WJC: Finland 2021 Roster Talk

[JJTT]

With Pennanen coaching, we should have a good team next year. Lots of offensive talent but goalies and defense are a bit of questionmark at this point.

Couple of good d-man with Hatakka, Kokkonen and Niemelä but the quality drops a lot after that, hopefully Tuomisto, Viro and co can step up.

Forwards should be really good, tons of options for pretty much every role. Lots of youngters in the 02 age group coming up as well.

Possible players:

Goalies:

Piiroinen
Blomqvist
Taponen
Randelin

Defense:

Hatakka LD
Kokkonen LD
Heinola LD(NHL?)
Räsänen LD
Viro LD
Lehtinen LD
Koskenkorva LD
Sedoff LD
Tuomisto RD
Niemelä RD
Loponen RD
Puutio RD
Rafkin RD

Forwards:

Lundell C
Räty C
Pärssinen C
Hirvonen C
Mäntykivi C
Nikkanen C
Intonen C
Salminen C
Mäenpää C
Saarela LW
Puistola LW
Miettinen LW
Aaltonen LW
Kallionkieli LW
Valkeejärvi LW
Järventie LW
Puhakka LW
Pyyhtiä LW
Räty RW
Tieksola RW
Simontaival RW
Petman RW
Lambert RW
Myllylä RW
Suni RW


Early prediction(with 14+8+3 as planned)

Puistola-Lundell-Simontaival/Lambert
Aaltonen-Räty-Räty
Miettinen-Hirvonen-Tieksola
Pärssinen-Nikkanen-Petman
Saarela

Hatakka-Niemelä
Kokkonen-Tuomisto
Viro-Loponen
Räsänen-Rafkin

Blomqvist
Piiroinen

Click to read more...

 

[FinPanda]

Patrik Puistola - Anton Lundell - Leevi Aaltonen
Aku Räty - Aatu Räty - Kasper Simontaival
Brad Lambert - Henri Nikkanen - Matias Mäntykivi
Antti Saarela - Roni Hirvonen - Marcus Kallionkieli
Tuukka Tieksola

Ville Heinola - Mikko Kokkonen
Santeri Hatakka - Kalle Loponen
Antti Tuomisto - Topi Niemelä
Ruben Rafkin

Joel Blomqvist
Kari Piiroinen
Roope Taponen

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

1st Line Ak Räty Lundell Puistola
Kokkonen Heinola

2nd Line Simontaival Aa Räty Lambert
Hatakka Tuomisto

3rd Line Mäntykivi Nikkanen Aaltonen
Loponen Rafkin

4th Line M Petman Pärssinen Myllylä
7th Dman Eemil Viro / Topi Niemelä / Ville Ottavainen ( depending injuries etc )
13th Forward Oliver Suni / Marcus Kallionkieli / Tuukka Tieksola ( depending injuries etc)

Goalies
Blomqvist
Piiroinen
Taponen

 

[FinPanda]

So this team will play in Edmonton with Canada. Exciting.

 

[Mestaruus]

I'm also super pumped that Pennanen is locked up to be the next coach.

Raipe was to U20 what Lauri Marjamäki was to Finnish senior/men's. It wasn't fun to watch when you know the coach isn't suited to be a head coach or in Marjamäki's case a tournament coach. We know that Marjamäki needs longer time than a short tournament to get some results.

I got the same feeling now when it was announced that Jukka Jalonen is the one replacing Marjamäki. Pennanen replacing Raipe just sounds so similar. I believe we got the best guy available here and he will deliver. He is unproven as a tournament head coach though but I got a good feeling about him with the fact how well he did as an assistant coach in WHC under Jalonen last spring.

 

[FinPanda]

I'm also super pumped that Pennanen is locked up to be the next coach.

Raipe was to U20 what Lauri Marjamäki was to Finnish senior/men's. It wasn't fun to watch when you know the coach isn't suited to be a head coach or in Marjamäki's case a tournament coach. We know that Marjamäki needs longer time than a short tournament to get some results.

I got the same feeling now when it was announced that Jukka Jalonen is the one replacing Marjamäki. Pennanen replacing Raipe just sounds so similar. I believe we got the best guy available here and he will deliver. He is unproven as a tournament head coach though but I got a good feeling about him with the fact how well he did as an assistant coach in WHC under Jalonen last spring.

Yeah I am pumped too to see Pennanen coach this team. Aatu should have a lot bigger role too.

 

[teravaineSAROS]

What's the goalie situation? Are we lookikg at any potential game-stealing starter here?

Obviously a lot will change/happen in a year from now.

 

[FinPanda]

What's the goalie situation? Are we lookikg at any potential game-stealing starter here?

Obviously a lot will change/happen in a year from now.

Blomqvist is great

 

[IHaveNoCreativity]

I’m excited to see Räty and Lundell, you guys will be strong.

I’m very curious to see who Lambert will represent though. Is he a lock for Finland ? I don’t know what his eligibility situation is for Canada other than that they’re trying.

 

[FiLe]

I’m very curious to see who Lambert will represent though. Is he a lock for Finland ? I don’t know what his eligibility situation is for Canada other than that they’re trying.

The IIHF eligibility rules state that a player with two citizenships needs to play two consecutive seasons of hockey in a club registered to the country he wishes to represent. As of right now, Lambert fulfills this requirement only for Finland, meaning he'd have to cross over to CHL and play for two consecutive seasons there to be eligible to represent Canada. So the earliest he would be able to dress for Canada would be the 2023 WJC, which would also be his final opportunity. As things are, it's already a given that the only country he can represent on the U18 level is Finland.

If a player dresses for a country in an official IIHF tournament (WJCU18, WJCU20, Men's WHC) the amount of consecutive seasons that makes him eligible to change jerseys grows to four. In other words, if Finland invites him to this year's U18 tournament and he accepts the invitation, Canada can more or less kiss him goodbye.

The IIHF rules have an exemption clause, though, which allows them to waive the two-year requirement in special cases - for example, a few years back William Nylander was allowed to represent Sweden on the U20 level despite having only a single season of Swedish club level hockey on his belt. The mitigating reasons were that both of his parents were Swedish, and he had been born and grown in Canada because of his father's NHL career.

Now, this is just my personal take on the issue, but I really doubt that Lambert would be eligible for the exemption, meaning he'd have to more or less forego his entire international career on the junior level to be able to represent Canada. So the odds are he'll dress for Finland for the U18s this spring, and it will then lock his U20 eligibility as Finland-only, and in practice it'll mean the same for his entire career.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Patrik Puistola - Anton Lundell - Kasper Simontaival
Aku Räty - Aatu Räty - Brad Lambert
Leevi Aaltonen - Henri Nikkanen - Tuukka Tieksola
Marcus Kallionkieli - Roni Hirvonen - Matias Mäntykivi

Ville Heinola - Topi Niemelä
Mikko Kokkonen - Kalle Loponen
Santeri Hatakka - Antti Tuomisto

Joel Blomqvist

 

[Raimo Sillanpää]

The IIHF rules have an exemption clause, though, which allows them to waive the two-year requirement in special cases - for example, a few years back William Nylander was allowed to represent Sweden on the U20 level despite having only a single season of Swedish club level hockey on his belt. The mitigating reasons were that both of his parents were Swedish, and he had been born and grown in Canada because of his father's NHL career.

Now, this is just my personal take on the issue, but I really doubt that Lambert would be eligible for the exemption, meaning he'd have to more or less forego his entire international career on the junior level to be able to represent Canada. So the odds are he'll dress for Finland for the U18s this spring, and it will then lock his U20 eligibility as Finland-only, and in practice it'll mean the same for his entire career.

The other exemption was Eetu Selänne, or Leevi, forget the name - who had zero seasons or games experience in Finland but was allowed to represent - albeit dropped after 1 game because he wasn’t good enough.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

I’m excited to see Räty and Lundell, you guys will be strong.

I’m very curious to see who Lambert will represent though. Is he a lock for Finland ? I don’t know what his eligibility situation is for Canada other than that they’re trying.

If Lambert plays U18 WJC's in Team Finland this April that probably locks him to Team Finland.
Lambert has self said that he represents that country which takes him to U18 WJC's first.

If Lambert wants represent Canada he must play at least 2 yrs in Canada
which probably means reporting to CHL.

But if he plays U18 WJC's in Team Finland and after that he wants represent Canada
he needs to apply Team Canada representation right
and that requires 4 yrs continuous gameplay in Canada.

That's based on IIHF's national team representation rules.
But there's nothing official announced about Lambert's situation yet, so this is all pure speculation.

 

[ES]

Regarding Lambert, the worst thing from Finnish perspective would have been if he had elected to go to CHL and then his team performance would have put him out of Finnish U18 WC roster.

 

[IHaveNoCreativity]

The IIHF eligibility rules state that a player with two citizenships needs to play two consecutive seasons of hockey in a club registered to the country he wishes to represent. As of right now, Lambert fulfills this requirement only for Finland, meaning he'd have to cross over to CHL and play for two consecutive seasons there to be eligible to represent Canada. So the earliest he would be able to dress for Canada would be the 2023 WJC, which would also be his final opportunity. As things are, it's already a given that the only country he can represent on the U18 level is Finland.

If a player dresses for a country in an official IIHF tournament (WJCU18, WJCU20, Men's WHC) the amount of consecutive seasons that makes him eligible to change jerseys grows to four. In other words, if Finland invites him to this year's U18 tournament and he accepts the invitation, Canada can more or less kiss him goodbye.

The IIHF rules have an exemption clause, though, which allows them to waive the two-year requirement in special cases - for example, a few years back William Nylander was allowed to represent Sweden on the U20 level despite having only a single season of Swedish club level hockey on his belt. The mitigating reasons were that both of his parents were Swedish, and he had been born and grown in Canada because of his father's NHL career.

Now, this is just my personal take on the issue, but I really doubt that Lambert would be eligible for the exemption, meaning he'd have to more or less forego his entire international career on the junior level to be able to represent Canada. So the odds are he'll dress for Finland for the U18s this spring, and it will then lock his U20 eligibility as Finland-only, and in practice it'll mean the same for his entire career.

yea I didn’t know the entire rule.

I knew it was a tricky situation and figured if Hockey Canada is trying they must have some kinda of assurances from him because there’s no point in going through the hassle, based on what your saying sounds like there’s a chance but it’s first come first serve with it likely being Finland because he’s already played for them and he’s eligible and he’s born and raised there of course.

will be interesting to follow.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

yea I didn’t know the entire rule.

I knew it was a tricky situation and figured if Hockey Canada is trying they must have some kinda of assurances from him because there’s no point in going through the hassle, based on what your saying sounds like there’s a chance but it’s first come first serve with it likely being Finland because he’s already played for them and he’s eligible and he’s born and raised there of course.

will be interesting to follow.

Lambert's contract with HIFK is only 1+2 and those two option years are Lambert's not HIFK's.
If Lambert decides to go to CHL next season HIFK can't do nothing to stop him.

Lambert has only played 1 liiga game in HIFK this season.
And right now it's wide-open will he stay to HIFK or not.

 

[IHaveNoCreativity]

Lambert's contract with HIFK is only 1+2 and those two option years are Lambert's not HIFK's.
If Lambert decides to go to CHL next season HIFK can't do nothing to stop him.

Lambert has only played 1 liiga game in HIFK this season.
And right now it's wide-open will he stay to HIFK or not.

Interesting, will be one to watch.

 

[FiLe]

The other exemption was Eetu Selänne, or Leevi, forget the name - who had zero seasons or games experience in Finland but was allowed to represent - albeit dropped after 1 game because he wasn’t good enough.

It was Eetu - and Finland actually never sought an exemption for him. This was because he dressed for some practice games - and no official IIHF eligibility is needed for those. Had he been good enough to be in U18/U20 consideration, they would have probably sought the exemption, and given that Nylander had created a precedent, he probably would have been granted it.

yea I didn’t know the entire rule.

I knew it was a tricky situation and figured if Hockey Canada is trying they must have some kinda of assurances from him because there’s no point in going through the hassle, based on what your saying sounds like there’s a chance but it’s first come first serve with it likely being Finland because he’s already played for them and he’s eligible and he’s born and raised there of course.

will be interesting to follow.

Yeah, it will. To recap, right now he is only eligible for Finland. And if he wants to represent Canada, he won't be eligible until the 2023 U20WJC, which would be his last chance to represent (not counting men, naturally). As of right now, he hasn't said no to a single Finland invite, but then again, taking part in these mid-season NT games won't make him a four-year-case yet, but dressing for the U18WJC will. So if he's in that squad, then Hockey Canada can forget about him.

But while Finland has the dibs right now, I won't say he's completely lost to Canada - yet. If he's not in the Finnish U18 roster this spring, and especially if he crosses over to a Canadian junior league over the summer, it's going to get interesting. I really don't see IIHF granting an exemption for him - because it would create a precedent that essentially nullifies the two-year-rule - but if he figures that sitting out a handful of junior tournaments is worth it for the chance to represent Canada from there on out, it's not completely unreasonable to figure he might want to go down that road.

However, the odds still are he'll jump at the first chance to represent - and for now, only Finland can offer him that chance.

 

[Svedu]

Lambert-Lundell-Simontaival
Puistola-Räty-Räty
Aaltonen-Nikkanen-Kallionkieli
Tieksola-Hirvonen-Miettinen

Saarela, not impressed by the little brother after seeing his underwhelming performances in both WJC-18 & WJC-20´s.
Mäntykivi, heard he´s a bad skater and i´m not sure he´s skilled enough for a top role.
Petman, could be better as a fourth liner than Tieksola and Miettinen, even if i want to see the old chemistry between Miettinen and Hirvonen.
Järventie, Intonen, Myllylä, Kiviniemi, Määttä & Suni are all contenders.
These lines would be very even and overall a lot more competitive than this years group of forwards and the depth should be deeper.

Kokkonen-Niemelä
Loponen-Tuomisto
Hatakka-Puutio

Rafkin, Viro, Sedoff, Ottavainen.
It´s very close here, everything can happen in one year. Loponen could be exchanged for Viro. Rafkin and Sedoff. Puutio against others as well.
I´m actually not that concerned when it comes to the D, the depth is there. Perhaps the absolute elite talent is gone compared to previous years but they should be fine.

Blomqvist
I´m not a fan of Finlands goalies born 2001. Very weak in my opinion, at least for now. Blomqvist is a good talent but not on Luukkonens level, not yet.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I think this team could be very good. One of the best forward lineups Finland has iced in years. If Heinola returns, the defense also looks good. Goalie could be questionable, if Blomqvist isn't up to the task. I'm the only person listing him for now, but I'd be surprised if Tuomaala doesn't make this team. I think he's too talented to leave off the team. Even if it's only as the 13th forward, any team could use a player late in the game when you need a goal who can walk the puck into the zone and create a scoring chance.

Lambert-Lundell-Puistola
Hirvonen-Raty-Raty
Saarela-Nikkanen-Tieksola
Aaltonen-Mantykivi-Parssinen
Tuomaala

Heinola-Niemela
Hatakka-Tuomisto
Kokkonen-Rafkin
Loponen

Blomqvist
Piiroinen
Taponen

 

[Tormentor]

------------------NHL-------------------
Kaapo Kakko (-01)

-----------Top Candidates---------------
Roni Hirvonen (-02) - Anton Lundell (-01) - Aku Räty (-01)
Patrik Puistola (-01) - Aatu Räty (-02) - Tuukka Tieksola (-01)
Antti Saarela (-01) - Juuso Pärssinen (-01) - Brad Lambert (-03)
Leevi Aaltonen (-01) - Henri Nikkanen (-01) - Mikko Petman (-01)
Oliver Suni (-02)

Ville Heinola (-01) - Antti Tuomisto (-01)
Santeri Hatakka (-01) - Topi Niemelä (-02)
Mikko Kokkonen (-01) - Kasper Puutio (-02)
Eemil Viro (-02)

Joel Blomqvist (-02)
Kari Piiroinen (-01)
Roope Taponen (-01)

-----------Other Candidates-------------
Mikael Pyyhtiä (-01) - Matias Mäntykivi (-01) - Kasper Simontaival (-02)
Roby Järventie (-02) - Aarne Intonen (-01) - Petteri Puhakka (-01)
Veeti Miettinen (-01) - Samuel Helenius (-02) - Jere Henriksson (-01)
Eetu Liukas (-02) - Joel Määttä (-02) - Marcus Kallionkieli (-01)
Juuso Mäenpää (-02)

Iivari Räsänen (-01) - Kalle Loponen (-01)
Christoffer Sedoff (-02) - Joni Jurmo (-02)
Samu Koskenkorva (-01) - Mico Luoto (-01)
Matias Rajaniemi (-02)

Juho Markkanen (-02)
Eetu Randelin (-01)
Oskari Parviainen (-01)

 

[SantosHalper]

Coaching staff:

Head coach: Antti Pennanen
Asst. coach: Antti Miettinen
Asst. coach: Ville Mäntymaa
Asst. coach: Tuomo Ruutu
Goalie coach: Juha Lehtola
Video coach: Mikael Tolkki
Team Manager: Pasi Järvinen

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Leijonat - U20 testi- ja otteluleirille Vierumäelle 18.-23.7.2020 – Tässä joukkue!

Maalivahdit:
Blomqvist Joel
Piiroinen Kari
Randelin Eetu
Taponen Roope

Puolustajat:
Hatakka Santeri
Heinola Ville
Jurmo Joni
Kokkonen Mikko
Luoto Mico
Määttä Rami
Niemelä Topi
Puutio Kasper
Rafkin Ruben
Räsänen Iivari
Tuomisto Antti
Viro Eemil

Hyökkääjät:
Aaltonen Leevi
Hede Elis
Helenius Samuel
Hirvonen Roni
Järventie Roby
Kallionkieli Marcus
Kiviniemi Joona
Lundell Anton
Mäntykivi Matias
Petman Mikko
Puhakka Petteri
Puistola Patrik
Pyyhtiä Mikael
Pärssinen Juuso
Räty Aatu
Räty Aku
Simontaival Kasper
Suni Oliver

 

[JJTT]

Roster for next weekend, two games vs Ketterä.

Maalivahdit:

Blomqvist Joel
Markkanen Juho
Taponen Roope

Puolustajat:
Jurmo Joni
Kukkonen Mikko
Luoto Mico
Määttä Rami
Niemelä Topi
Puutio Kasper
Rajaniemi Matias
Viro Eemil

Hyökkääjät:
Aaltonen Leevi
Helenius Samuel
Hirvonen Roni
Korhonen Benjamin
Lundell Anton
Mäntykivi Matias
Puhakka Petteri
Puistola Patrik
Pyyhtiä Mikael
Pärssinen Juuso
Räty Aatu
Räty Aku
Saarela Antti
Simontaival Kasper

 

[JJTT]

Did anybody watch the game? Seems like it was streamed.

Lineup

Hirvonen-Lundell-Simontaival
Puistola-Räty-Räty
Pyyhtiä-Pärssinen-Mäntykivi
Korhonen-Helenius-Puhakka

Viro-Puutio
Kokkonen-Luoto
Määttä-Jurmo
Sedoff-Rajaniemi

Taponen

Finland won 5-1 goals by Pärssinen, Hirvonen, Simontaival, Pyyhtiä and Korhonen

Next game is tomorrow at 17.00 onhockey will stream it.