WJC: 2014 — Finland Roster Talk

[JJTT]

Torilla tavataan!

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[AirBriere48]

Ristolainen will be joining.

 

[nomorekids]

Wow, Nashville with 4 players on the roster, including two goaltenders. Saaros looks like a stud, early on.

 

[McGlassbangers]

Artturi Lehkonen - Teuvo Teräväinen - Kasperi Kapanen
Joni Nikko - Henri Ikonen - Juuso Ikonen
Saku Mäenalanen - Saku Kinnunen - Henrik Haapala
Topi Nättinen - Aleksi Mustonen - Ville Leskinen

Ville Pokka - Rasmus Ristolainen
Mikko Vainonen - Julius Honka
Valtteri Parikka - Juuso Vainio

Juuse Saros
Ville Husso

 

[KrisBeKreame]

Very excited to see if Pokka can replicate his success from last year's tournament.

 

[trick9]

How can finnish goalie go undrafted? Teams should know better.

Very interesting to see Ristolainen and Teravainen again.

 

[JJTT]

Captains are likely Ristolainen/Teräväinen/Vainonen

 

[Erikfromfin]

Teuvo Teräväinen - Aleksander Barkov - Artturi Lehkonen
Olli Määttä - Rasmus Ristolainen
Juuse Saros

dam u nhl

 

[couture23]

Risto is in, awesome.

 

[Keke]

Nikko - Teräväinen A - Lehkonen
J. Ikonen - H. Ikonen - Kapanen
Mäenalanen - Mustonen - Leskinen
Haapala - Kinnunen - Nättinen
Rauhala

Honka - Ristolainen C
Parikka - Pokka
Vainonen A - Vainio
Lindell

Saros
Husso
Juvonen

PP 1

Kapanen - H.Ikonen - Lehkonen
Ristolainen - Teräväinen

PP 2

J. Ikonen - Mustonen - Nikko
Honka - Pokka

It's WJC again, so excited. Hope we can surprise others and take a medal.

In Saros/Husso we trust

 

[JJTT]

Really hope they don't pick Vainio over Honka just because he was there last year(when he was by far the worst dman).

I'd go with

Lehtonen-Pokka
Lindell-Ristolainen
Vainonen-Honka
Mäkinen

Every pairing has RD,LD and OFD,DFD guy

 

[McGlassbangers]

Really hope they don't pick Vainio over Honka just because he was there last year(when he was by far the worst dman).

I'd go with

Lehtonen-Pokka
Lindell-Ristolainen
Vainonen-Honka
Mäkinen

Every pairing has RD,LD and OFD,DFD guy

I'm pretty sure that Vainio is a lock considering he has been HPK's top defender this season and he also plays big minutes on their top-pairing. I don't think that Lehtonen will make it.

 

[AvalancheFan19]

How is this team looking in comparison with other years with regards to competitiveness for Gold??

 

[Loffer]

How is this team looking in comparison with other years with regards to competitiveness for Gold??

The team not that bad; Sweden is worse than earlier, USA too. Canada is the clear favourite and Russia comes second.

So, realistically, bronze is up for grabs.

 

[Harvest]

Which one will start Saros or Husso? I haven't seen a single game for Saros, but i have seen all Husso's game, and he is on fire right now, on his last 6 games his GAA is 0.83. Either way, our goalies isn't going to be a problem..

Husso- 20GP Save %:93,32, GAA:1,74, W:13 T:0 L:6

Saros- 21GP Save %:93,10 GAA:1,70, W:6 T:4 L:9

 

[FlutteringSaucer]

How is this team looking in comparison with other years with regards to competitiveness for Gold??

Very different team compared to last year at least. Not even nearly as talented forward group but the D seems pretty solid and goaltending excellent even on Finnish standards (Husso is 3rd in FEL sv% with .933 and Saros 4th with .931). The biggest difference is probably that we got rid of the catastrophic coaching group from last year.

In terms of competitiveness... This team really reminds me of a typical Finnish national team that shouldn't have the top-end talent to compete but has quite a bit surprise potential with good coaching and great goaltending.

 

[Gaps]

Eh, sounds like the Määttä case is not yet finished: http://www.mtv.fi/sport/jaakiekko/n...in-mm-kisoihin---kurri-yhteydessa-nhl-seuraan

Basically they are going to ask for Määttä once more. I wonder if Kurri's involvement in this implies the men's team would like to loan Määttä too, just like Ristolainen.

 

[Statsy]

Which one will start Saros or Husso? I haven't seen a single game for Saros, but i have seen all Husso's game, and he is on fire right now, on his last 6 games his GAA is 0.83. Either way, our goalies isn't going to be a problem..

Husso- 20GP Save %:93,32, GAA:1,74, W:13 T:0 L:6

Saros- 21GP Save %:93,10 GAA:1,70, W:6 T:4 L:9

Those guys both have crazy numbers. How weird is it that Finland has a starter eligible as a returnee, but there are now so many people ahead of him that he won't even be the third stringer? Or was there some injury to Korpisalo that I don't know about?

 

[JJTT]

Those guys both have crazy numbers. How weird is it that Finland has a starter eligible as a returnee, but there are now so many people ahead of him that he won't even be the third stringer? Or was there some injury to Korpisalo that I don't know about?

He's been injured for the whole season basically.

 

[FiLe]

He's been injured for the whole season basically.

Though it's doubtful he would have seen a ton of Liiga ice even without said injury. He would possibly be Jokerit's 2nd string with Irving still covering most of the games. Saros and Husso would still be ahead of him.

And it's not so weird a situation in the end. Finland had some good goalie prospects in '91 and '92 classes but lacked any truly solid names among '93 borns, which created a nasty gap. '94s had some decent ones, but none that would stand out either. Last year, the 95-borns were simply too raw, and Korpisalo got the job by being least worst of a rather mediocre bunch. The difference to this year's third striger Juvonen wasn't all that great.

Now, in early projections for this year, he was actually slotted be at least the backup. Saros looked solid already even back then, but Husso being a beast came completely from the left field.

 

[hoyster]

Eh, sounds like the Määttä case is not yet finished: http://www.mtv.fi/sport/jaakiekko/n...in-mm-kisoihin---kurri-yhteydessa-nhl-seuraan

Basically they are going to ask for Määttä once more. I wonder if Kurri's involvement in this implies the men's team would like to loan Määttä too, just like Ristolainen.

With Scuderi, Martin and Orpik being injured, I don't see any possibility that they would let Määttä go. Ristolainen is playing in the AHL and Määttä is playing 20 minutes in the NHL.

 

[Loffer]

With Scuderi, Martin and Orpik being injured, I don't see any possibility that they would let Määttä go. Ristolainen is playing in the AHL and Määttä is playing 20 minutes in the NHL.

I hope you are right. Maatta coming and mixing things up again would be the last thing I wanted - it might even throw Honka out of the roster and in any case diminish his role next to nothing.

Yep, I have Orange Julius in my WJC pool line-up.

 

[Sartorial]

Excited to watch Honka on a bigger ice surface. Even on NA ice, he's so elusive.

 

[Gaps]

With Scuderi, Martin and Orpik being injured, I don't see any possibility that they would let Määttä go. Ristolainen is playing in the AHL and Määttä is playing 20 minutes in the NHL.

I don't think they will release him, but they should just give the NT a straight answer, and it sounds like they have not done so yet.

I hope Honka can show more now than he did in Lake Placid. All I could see then were some Vatanen-like flashes.

 

[pckstpr31]

Has it been announced if Maatta is going? The TSN FIN selection camp roster has him on it.