WJC: Finland 2021 Roster Talk

[ffh]

May need to edit the article more.

“Heinola has been on loan to Lukko of the Liiga where he put one goal and 12 assists for 13 points in 16 points.”

“He skates well and really turns the puck over, averaging only one giveaway a game.”

Loponen may not make the team due to his defense.

* "he skates well and rarely turns the puck over."

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

looks pretty good

 

[APVJ]

Roster announced today. Aatu Räty and Puistola didn't make it.

 

[ookhaab]

Puistola led the team last year in goals and was second in points, he most likely refused to go.

 

[Esko6]

I hope there is a good reason for not having Räty on the team. He is still a good prospect who really needs a confidence boost, WJC could have great for him.

Pretty tragic if he was just left out of team for performance reasons. He played in the WJC last year, was a seen as a potential 1OA pick for a while and now he is not invited.

 

[Svedu]

No Puistola, no Aatu, no Tuomisto, no Miettinen.. I´m actually quite disappointed with this selection.
Why is Aku selected and not Aatu? I'm not sure I would have preferred Aku before Miettinen.
Well, well...

 

[MaV]

I'm very surprised if Puistola has been simply dropped and he would be healthy and willing to go. It's not just that he good tournament last year, he has always been good in national team in all age groups. Maybe the coaching doesn't see him fit in the style they want to the team to play, but those goals he can score from around the crease are not easy to replace.

 

[Zamuz]

what? no Aatu?

this must be a joke

 

[Zub]

I hope there is a good reason for not having Räty on the team. He is still a good prospect who really needs a confidence boost, WJC could have great for him.

Pretty tragic if he was just left out of team for performance reasons. He played in the WJC last year, was a seen as a potential 1OA pick for a while and now he is not invited.

He was invicible last WJC aswell.. His stock ever since then has fallen in dramatic fashion.

 

[Just doink]

I hope there is a good reason for not having Räty on the team. He is still a good prospect who really needs a confidence boost, WJC could have great for him.

Pretty tragic if he was just left out of team for performance reasons. He played in the WJC last year, was a seen as a potential 1OA pick for a while and now he is not invited.

Finland does not participate in WJC goal in mind to develop players, best players should be there. Righ now Räty is playing ASM with average results, clear cut. "Was seen" include the righ tense, should be good wake up call to Räty too

 

[Svedu]

I would consider us as underdogs now. Canada and Russia has superior players on paper, especially their depth. Would sadly consider Sweden and USA as bigger favorites than Finland for a silver or bronze after reading about Pennanens announcement.
Is this roster even better than Germanys or Czech Republics this year? Czech Republics roster contains of players playing with seniors, more than before.
Well, well, it will still be entertaining to follow. Cheers

 

[Svedu]

Finland does not participate in WJC goal in mind to develop players, best players should be there. Righ now Räty is playing ASM with average results, clear cut. "Was seen" include the righ tense, should be good wake up call to Räty too

Well, i´m not so convinced after reading this. Why would Aku be selected then? Besides Miettinen as RW, you have Jere Henriksson, Vilén, Jämsen, Tieksola, Liukas and Suni with a lot more impressing, or at least comparable performances so far.

 

[FinPanda]

Puistola must have said no, doesn't make sense otherwise why he isn't on the team. Aatu Räty makes sense, he hasn't been special this year.

 

[BusQuets]

Puistola has been really average this season. Not surprised he didn't make the team.

 

[TheGreekShot]

Leijonat - Nuorten Leijonien MM-ehdokkaat valittu

 

[JabbaJabba]

I would consider us as underdogs now. Canada and Russia has superior players on paper, especially their depth. Would sadly consider Sweden and USA as bigger favorites than Finland for a silver or bronze after reading about Pennanens announcement.
Is this roster even better than Germanys or Czech Republics this year? Czech Republics roster contains of players playing with seniors, more than before.
Well, well, it will still be entertaining to follow. Cheers

Being an underdog works well for Finns. I can't think of a time they were a favourite going into a U20 tournament. Any of the big five could take the gold.

The roster will be easily better than Germany's who are missing a few important players like Seider and Ancicka. They have the trio Stutzle, Peterka and Reichel, but after that there's not much. Stutzle has been injured this Fall and a lot of these guys haven't played at all. They'll be rusty going in. Germany's defence doesn't strike me as anything special. They will have problems moving the puck.

I think Czech's have a nice team but they lack offensive punch. Most of the Finns also play against men and I would say that Liiga is better league than Czech men's league, so I wouldn't say Czechs have an advantage because a lot of them play in men's league.

 

[king89]

Updated predictions. Potential lines:
Järventie-Lundell-Simontaival
Lambert-Nikkanen-Hirvonen
Pärssinen-Helenius-Aaltonen
Puhakka-Mäntykivi/Pyyhtiä/Valkeejärvi-Petman

Räty and-or one center.
Three lines that could be decent. Two skilled, third as hard working and fourth some kind of a meeeh.
Missing Aatu Räty, Puistola, Saarela and Kakko(not surprising) left me thinking that this group of forwards are looking quite meeeh, after having bigger expectations and getting a bit excited. Not bad no, but now it feels like it's very comparable to last years roster when we had Maccelli, Kupari (who got injured), Puistola. Also, Ranta impressed me with his work ethic and in all honesty, Oden with his speed would make it as a third line winger in this years squad as well.
No, my expectations went from semifinals-where everything can happen, to quarters- let's see how it goes.



Heinola-Niemelä
Hatakka-Kokkonen
Viro-Puutio/Rafkin

Rajaniemi or Määttä as backup.
It feels like the D´s are very even with this current forward group.

Goalies. Not more exciting than last years.

I would consider us as underdogs now. Canada and Russia has superior players on paper, especially their depth. Would sadly consider Sweden and USA as bigger favorites than Finland for a silver or bronze after reading about Pennanens announcement.
Is this roster even better than Germanys or Czech Republics this year? Czech Republics roster contains of players playing with seniors, more than before.
Well, well, it will still be entertaining to follow. Cheers

I think you are overreacting quite a bit. Räty is no bigger loss and we have guys that can step up in Puistolas absence. Why Puistola is not on the team i don't know, maybe he declined the invitation like @FinPanda said, or has a minor injury. Anyway this forward group is still way more talanted then last year.

 

[Svedu]

Being an underdog works well for Finns. I can't think of a time they were a favourite going into a U20 tournament. Any of the big five could take the gold.

The roster will be easily better than Germany's who are missing a few important players like Seider and Ancicka. They have the trio Stutzle, Peterka and Reichel, but after that there's not much. Stutzle has been injured this Fall and a lot of these guys haven't played at all. They'll be rusty going in. Germany's defence doesn't strike me as anything special. They will have problems moving the puck.

I think Czech's have a nice team but they lack offensive punch. Most of the Finns also play against men and I would say that Liiga is better league than Czech men's league, so I wouldn't say Czechs have an advantage because a lot of them play in men's league.

I´m not saying the Czechs have an advantage. I wrote that they have more players playing with men than before, there for we could expect a bit more from them as a unit than before.
Of course it's very rare to see the finns as top favorites but I wouldn't want to say that this years roster are at the same level as we've got a bit used to lately.
Lundell is great and the depth is there, but that potential elite skill besides Lundell? Perhaps Lambert could reach those levels, perhaps even Järventie, Heinola and Simontaival, who knows. But... Comparing to players like Kakko, Tolvanen, Vesalainen, Kupari, Laine, Aho, Puljujärvi, Heiskanen, Juolevi, Rantanen etc? You get the point.
When Finland won gold the last time I was expecting a lot from them going into the tournament. The roster was there on paper as well, just take a look at it. Kakko and Lundell where second and third line players even if they are considered as elite talent.
I just don't think we are even with Sweden nor USA this year. On paper that is. Before I thought we would have an equal level to these nations. Canada and Russia are really, really strong this year. There have been plenty of years i´ve considered Finland to be top3 at least, for example the year Finland won the gold.


But then again this is a team sport and players like Järventie and Lambert do have the potential to breakout like others have before them.
Hey, everything can happen. I'm just stating that we are clear underdogs going into this tournament. A small country can't be able to have the best players every year, that is certain. I'm just stating that I have been a bit more impressed by earlier rosters. The thing is, it would be even sweeter if this roster can fight for medals showing that typical Finnish aura of unity.
Absolutely there should and could be other players that can step up, but I wouldn't downplay Aatu or Puistola. They are talented and hopefully they will have great careers.

 

[Svedu]

I think you are overreacting quite a bit. Räty is no bigger loss and we have guys that can step up in Puistolas absence. Why Puistola is not on the team i don't know, maybe he declined the invitation like @FinPanda said, or has a minor injury. Anyway this forward group is still way more talanted then last year.

Well, Aatu has scored in one third of his senior games this year and is almost PPG at U-2o´s. The thing is I have a feeling many wants to "Hate" on him just because he was so hyped before. Perhaps he is not elite or overrated, but the kid is still really talented and his number in the past shows just that.
He was not great last year either, but three points in seven games is not lousy for being underaged. He had his brother on his wing and someone else. Imagine if he would have Lambert and Järventie? Perhaps they could have been just like Aho with Laine and Puljujärvi. I know I'm just speculating at this moment but you can't just expect someone to excel on his own either.
If you gave Lundell Järventie and Lambert or Hirvonen on his wings, there would be a big chance they would have produced more than Valkeejärvi and Aku Räty on his wing, or am i wrong?

 

[karhukissa]

I would consider us as underdogs now. Canada and Russia has superior players on paper, especially their depth. Would sadly consider Sweden and USA as bigger favorites than Finland for a silver or bronze after reading about Pennanens announcement.
Is this roster even better than Germanys or Czech Republics this year? Czech Republics roster contains of players playing with seniors, more than before.
Well, well, it will still be entertaining to follow. Cheers

What on earth are you talking about? So not having Räty and Puistola suddenly makes team trash? Hockey fantasy games are lot of fun, but when you are really building a winning team you need to take all things into consideration, like roles etc.

Pennanen did see better options for top-6 roles thus leaving Puistola and Räty out. If anything we should be happy if we can afford to leave prospects like that out. Also this is not 2010 anymore, Finland is mass producing great prospects every year so Team Finland isn't for pumping tires of once top prospects who needs confidence.

I think this team looks very good and we're fighting for gold as usual. So calm down people.

 

[Number 57]

It seems to me that Antti Saarela is an even bigger miss than Puistola or Raty

They are also missing Kallionkieli and Tieksola. Something is going on. They are foregoing 5 top-9 forwards

 

[JJTT]

It seems to me that Antti Saarela is an even bigger miss than Puistola or Raty

They are also missing Kallionkieli and Tieksola. Something is going on. They are foregoing 5 top-9 forwards

Saarela is injured, Tieksola just returned after recovering from major surgery.

Kallionkieli has 5 points in 9 games in juniors not really impressive numbers, I don't think he is even top20 forward at this age group, certainly not a top9.

 

[Svedu]

What on earth are you talking about? So not having Räty and Puistola suddenly makes team trash? Hockey fantasy games are lot of fun, but when you are really building a winning team you need to take all things into consideration, like roles etc.

Pennanen did see better options for top-6 roles thus leaving Puistola and Räty out. If anything we should be happy if we can afford to leave prospects like that out. Also this is not 2010 anymore, Finland is mass producing great prospects every year so Team Finland isn't for pumping tires of once top prospects who needs confidence.

I think this team looks very good and we're fighting for gold as usual. So calm down people.

Where did I write trash? Read one more time. I wrote that four countries are probably considered as bigger favorites than us this year. Am I wrong or are you just biased as hell?
Just take a look at others roster, not only your beloved Finland and their roster buddy. Russia won over Finns in Karjala tournament with their juniors.

So please Mr. Wiseguy, tell me, how many wingers are better for top 6 or top 9 than Puistola, Miettinen etc? 2? 4? 6?

You are wrong. Finland is producing a lot more talents than before, but not great prospects every year or what do you mean with great? Future checking line players for the NHL or top players for KHL? Don't get me wrong again. They are talents but great? I would not shot out great as easy as you are doing right now.

Last but not least, the best coaches can get the best players to buy different roles and perform. Stating something else is just utter bulls*it. Why has not Finland won olympic gold even if hockey is the biggest sport, and if everything has with coaching to do? Guess what? Because we didn't have more players with elite talent like Koivu and Selänne, that's why pal.
Yes, Jalonen won gold with a team that was considered as underdogs. But who says he could not have won the tournament with Finlands best players? You? Please.

 

[Zub]

Well, Aatu has scored in one third of his senior games this year and is almost PPG at U-2o´s. The thing is I have a feeling many wants to "Hate" on him just because he was so hyped before. Perhaps he is not elite or overrated, but the kid is still really talented and his number in the past shows just that.
He was not great last year either, but three points in seven games is not lousy for being underaged. He had his brother on his wing and someone else. Imagine if he would have Lambert and Järventie? Perhaps they could have been just like Aho with Laine and Puljujärvi. I know I'm just speculating at this moment but you can't just expect someone to excel on his own either.
If you gave Lundell Järventie and Lambert or Hirvonen on his wings, there would be a big chance they would have produced more than Valkeejärvi and Aku Räty on his wing, or am i wrong?

Dude Räty was nowhere close to ppg in the U20 league last season for a projected top pick, the season before that he scored 31 in 41 games, and he has regressed pretty badly ever since. And even if he's gotten a few points in senior level he's been complete no show when it comes to making a impact, nobody is hating on him it's just the truth.

 

[Canada4Gold]

Can't believe Puistola isn't here. Maybe he hasn't been great this year, but there's no way he's not a top 6 player. There are a couple others I disagree with too but those are defensible. I just don't get the Puistola omission. Him declining the spot is the only thing that makes any sense, and even that would be confusing.