I mean, he grew up in Finland, was born in Finland, got his education in Finland, heck, his mother's Finnish and his dad's job is in Finland. How can you say the Finnish half isn't more meaningful?
C Brad Lambert - HIFK U20, Jr. A SM-liiga (2022 Draft)
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jj cale
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Again, so what?
I doubt his hockey skills genetically come from his mother, maybe I should make a claim he is therefore more Canadian or something..
I really can't believe you are backing this silliness, the kid will decide anyway, Finland or Canada don't own him.
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kelsier
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I was reading a Finnish hockey forum and this kid came up. Someone from the city he lives in (Lahti) said that despite the name, he is a pure hometown kid. It was an assumption based on what I had read earlier. If true and he has (more or less) lived his entire life in Finland, has Finnish heritage and has already represented Finland in the junior tournaments, the odds for suddenly jumping ships seems slim at best. Spending summers visiting relatives from his father's side in Canada (while doing some practice) doesn't really compete that well against where one actually lives and breaths most of the time. I don't know why this is such a big deal for you though. I'm sure they will try to reach him at some stage but if he feels like any other Finnish kid and has that grown patriotism within him, I doubt it'll make much difference.
Even Barkov chose Finland and he is 0% Finn by blood/heritage. Where you come from is what matters.
By the way although early, it's kind of crazy to think we're likely to have one of the top prospects in the next four drafts. That would mean someone would have to raise up for the 2023 draft cause Kiviharju will be competing with the best of them at 2024 (if he already doesn't look like the best from the age group). Nothing beats a straight flush!
Not always, Rochette is likely going to play for Canada instead of Switzerland, Tyler Myers playing for Canada instead of USA, Nylanders representing Sweden etc etc.
I'd imagine it's pretty tempting idea that he could be playing in Liiga next season. Barkov did it as 16 year old, and Lambert has better ppg currently compared to 15y/o Barkov in A-SM.
With Lambert being born in December, I could even see him playing a year in Jokerit/KHL, before being drafted, if he decides to stay in finland. Of course assuming he keeps putting up similar numbers to Barkov on Liiga as well
With Lambert being born in December, I could even see him playing a year in Jokerit/KHL, before being drafted, if he decides to stay in finland. Of course assuming he keeps putting up similar numbers to Barkov on Liiga as well
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He must be the real deal. Don't remember the last time someone played in A juniors who just turned 15.
kelsier
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I wasn't referring to exceptions, in fact I was stating pretty much the opposite. Of course no one can for sure tell what's in the head of a 15 year old kid, his mother or his father. However pretty much everything we do know at the moment seems to point out to Brad committing to Finland rather than the opposite.
Not just playing, but owning. Almost PPG and he's barely 15. That's nuts.
I think he would need to play two consecutive years in Canadian team before being eligible to represent Canada. And I mean really Canadian - if he entered WHL draft and selected by Silvertips, Winterhawks, Thunderbirds, Chiefs or Americans he wouldn't be eligible.
Russian junior national team did not contact Barkov when he was a junior. Finland showed some interest and locked him up. Otherwise Barkov would have chosen Russia. This was confirmed by Barkov Sr.
Miksei Aleksandr Barkov pelaa Venäjän maajoukkueessa? - "Venäjä ei ollut kiinnostunut" | SuomiKiekko
That's his dad's speculation. It's not "confirmation" of anything.
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FinPanda
Team Finland 2022 WHC champions
Yeah I said something about this previously. That would be even better for us.
I think he is a 100% Finnish kid with a Canadian dad.
His stats this year are quite funny:
First with C-juniors 6gp 7+3 so he is too good..
next with B-juniors.. alright.. 6gp 3+1.. it went quite well, maybe he can handle a bigger challenge..
and now with A-juniors 8gp 2+7
I read some rumours about that he maybe will be playing next year in some bigger city and team, but if Pelicans lock him up and gives a good chance to play in Liiga, I don't think he is going anywhere. I read from Jatkoaika that couple years ago (or one year ago) he was going to play for Kärpät but he got injured so he stayed at home.
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His dads speculation? I don’t think there is any guy besides Barkov who knows more about Barkov than biggest hockey influence of his life... his father. We all know how close they are. I don’t think Barkov Sr would state such things without any truth. It wasn’t even a speculation he was certain about his son picking Russian NT over Finland.
Barkov kertoi venäläismedialle, miksi hän pelaa Venäjän sijaan Leijonissa
Here we can see Barkov confirming it was more about Finnish national junior team choosing him and Russian national junior team not showing interest. Barkov never had a option to choose when there was only 1 team interested in him.
Barkov here in this interview leaves open which would been his choice if there was 2 teams interested but Barkov Sr was certain about him choosing Russia over Finland. So i go with him.
These two articles proves it right that Barkov never chose Finland over Russia like you have been stating here. It was more like Finnish national team choosing Barkov while Russians didn’t show any interest.
There are generally two factors in selecting National Team in these cases:
1. Identity
Players select a nation with whom they identify themselves more. I don't see any advantage, theoretically, for Canada here, considering he lives in Finland for most of his life and plays in their league. Yeah, it's possible that somehow he's more related to Canada, but it seems unlikely.
2. Rationality
Players select a nation that gives them bigger chance to succeed. Nowadays, with Finland producing year-by-year elite talents, giving underagers chance to compete on U-20 Junior Champs and getting so much hype for development of its players - is there any advantage of Canada here? Yeah I'm not suggesting that Canada isn't good anymore in producing elite talents, but ask yourself if Lundell would have had any opportunity to play this year on Junior WCH for Canada, considering how limited chance was given to Lafreniere? And I don't think that moving to WHL is a good idea considering he will be probably regular SM-liiga player as -2 draft eligible player, basically I can't imagine a better development path.
He's basically on Barkov level currently with his production, but because of cutoffs and being 3,5 months younger, he's -3 draft eligible right now, while Barkov was -2 in his 15yo season, that's insane. Kakko being almost a year older didn't regularly play in Junior-A level.
I'm not saying he won't select Canada, but it seems highly unlikely as for right now.
1. Identity
Players select a nation with whom they identify themselves more. I don't see any advantage, theoretically, for Canada here, considering he lives in Finland for most of his life and plays in their league. Yeah, it's possible that somehow he's more related to Canada, but it seems unlikely.
2. Rationality
Players select a nation that gives them bigger chance to succeed. Nowadays, with Finland producing year-by-year elite talents, giving underagers chance to compete on U-20 Junior Champs and getting so much hype for development of its players - is there any advantage of Canada here? Yeah I'm not suggesting that Canada isn't good anymore in producing elite talents, but ask yourself if Lundell would have had any opportunity to play this year on Junior WCH for Canada, considering how limited chance was given to Lafreniere? And I don't think that moving to WHL is a good idea considering he will be probably regular SM-liiga player as -2 draft eligible player, basically I can't imagine a better development path.
He's basically on Barkov level currently with his production, but because of cutoffs and being 3,5 months younger, he's -3 draft eligible right now, while Barkov was -2 in his 15yo season, that's insane. Kakko being almost a year older didn't regularly play in Junior-A level.
I'm not saying he won't select Canada, but it seems highly unlikely as for right now.
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I know this isn't exactly on topic, but you really enjoy pushing this narrative. Even in that article, Alex Barkov doesn't say he'd have chosen Russia. I know Russia didn't ask for him to join the national team before Finland did. But just think about it for a moment, would you? Barkov was 14 years old when he first participated in Finnish national team matches. If he really wanted to represent Russia, do you actually think he wouldn't have waited to do so? After all, he participated for Finland as an underager. Something I'd consider far more likely is that he gives the Russian media something that will let him off the hook without him having to explain himself further. Otherwise, it's very odd for Barkov to want Russia to contact him as a 14-year-old. After all, that could just be the difference in how the national teams function - Finland's contacted u14 players for the national team already. The first official national teams aren't until u18s.
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He, Lundell and Kakko could be the first from Finland to go 1st overall. Would be funny if all of them did.
Unfortunately, Lambert has his work cut out for him because Savoie really should be the strongest prospect since Matthews. A little unlucky. If he was born a few months earlier and was going in 2021 I think that he'd have a very good chance. Still though, I doubt anyone saw Lambert's ASM performance this season coming, so who even knows...
Noma
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Barkov would've still needed to move to Russia to play for two consecutive years before he could've represented them. Obviously it could've been a possibility as too, but doesn't sound that likely for a boy who had always lived in Tampere and had his family there.
jj cale
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He indeed seems positioned to choose Finland going forward, but I am holding out some hope, all is not lost quite yet.
I certainly don't think it would hurt his development if he chose Finland, and might help. NHL GM's would be even more comfortable picking him, knowing that he wouldn't have any problems adjusting to NA language or culture.
kelsier
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I certainly wasn't aware of this at all. Then again if I try rationalize this (and if it's true what the other poster said) i) would Barkov had moved to Russia to play KHL when he wouldn't have been granted a slot at top six in any of the top teams there? I think not. This might have only stalled the start of his NHL career and he himself said he wanted to play there immediately after the draft ii) Asking a 14 year old to present a country he didn't spend him childhood years? Also sounds like a long shot. So maybe it's what his father wanted and if the jr too, then he would've had to weight these other things as well.
Nonetheless, I can't believe I hadn't heard of that before. Kind of a shocker if it was even half true or maybe it was just the best and comfiest way for his father to get a pass instead of being branded as a "traitor" amongst the Russian fans. Don't know really. At the end of the day, it's the decision that did take place that matters. Still in Barkov's defence he had 0% Finnish bloodlines so it's not even remotely the same with Lambert. Also hopefully Brad's mom is a hockey lunatic (in a good sense of a way) and has a say in the matter.
Regardless, none this discussion has changed my point of view in regards to what criterias matter the most when a kid is picking a national team and the first and foremost always trends down to the roots and where that person grew up/spent his childhood - practically where his friends and family are (in this case half of the latter).
Duly noted. Who wouldn't want a prospect like this in their pipeline.
jj cale
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[QUOTE="
Duly noted. Who wouldn't want a prospect like this in their pipeline.[/QUOTE]
Yep, we will gladly take him.
Duly noted. Who wouldn't want a prospect like this in their pipeline.[/QUOTE]
Yep, we will gladly take him.
FinPanda
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He'll choose Canada and will never see a best-on-best adult tournament.
Canada is too stacked.
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