässät&Pori?

 

[Incarnation]

Hold your horses a bit. You mean guy who joined to your precious team at age of 17 and played whopping 2 seasons with your team was product of Ässät? Only reason him being so good is Ässät&Pori?

MORE OFFTOPIC: I'm aware that he didn't play his whole junior career in Ässät but I was surprised that this organisation and team that gave him a massive chance did mean nothing to him. Pelicans coach Aravirta seduced him to Pelicans, that's for sure.

No hard feelings Leo. We don't need players with no heart for the team in Ässät.

 

[HOJ]

It was a pretty good game for Team Finland, especially first line was playing well. I also liked the way finnish players sacrificed and blocked shots in the defensive zone.

Rask was still a bit shaky, his puck control wasn't as good as it usually is and therefor he gave lots of rebounds. But his movement is absolutely amazing, the way he uses his skates and pads to move around the crease...it's a joy to watch. It's good that he got his confidense back and I'm sure we see the good old Tuukka in the against Switzerland.

 

[Phenomenon]

Great game after a horrible performance against Belarussia. Lindgren was a true king with excellent overall play, but also beeing great on penalty killing. Osala showed that his place in the first line is justified. Lehtonen is also in a good pace and hopefully this line carries Finland further.

Other players worth a mention were Laakso, Sandell (great battle wins and passes), Lahti and Komarov, who has the attitude to go for the goal. Too bad that Joensuu is not giving any support and it is really worrying me that we have no 2nd PP. Maybe it is time for Sandell for a bigger role?

Rask made a couple of great saves after the first goal made from a close distance, but still easily. Stopping the breakaway just a seconds before the end of 1st round was one of the key moments of the game.

Seppänen is the other one who worries me. He truly reminds of Niinimaa, who is known for his otherwise solid game including a couple of hasards.

The commentators of the game also said that refereeing was more strict than in some other games. Finland got penalties again for normal tackles, so I wish the line is defined as soon as possible in order to every team to adopt is as it will be in the games to follow.

 

[Matti_A]

Amazing game, I havent seen the finnish junior team with this good offense for a long time, maybe since 1998 when they won gold.
Last year and the year before their offense looked pretty weak and only because of rask did they really beat the swedes and earn a bronze.
Very good comeback after losing to Belarus, ,LOL.

I think Finland will earn the first place in their group.

The Lehtonen, Lindgren and Osala line is hot! look out for them!
Size and Skill!!

Let's not forget 2003. What an amazing team we had. I'll go out on a limb and say it was the best team Finland at the WJC's ever.

Here is a list of the nhlers from that team:

RUUTU, Tuomo
JOKINEN, Jussi
BERGENHEIM, Sean
PITKÄNEN, Joni
MÄKI, Tomi
TIMONEN, Jussi
FILPPULA, Valtteri
LEHTONEN, Kari

Ruutu and Jokinen were absolute monsters offensively that tournament. It's amazing we only won bronze with the team we had.

 

[Sampe]

Let's not forget 2003. What an amazing team we had. I'll go out on a limb and say it was the best team Finland at the WJC's ever.

Here is a list of the nhlers from that team:

RUUTU, Tuomo
JOKINEN, Jussi
BERGENHEIM, Sean
PITKÄNEN, Joni
MÄKI, Tomi
TIMONEN, Jussi
FILPPULA, Valtteri
LEHTONEN, Kari

Ruutu and Jokinen were absolute monsters offensively that tournament. It's amazing we only won bronze with the team we had.

Not to mention that Mikko Koivu was sidelined due to an injury. Yeah, that '83 age group was (and is) something else. And the 84's were also very good of course. Sweden's golden generation achieved great things for them, hopefully Finland's can do the same.

 

[Phenomenon]

A bronze for 2003 team was a disappointment compared to last year, when we were not among any favorites. This year we could have had a great tournament, but I still doubt the ability of the coaching. Urama could have been good, but Tolvanen - not really. Pajuoja would have known this agegroup better than anyone else and had shown skills to get the best out of youngsters, but I think he was out of the question after getting the no 1 coach post in Ässät.

 

[illone84]

fin 2003

Let's not forget 2003. What an amazing team we had. I'll go out on a limb and say it was the best team Finland at the WJC's ever.

Here is a list of the nhlers from that team:

RUUTU, Tuomo
JOKINEN, Jussi
BERGENHEIM, Sean
PITKÄNEN, Joni
MÄKI, Tomi
TIMONEN, Jussi
FILPPULA, Valtteri
LEHTONEN, Kari

Ruutu and Jokinen were absolute monsters offensively that tournament. It's amazing we only won bronze with the team we had.

I would say so too, but we only got bronze. does anyone know the list of players from the 1998 team? Lehtonen had a few week games that year though against Can and Rus.

 

[Matti_A]

I would say so too, but we only got bronze. does anyone know the list of players from the 1998 team? Lehtonen had a few week games that year though against Can and Rus.

We had a sweet team in 98 as well.
Here is the cream of that years crop:

Olli Jokinen
Eero Somervuori
Niko Kapanen
Niklas Hagman
Toni Dahlman
Mika Noronen
Niklas Bäckström

The amazing thing about the 98 WJC's was team Canadas "performance".
Get this, they finished 8th overall behind flippin Kazakhstan. KAZAKHSTAN!! , a team Finland beat 14-1!!

And when you look at the roster of team Canada it makes the whole thing even more baffling.

These players among others lost 6-3 against Kazakhstan :

Alex Tanguay
Vincent Lecavalier
Matt Cooke
Eric Brewer
Jean-Pierre Dumont
Cory Sarich
Roberto Luongo!!

To their credit the Kazaks had Nik Antropov in their lineup

You gotta wonder what the Canadian boys were up to, I have my suspicions

 

[PanthersRule96]

If anyone saw the Czech-Fin game, did Frolik do anything at all or not? Thank you.

 

[Chief Jokinen]

If anyone saw the Czech-Fin game, did Frolik do anything at all or not? Thank you.

Well, Frolink looked very secure with the puck and he made couple of really good passes in PP. Still im bit dissapointed becouse, I expected more flashy plays from him. He got knocked from puck quite easily too..

 

[Fawkes]

If anyone saw the Czech-Fin game, did Frolik do anything at all or not? Thank you.

I think he was one of the better players of Team Czech. Made some nice passes and showed his stickhandling but otherwise I didnt really notice him. But then again the whole Czech Team played quite badly.

The commentators of the game also said

Who was the other commentator btw? The other was Juusela but who was the "expert"?

 

[statistics]

Let's not forget 2003. What an amazing team we had. I'll go out on a limb and say it was the best team Finland at the WJC's ever.

Here is a list of the nhlers from that team:

RUUTU, Tuomo
JOKINEN, Jussi
BERGENHEIM, Sean
PITKÄNEN, Joni
MÄKI, Tomi
TIMONEN, Jussi
FILPPULA, Valtteri
LEHTONEN, Kari

Finland 1993 WJC Roster:

NHL players:

Saku Koivu
Jere Lehtinen
Kimmo Timonen
Sami Kapanen
Ville Peltonen
Antti Laaksonen
Tuomas Grönman
Tom Koivisto
Sami Helenius

Other good players:

Kimmo Rintanen
Pasi Saarela
Kalle Sahlstedt
Janne Grönvall

 

[Phenomenon]

Who was the other commentator btw? The other was Juusela but who was the "expert"?

Juha Pajuoja, who can be called expert after beeing the former coach of the best players of 1987 age group in Ilves A-juniors and also having coaching experience of Joensuu and Huhtanen from this season before getting fired.

 

[Fawkes]

Juha Pajuoja, who can be called expert after beeing the former coach of the best players of 1987 age group in Ilves A-juniors and also having coaching experience of Joensuu and Huhtanen from this season before getting fired.

Ok thanks. His voice didnt sound familiar and now I know the reason. Usually the expert has been someone like P.Sihvonen or V.Nieminen so I didnt recognise the voice. Pajuoja it is then. And no doubt he knows a lot of those players personally so a good choice by YLE. Juusela not so good choice.

 

[Joretus]

Finland 1993 WJC Roster:

NHL players:

Saku Koivu
Jere Lehtinen
Kimmo Timonen
Sami Kapanen
Ville Peltonen
Antti Laaksonen
Tuomas Grönman
Tom Koivisto
Sami Helenius

Other good players:

Kimmo Rintanen
Pasi Saarela
Kalle Sahlstedt
Janne Grönvall

I think -68's were better and they won championship as well.

 

[statistics]

I think -68's were better and they won championship as well.

1986 U18 European Champions (born 1968)

NHL players:

Teppo Numminen
Janne Ojanen

Other good players:

Pekka Tirkkonen
Jukka Seppo