Olympics: 2014 — Finland Roster Discussion Part IV

[mindfly]

Anyone know why Komarov isn't with the Leafs anymore? IIRC he did pretty well and was pretty much a fan favourite?

I find his bio interesting
Born in Estonia, swedish is native language, finnish and russian citizen

 

[Snowsii]

Anyone know why Komarov isn't with the Leafs anymore? IIRC he did pretty well and was pretty much a fan favourite?

I find his bio interesting
Born in Estonia, swedish is native language, finnish and russian citizen

Wanted bigger role? Isnt he playing in the first line @ KHL, instead of playing in the fourth line @ NHL..

 

[QnebO]

Anyone know why Komarov isn't with the Leafs anymore? IIRC he did pretty well and was pretty much a fan favourite?

I find his bio interesting
Born in Estonia, swedish is native language, finnish and russian citizen

Finnish is native language! But he also speaks Swedish, Estonian, Russian, English at least.. But obivously Swedish is very native compared to english and Russian I bet..

Komarov said he wanted to play in Olympics, and NHL wasn't sure if they're going to offer him that. Also KHL payed good money and offered bigger role. Those all things were for KHL's favor and he went there.

Next season without Olympics, He says he's going back to NHL. Let's see what team he picks, but I'm pretty sure he's going there.

 

[Lennu32]

Anyone know why Komarov isn't with the Leafs anymore? IIRC he did pretty well and was pretty much a fan favourite?

Wanted bigger role to ensure his participation in olympics and bigger paycheck, too.

Seems like it's working

 

[FiLe]

Anyone know why Komarov isn't with the Leafs anymore? IIRC he did pretty well and was pretty much a fan favourite?

In Komarov's own words, he went back because he thought the bigger role he'll have with Dynamo will give him a better chance to compete for an Olympic spot.

Yes. The guy actually thought it's easier to break the roster from the KHL rather than the NHL. Go figure.

I find his bio interesting
Born in Estonia, swedish is native language, finnish and russian citizen

Not correct exactly - Komarov was born to Russian parents, so his mother tongue is Russian. He did pick up Swedish before Finnish though, due to moving to a part of Finland where Swedish is the majority language.

He has said that all his favorite expletives are in Finnish, though.

 

[mindfly]

Wanted bigger role to ensure his participation in olympics and bigger paycheck, too.

Seems like it's working

Wow olympics seem to be the biggest thing for european players.

But there's more prestige in the NHL and also probably a better/more fun life in america/canada than in Russia.

 

[Gaps]

Jalonen Russians and good teammates:

"After working in Russia for over a year now I've found out that creating a good team spirit with the players is more difficult here than in Finland. While thinking and attempting to solve this problem I've begun to explain the definition of a 'good teammate' to my players in SKA, because without such teammates there can't be a good team spirit and the team will never win anything big."

There was more on this subject, e.g he elaborated on why Russian players don't always stick to the team's gameplan.

On Ilya:

"Leading by your own example is one of most important qualities of a good teammate. When Ilya Kovalchuk hits and backchecks, it's very hard for other players not to do the same thing. On the other hand if Ilya wasn't feeling like working, neither would anyone else. So in that regard the example of the leading players on the ice is a gamebreaker when it comes to winning."

Examples of good Finnish teammates:

"In professional sports the most important criteria of a good teammate is being a true professional. Only good preparation, focus, a healthy way of life and true commitment to the team's strategies guarantee the trust of other players. In the Finnish national team for example Jere Lehtinen, Ville Peltonen, Mikko Koivu and Lasse Kukkonen fit this criteria to a T."

"A good teammate sets high standards to himself in particular, but also to his teammates. Every time the high standards come from the players, the team has a healthy foundation and the chances to succeed are better than in a situation where the coaches are the ones maintaining the high standards. It's difficult to imagine better teammates in this regard than Saku and Mikko Koivu."

 

[thepuckmonster]

Wow olympics seem to be the biggest thing for european players.

But there's more prestige in the NHL and also probably a better/more fun life in america/canada than in Russia.

I don't know if it's prestige, but there's a lot to be said about playing closer to home. We see it all the time with NHL contracts.

It's not always about the money either, sometimes players want bigger roles. Not saying that the NHL is THE BEST but there's definitely more leagues and teams in Europe where you can get those opportunities.

 

[Snowsii]

Wow olympics seem to be the biggest thing for european players.

But there's more prestige in the NHL and also probably a better/more fun life in america/canada than in Russia.

Yep, there's prestige in NHL, but would you choose being 4th line and around 10mins playtime or 1st line and 20mins playtime?

Maybe Komarov would have stayed in NHL if he would have offered better role, other than 4th line "moving freight train"

 

[Lennu32]

Wow olympics seem to be the biggest thing for european players.

But there's more prestige in the NHL and also probably a better/more fun life in america/canada than in Russia.

I think the chance to represent one's country in olympics should be pretty high on any athletes list. For many europeans winning olympic gold is definitely bigger thing than Stanley Cup.

I agree, I would MUCH rather live in USA/Canada than Russia. St Petersbourg is nice and beatiful place though

 

[WinTheRightGames]

Wow olympics seem to be the biggest thing for european players.

But there's more prestige in the NHL and also probably a better/more fun life in america/canada than in Russia.

I think there's more prestige when you're a first liner in a team that wins the KHL championship than when you're a fourth liner for the Maple Leafs. I believe he was the captain at some point, too.

 

[TaLoN]

Our coach before the tournament:

"We wan't to play World's fastest hockey and be the fastest team in the World"

I think you saw the strenght like a pro.

He absolutely achieved that objective! As soon as I watched the first game of tourny for the Finns, I was like "Holy Crap that team is fast! I DO NOT want team USA to have to face them!"

Finnish is native language! But he also speaks Swedish, Estonian, Russian, English at least.. But obivously Swedish is very native compared to english and Russian I bet..

Komarov said he wanted to play in Olympics, and NHL wasn't sure if they're going to offer him that. Also KHL payed good money and offered bigger role. Those all things were for KHL's favor and he went there.

Next season without Olympics, He says he's going back to NHL. Let's see what team he picks, but I'm pretty sure he's going there.

We'll gladly take him here in Minnesota!

 

[Esko6]

Next season without Olympics, He says he's going back to NHL. Let's see what team he picks, but I'm pretty sure he's going there.

One of the reasons he would like to go back to NA is that his girlfriend does not talk russian and she needs him everywhere she goes in Moscow, in Toronto she had a much easier time.

 

[trick9]

He absolutely achieved that objective! As soon as I watched the first game of tourny for the Finns, I was like "Holy Crap that team is fast! I DO NOT want team USA to have to face them!"

Interesting consider USA would be the last team i'd want playing Finland for Gold. They both play bit similar game but USA is obviously deeper talent wise. Both use their speed to their advantage, have world-class goaltending and they are both definitions of the word team.

 

[NicolasH]

I think the chance to represent one's country in olympics should be pretty high on any athletes list. For many europeans winning olympic gold is definitely bigger thing than Stanley Cup.

I agree, I would MUCH rather live in USA/Canada than Russia. St Petersbourg is nice and beatiful place though

Depends of the city you go in. I would prefer to live in St Petersburg than in Detroit for example. But I would prefer living in New York than in Magnitogorsk.

 

[Dominus]

He absolutely achieved that objective! As soon as I watched the first game of tourny for the Finns, I was like "Holy Crap that team is fast! I DO NOT want team USA to have to face them!"

That's the exact same thing that many Finns have thought after seeing Team USA. Only the other way around. We don't wanna face USA 'cause you'll beat us in our own game.

 

[TaLoN]

At this point though...since team usa is my team, and Finland is my second favorite (my grandparents were born in Finland), I'm hoping for what I feared...a Finland vs USA for gold matchup. If team USA can't get gold, I want the Finns to get it.

 

[Dominus]

I have the same mentality. I think we have better chances against Canada but I'd rather loose to USA since you're somehow more sympathetic. Go figure...

 

[Erikfromfin]

Huge dissapointment for players and fans alike. The lions must now get up themselves and play for bronze. Feeling is empty but focus must be on tomorrow. I would put Niemi in goal to give him a run at this tournament. The game will be an end and new beginning. Golden generation final pieces are now leaving us for good and next generation starts marching in.

 

[vsk92]

Give Niemi the start tomorrow?

 

[llwyd]

Huge dissapointment for players and fans alike. The lions must now get up themselves and play for bronze. Feeling is empty but focus must be on tomorrow. I would put Niemi in goal to give him a run at this tournament. The game will be an end and new beginning. Golden generation final pieces are now leaving us for good and next generation starts marching in.

Well, you speak for yourself - I'm not really disappointed at all: just one bridge too far, this wasn't to be our year with all these horrible depletions to the team. And how did we perform even so - amazing battling against the odds. But more than that I'm just amazed, virtually speechless about all that ridiculously young talent we suddenly have. It's been quite a while we have seen anything like this, the future looks great!

 

[Raimo Sillanpää]

yeah, one bridge too far. and yes, our young talent is - wow.
Timonen, Salo came into this tournament as our best, left this tournament as having been upstaged by the debutants

If everything had gone right, nobody had been injured, this would have been like Nagano. The perfect mix of those going on and giving the baton and those taking over (Kurri, Tikkanen - Selänne/S.Koivu) but it was not to be so on the ice, whilst on paper it has happened.

Heads up, this was overachivement for this team, Niemi in goal for the bronze game - that way everyone's done something. Salminen on the ice too, we'll need him in Minsk.

Things can only get better from here..

 

[JJTT]

I hope we finally start rebuilding the national team(in Minsk). Should have happened in 2010, but now is really the time. Hietanen,Lepistö,Kukkonen,Pihström etc are clearly not good enough. Time to move on.

 

[Erikfromfin]

I hope we finally start rebuilding the national team(in Minsk). Should have happened in 2010, but now is really the time. Hietanen,Lepistö,Kukkonen,Pihström etc are clearly not good enough. Time to move on.

The question is rebuilding for what? 2018 NHL olympics are uncertain and theres been no decicion on World Cup either. If we start tossing all those regular performers for young talent our performance is going to blummet down. 10 year drought in player development forced us to use 18 year center and 19 year old NHL rookie defensman in world best on best tournament whose rookie mistake cost us the game. There needs to be specific target or tournament in what to build towards. Our current NHL/Euro material is good enough to compete for gold at world championships year after year so unless theres clear target year be it 2018 olympics theres no need for drastic overhaul. that will come naturally now with NHL veterans Selänne,Koivu,Timonen,Salo,Jokinen co nearing retirement. But i agree rather than using older players such as Leino who have previously been reluctant for national team services should not be taken in slightly over future generation players.

 

[Raimo Sillanpää]

...forced us to use 18 year center and 19 year old NHL rookie defensman in world best on best tournament whose rookie mistake cost us the game. ...

We need to let them make mistakes.
We need to let them make those mistakes now, so that at age 27 when they are the "best defender in the world", "3rd time Selke trophy winner", that they are not worried about making mistakes, play freely, and win us the gold!

You learn by making mistakes. Better a 19 year old making that mistake than a 38 year old.