Euro Hockey Tour: EHT 2013-2014 • 1st Stage • Czech Hockey Games • 29. Aug. - 1. Sept.

[FiLe]

This is the very discussion I was having (or tried to have) in the aftermath of the last WHC.

Simply put: Sweden ofc has better talent overall, with far more depth in the NHL and such. But if you eliminate that North American factor and force them to operate on their European-based pool only, they're in trouble. Finland trumps them in depth what comes to players based in Europe. Same with the Russians and the Czechs, who also are heavily leaning to the KHL these days.

And that is the reason Sweden appears as bit of an underachiever in EHT.

There were over 10 players that was asked to participate who chose not to (Danielsson, Thörnberg, Mårtensson, Lundqvist etc). Depth is not a problem for us, trust me.

So you were missing ten of your best Euros? Finland could easily ice another full squad of players who are of the same caliber than the ones they had in this one. That is depth, not having half of your best ones gone and be crippled.

And for clarity: NO ONE in here is dissing Sweden's impressiveness in hockey overall, they got some splendid talent in the NHL which is still the best league in the world. This discussion is simply about why they seem to be in constant trouble on EHT, and that is because almost all of their quality is overseas.

 

[m4tt145]

This is the very discussion I was having (or tried to have) in the aftermath of the last WHC.

Simply put: Sweden ofc has better talent overall, with far more depth in the NHL and such. But if you eliminate that North American factor and force them to operate on their European-based pool only, they're in trouble. Finland trumps them in depth what comes to with players based in Europe. Same with the Russians and the Czechs, who also are heavily leaning to the KHL these days.

And that is the reason Sweden appears as bit of an underachiever in EHT.

What you´re saying is true. But note that last season each nation won one tournament each, so there are some talent in Europe for Sweden, but not as much as Finland, Russa etc.

It would be fun to include Slovakia to this tournament, since they have much talent i Europe.

 

[tikkanen5rings*]

Dingeperry's opinion was copied from finnish announcer Mertaranta(jerk).

and what exactly makes Mertaranta a jerk?
He is the greatest pbp guy of all time.

 

[m4tt145]

So you were missing ten of your best Euros? Finland could easily ice another full squad of players who are of the same caliber than the ones they had in this one. That is depth, not having half of your best ones gone and be crippled.

And for clarity: NO ONE in here is dissing Sweden's impressiveness in hockey overall, they got some splendid talent in the NHL which is still the best league in the world. This discussion is simply about why they seem to be in constant trouble on EHT, and that is because almost all of their quality is overseas.

Sure you guys have depth, more than Sweden, but not by much. You have only 13 more players in the KHL. And your league is way worse than what Swedens is.

 

[FiLe]

And your league is way worse than what Swedens is.

Hmm. You know, somehow that "way worse" league has for the past few years been far more interesting in the eyes of the KHL recruiters than Elitserien/SHL. Strange.

Also, about half of the players on most Finnish EHT squads tend to be drawn from that worse league, and yet they've shown no signs of underachieving on the EHT. Even stranger.

 

[nonoob12]

Any highlights for the Finland match?

fin-cze
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OWN2Z-yDPY

fin-rus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeYF6L0QBzo

fin-swe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Puukm0UFaKM

 

[Tomas W]

Congrats Finland for the win of this prestigieuos tournament. I understand you're happy.

Poor us in Sweden who always have to do with gold medals in lesser tourneys as the world championships and olympics.

 

[goodoldhockeygame]

poor guys feel offended after this


........ nobody questioned swedish hockey or their prospects in general. It was just about dept in Europe, and that has nothing to do with olympics and wc golds , since all the time the nhl players decide and dominate these events.

So catch ur breath and be cool guys

 

[QnebO]

Congrats Finland for the win of this prestigieuos tournament. I understand you're happy.

Poor us in Sweden who always have to do with gold medals in lesser tourneys as the world championships and olympics.

I like how Swedes think we rate EHT over olympics if we win it. We don't think with your butt hurt logic. It's just meaningless tournament (victory-wise) as our head coach said after tournament too, but it has meaning in testing top SM-Liiga and other european players in NT.

 

[FiLe]

I've been genuinely surprised how strongly some Swedes react to any kind of observation of a minor detail where Finland might have an upper hand, despite no one trying to claim it somehow makes us better overall. For example, lately there's been the debate of Selänne's status as an olympian and this.

It's funny. They say that they don't care about the rivalry as much as we do, yet they're immediately getting up on their hind legs if there appears to be even the smallest speck on the assumed shield of superiority.