Olympics: 2014 - Finland Roster Discussion

[Mestaruus]

In case anyone missed this. Here's a freshly made lineup by Risto Pakarinen:

Maalivahdit:
Tuukka Rask
Antti Niemi
Kari Lehtonen

Puolustus:
Kimmo Timonen – Sami Salo
Ossi Väänänen – Sami Vatanen
Sami Lepistö – Olli Määttä
Lasse Kukkonen – Juuso Hietanen

Hyökkäys:
Tuomo Ruutu – Mikko Koivu – Jussi Jokinen
Leo Komarov – Valtteri Filppula – Mikael Granlund
Teemu Selänne – Saku Koivu – Lauri Korpikoski
Juhamatti Aaltonen – Petri Kontiola – Olli Jokinen

Teemu Hartikainen – Jarkko Immonen

Source and explanation: http://www.nhl.com/ice/fi/news.htm?id=693362

Have to say I like it. I'm sure some here don't like OJ on the wing though.

 

[Erikfromfin]

Better than the previous NHL.com lineup where they had Teemu Pulkkinen in the lineup

 

[FiLe]

Source and explanation: http://www.nhl.com/ice/fi/news.htm?id=693362

Have to say I like it. I'm sure some here don't like OJ on the wing though.

I noticed that he only had something to say about the first three lines.

Of course our 4th line won't look like that. Erkka is a traditionalist, meaning he will put together a regular shutdown unit. And neither Aaltonen nor OJ are players in consideration for such a role.

 

[teddy83]

Maybe put Barkov on to 3rd line with Selanne and Korpikoski, S. Koivu can be very effective as 4th line center, he's played start of the last season great in as a defensive role in anaheim

 

[Isola]

I would choose the following players:

Goalkeepers:
#31 Antti Niemi
#32 Kari Lehtonen
#40 Tuukka Rask

Defenders
#2 Olli Määttä
#4 Ossi Väänänen
#5 Lasse Kukkonen
#6 Sami Salo
#18 Sami Lepistö
#38 Juuso Hietanen
#44 Kimmo Timonen "A"
#45 Sami Vatanen

Forwards
#8 Teemu Selänne
#9 Mikko Koivu "C"
#10 Sean Bergenheim
#11 Saku Koivu "A"
#12 Olli Jokinen
#15 Tuomo Ruutu
#16 Aleksander Barkov
#27 Petri Kontiola
#28 Lauri Korpikoski
#36 Jussi Jokinen
#51 Valtteri Filppula
#64 Mikael Granlund
#70 Teemu Hartikainen
#71 Leo Komarov


Filppula - Koivu - J.Jokinen
Granlund - O.Jokinen - Ruutu
Bergenheim - Barkov - Selänne
Komarov - S.Koivu - Hartikainen
+Kontiola, Korpikoski

Vatanen - Timonen
Salo - Määttä
Väänänen - Lepistö
+Kukkonen, Hietanen

Rask
Lehtonen
Niemi

 

[walle]

Granlund-Koivu-Jokinen
Filppula-OJ-Korpikoski
Leino-Kontiola-Aaltonen
Komarov-Barkov-Bergenheim
Ruutu, Pihlstrom

four strong lines, wingers as extra if needed as we got healthy amount of centers already

 

[roto]

I just believe in that guy that much. I think he has so much of skill and can play at that level, lethal shot and goal scoring sense when he is on he's game.. and I think we lack skilled players and goal scorers.. So I would love to see them giving him a shot. If it would work out, it could pay alot for us. Kinda of high risk high reward I think. I know he only plays AHL, but I think its not that bad of a league and he was good in FEL, specially in end of season even two way so if that development has been up, and he has got some physics for fact too last summer and maybe during he's injury.

I'm not that convinced of Armia. When he was young, he had some exceptional skills in his age group in Finland and could be called a dominating player at that time. Today we shouldn't look at projections made when he was 16 or 18 years old.

He has now played a couple of years in SM-Liiga where he was fine, but even though many people still describe him as a natural goal scorer, he hasn't proved that in practice. He has scored 18+18+19 goals which is not bad, and actually 18 goals for a teenager is very well, but it doesn't suggest that he would be an offensive weapon for Finland in Sochi.

We need to remember the difference between projections/potential versus what is his real status today. Potential doesn't make him any better and I'm sure Erkka thinks so too. I think he is high risk-low/med reward player for Sochi and we have those low/med reward players also with lower risk. Even though we lack quality wingers, we still don't need to take risk with Armia and hope that he's good enough.

I'd like to see him get a shot in WHC in Minsk if he plays well in AHL.

 

[Lapa]

In case anyone missed this. Here's a freshly made lineup by Risto Pakarinen:

Maalivahdit:
Tuukka Rask
Antti Niemi
Kari Lehtonen

Puolustus:
Kimmo Timonen – Sami Salo
Ossi Väänänen – Sami Vatanen
Sami Lepistö – Olli Määttä
Lasse Kukkonen – Juuso Hietanen

Hyökkäys:
Tuomo Ruutu – Mikko Koivu – Jussi Jokinen
Leo Komarov – Valtteri Filppula – Mikael Granlund
Teemu Selänne – Saku Koivu – Lauri Korpikoski
Juhamatti Aaltonen – Petri Kontiola – Olli Jokinen

Teemu Hartikainen – Jarkko Immonen

Source and explanation: http://www.nhl.com/ice/fi/news.htm?id=693362

Have to say I like it. I'm sure some here don't like OJ on the wing though.

Drop OJ (or move him to center) and JMA, add Bergenheim and Hartikainen. I think OJ either makes the team as a C or he doesn't make the team at all.

JMO.

 

[Raimo Sillanpää]

Does anyone else think we should leave Saku out of the team?
Or just take him on as a cheerleader for the team, like England who took David Beckham to the world cup but not as a player..

At current form I can't see a spot for Saku in the team.

 

[Gaps]

Does anyone else think we should leave Saku out of the team?
Or just take him on as a cheerleader for the team, like England who took David Beckham to the world cup but not as a player..

At current form I can't see a spot for Saku in the team.

I think if anybody's spot should be threatened based on the lack of results, it's Teemu's. He is a pure offensive player and if he can't bring that, he will bring nothing to the team on the ice. However, all of this is very hypothetical because hell will freeze over before Erkka leaves Saku or Teemu off the team. As I've said before, I hope any veteran who feels they're not up for the Olympics physically or mentally tells Erkka they're not coming. So we can hope they use their own judgment wisely. That or an injury are about the only ways we will not see these guys in Sochi.

 

[JJTT]

Does anyone else think we should leave Saku out of the team?
Or just take him on as a cheerleader for the team, like England who took David Beckham to the world cup but not as a player..

At current form I can't see a spot for Saku in the team.

Yeah, it would be best to with Mikko,OJ,Kontiola,Barkov and Saku as 13th forward. Erkka loves him so won't happen.

 

[teddy83]

Yeah, it would be best to with Mikko,OJ,Kontiola,Barkov and Saku as 13th forward. Erkka loves him so won't happen.

I Don't buy Kontiola as a center, or in first 2 lines, he's way too leaky in his own end against the best in the world. And we kinda have to take Selanne, we don't have anyone else who needs only 1 chance to score. Almost all finnish players need like 6 chances to score.

 

[roto]

And we kinda have to take Selanne, we don't have anyone else who needs only 1 chance to score. Almost all finnish players need like 6 chances to score.

I'm not sure if you're joking or not. This season Teemu has needed 14 SOG to score one goal. He hasn't even been able to score from good scoring chances. It's unlikely that he solves our scoring problems in Sochi. He might score, but it's not something to be taken for granted.

Currently Teemu has no upside which could be used as an argument to take him to the team. On the other hand he isn't clearly worse than many other winger candidates that we have, but it's quite optimistic to expect him to do offensively more than be invisible. Jagr, for example, is still quite dangerous offensively.

 

[teddy83]

Why are young bring up Jagr in this discussion? I give you that Selanne has been in a slump and he's needed more shots for one goal then usually, but i still trust him more than any other finnish player to score goals.

 

[roto]

Jagr belongs also to grandpa category, but he is clearly more productive offensively. He's been great and he's still good. Selänne has been great but he's been clearly declining since season 11-12, when he still was good.

I've seen most of the Ducks games during last few seasons and I can say that last season he wasn't good enough. Without his name tag on his back he would've been eating popcorn in press box many times. This season he's actually looked better even though you can't see that from his stats. Selänne is at least no worse to score than our other forwards, but there are other requirements also than goal scoring potential. Finland needs to have players which can play reliably in both ends and they must have enough energy.

If Teemu really still had the goal scoring upside, it would compensate some downsides and risks, but it's unlikely that he'd be a real reinforcement for Team Finland.

 

[Metalcommand]

I booked the day after the final as a holiday just in case. It's unlikely, unlikelier then any of the past Olympics probably that they'd win but I just had to be sure.

Imagine how magical it could be. The last noble warriors of the greatest generation going for it one last time, with the current leaders and future greats along. How beautiful that would be. Oh how beautiful

Silloin voisi vittu naattia naattia naattia. Just thinking about it activates my allergies *sniff*

 

[loudis]

Ain't shure has this been on this thread, but man that is one sexy lineup to me. http://yle.fi/urheilu/miksi_barkov_...perustelee_sotshin_leijona-valintansa/6910300

I'd like Kontiola as extra and OJ in 4th line. If thing's don't work out with Saku, he can be 4C and OJ 3rd. If OJ stinks, Konna takes his place in 3rd.

I'd give Bergenheim a real shot to show and switch Bäckstrom to Lehtonen

 

[Erikfromfin]

I booked the day after the final as a holiday just in case. It's unlikely, unlikelier then any of the past Olympics probably that they'd win but I just had to be sure.

Imagine how magical it could be. The last noble warriors of the greatest generation going for it one last time, with the current leaders and future greats along. How beautiful that would be. Oh how beautiful

Silloin voisi vittu naattia naattia naattia. Just thinking about it activates my allergies *sniff*

Agree. Post of the year

 

[Jussi]

At the moment Väänänen isn't playing anywhere Olympic level...

 

[teddy83]

Yes Jagr belongs to the grandpa category but he has nothing to do with finlands olympic roster. And Selanne is still faster then most of finnish players, and given the large ice surface and better linemates i believe he can be very effective on 5-5 play and powerplay during the olympics. And Finland has more than enough solid 2-way players, not so much scoring potential.

 

[Gaps]

Yes Jagr belongs to the grandpa category but he has nothing to do with finlands olympic roster. And Selanne is still faster then most of finnish players, and given the large ice surface and better linemates i believe he can be very effective on 5-5 play and powerplay during the olympics. And Finland has more than enough solid 2-way players, not so much scoring potential.

Better linemates? Who do you think he's going to play with? Selänne is probably going to play with Koivu who is no longer a top 6 center in the NHL, and someone like Korpikoski whose best assets are his physique and defensive play.

With all due respect, we're totally screwed if we trust a 43-year-old defensively questionable player who's scored all of 3 goals this season to be any kind of a major offensive threat.

 

[Erikfromfin]

Its worrying all these out of form and older players. I think in the end might have been better if Jukka Jalonen coached this team with onform tight european top talent squad spiced with NHL top goalies and pinpoint players might have been better chance for gold. But thats completely another discussion. But Erkka is king, i just hope these out of form Selännes and Ruutus dont drag the team down.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just little mindgame if Jukka Jalonen face hadnt turned into string of violin and he would still be our coach.

Erkka Westerlund "Worlds fastest hockey"

J.Jokinen - M.Koivu - V.Filppula
Mi.Granlund - O.Jokinen - Selänne
Korpikoski - Kontiola - Aaltonen
Komarov - S.Koivu - Joensuu
Barkov
T.Ruutu

Timonen - Salo
Väänänen - Vatanen
Määttä - Hietanen
Kukkonen - Lepistö

Rask
Niemi
Bäckström

-------------------------------

Jukka Jalonen "Our Game"

T.Ruutu - M.Koivu - V.Filppula
J.Jokinen - Kontiola - Aaltonen
Korpikoski - Lehterä - Mi.Granlund
Komarov - N.Kapanen - Pihlström
Barkov
Hartikainen

Timonen - Salo
Väänänen - Vatanen
Kukkonen - Jaakola
Lepistö - Hietanen

Rask
Lehtonen
Rynnäs

 

[Loffer]

Now that Granlund is out for indefinite time and possibly the whole season is it Haula then to take his spot? If he is good enough for Wild he should be good enough for Finland in Sochi. I saw this coming: it's Haula time!

edit: Haula looked really good in his debut 1st period. Consider Haula a lock!

 

[FiLe]

All joking aside, what baffles me is how very few people included Haula in their 2018 rosters in that other thread. While obviously won't make it to Sochi, he will be in PyeongChang.

 

[teddy83]

Better linemates? Who do you think he's going to play with? Selänne is probably going to play with Koivu who is no longer a top 6 center in the NHL, and someone like Korpikoski whose best assets are his physique and defensive play.

With all due respect, we're totally screwed if we trust a 43-year-old defensively questionable player who's scored all of 3 goals this season to be any kind of a major offensive threat.

Yeah no s**t, everything but our goaltending kinda sucks, Rask has to play every game like he did against the Penguins in the playoffs if we want to get anywhere. And have you looked at Anaheim's offence? Bunch of nobody's except Getzlaf, Perry and Penner, who has suprisingly look good.