Finland is a serious contender in Olympics next year

[MattiasSnall]

hmm your posts are mostly about finland but ok.

yes finns have great offence so it will be hard shutting down them. and there is no denying that karlsson, dahlin and klingberg are not good in their own zone but hedman is, he really made big strides. when it comes to finlands d i think all of them are good in their own zone, perhaps not vatanen.

you did say that swedish d can not even shut down liiga players in 1 post. the 2019 game was just 1 game, if you look objectivly at swedish d there is no doubt its should be good enough to be able to shut down liiga players. that 2019 team was missing our best stay at home d btw in lindholm and brodin.

I said that half the Swedish D-core didnt shut down Finland in 2019 where Finland had nowhere near their best offensive players, Ofc that doesnt say everything about their defensemen. The Swedish defensive core is absolutely elite and definetly better then the Finnish d-core, atleast for now. The main point is still just that no team in the World has a good enough d-core to ”easily” shut down any of the top contenders in a best-of-best tournament.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Lmfao

lets look at ppg, top 10 forwards from finland vs top 10 forwards from sweden

not that big difference is it

 

[Zub]

lets look at ppg, top 10 forwards from finland vs top 10 forwards from sweden

not that big difference is it

Not really, but to claim Sweden has more high end forwards like some do is just lunacy, pretty evident here, and like i said Sweden has more bottom 6 depth and this chart right here is a good example of this. Besides, Teravainen had Covid plus got concussed by a ugly hit which impacted his numbers this season, same goes for Zibanejad ofcourse.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Not really, but to claim Sweden has more high end forwards like some do is just lunacy, pretty evident here, and like i said Sweden has more bottom 6 depth and this chart right here is a good example of this. Besides, Teravainen had Covid plus got concussed by a ugly hit which impacted his numbers this season, same goes for Zibanejad ofcourse.

elias petterson had problem with injuries too.

but whats up with laine and arvidsson? both of them declining...

 

[MattiasSnall]

lets look at ppg, top 10 forwards from finland vs top 10 forwards from sweden

not that big difference is it

Well the difference is quite easy to read thanks to this, Finland has a bit more top-6 talent and Sweden has more secondary scoring talent then Finland, nothing to argue there. Next Olympics will show what is the better alternative to have.

 

[IceHockeyDude]

u mean finnish guys like mattiasnall and icehockeydude? saying that sweden chocked in og 2014 and that our d is so bad they cant even stop liiga players IS trolling.

For all these swedish trolls you are calling me a troll? Read this thread again carefully.

 

[CameronNeely]

true. but what is it that make finns always bashing sweden in the most absurd ways like saying sweden chocked in og 2014 or that our d is so bad its not even good enough for liiga. its childish. you dont see swedes writing crap like that about finland.

Well we all understand that this is just silly and maybe intentional provocation by someone that don't represent whole Finland. Sweden has just tremendous hockey players year in year out. A quality system with really smart people and very sophisticated nation. I am a finn and can say that there is not a single hockey country that can say they have a team that can definitely beat nr 1 swedish team. And btw it is not just hockey. Fantastic teamsports culture. Soccer, floorball you name it. Every finn fears swedish teams as much as they want to win against them..My favourite player in the whole NHL is Gabriel Landeskog. Would clone him 20 times if I was to build a winning team

 

[BullLund]

lets look at ppg, top 10 forwards from finland vs top 10 forwards from sweden

not that big difference is it

I think Teräväinen and Laine have the potential to put up better points totals than that, unless Laine is already cooked somehow. He obviously didn't transition well to Columbus, and Tortorella's system. Might have a bounce-back season next year, or maybe not.

I'm not sure if you need to fill the bottom 6 with spectacularly skilled talents anyway. Role players like Armia, Donskoi, Granlund, etc. will do. You need guys to kill penalties and to defend a lead, as well as guys who can score goals. The teams that are stacked with talent like Canada might end up making the mistake of bringing in too many "superstars" and forgetting the bread and butter of what makes a hockey team function, which are also the grinders and the role players, who can be called upon to shut the game down when needed.

 

[QnebO]

Canada is having McKinnon and McJesus driving 1st and 2nd lines, maybe even combine them in the same line if they think it makes sense. Canada is "the" contender but our roster is really good and we can work with that for sure.

Hoping for Laine having his nightmare end next season, that would definitely boost our team alot, but even without that.

 

[Czechboy]

5 teams can EASILY win gold at the best on best. Canada has the slight advantage. The next 4 are a sliver below and all have their strengths and weaknesses. It'll come down to one or 2 very small things (a bad call, a post, a shotblock, a poor goal allowed).

I hope people aren't thinking a country is showing up, going undefeated and winning all their games by 5?

Also, the Czech, Danish, Swiss, German, Slovak and Latvian rosters are all capable of upsets (not gold) and can also really screw up tournament seeding heading into the quarters. All of their rosters have some serious qualities as well... a notch below 100% but it's not hard to picture Grubauer getting a shutout and Drai setting up a goal. Or Ehlers having a srong game while Anderssen (and that stingy D) shut it down. Swiss have some gamebreakers and a Norris calibre D.

 

[karhukissa]

Fins are NOT an attractive people, but they can surprise you in hockey.

How dare you Finnish NHL'er

Canadian:

 

[D1az]

As everyone else has already pointed out: The defensive lines do not convince me fully, but anything can happen if they play with a lot of heart and everyone is dialed in during the tournament.

 

[canswetoxic]

Im Swedish lmao, i have never bashed the Swedish d-core but claiming that they can ”easily” shut down Finland is just wrong.

and I'm finnish.

 

[IceHockeyDude]

There should be more respect between Finns and Swedes. Most posters of both countries are awesome, but then there are the bad apples. For some reason i've only seen Finns calling their's out.

 

[MattiasSnall]

and I'm finnish.

Well since u dont believe me here is the full story, born and raised in Sweden by a Swedish father and Finnish mother, i have both nationalites and both the countries close to my heart. In sports the Finnish patriotism by my mother has influenced me to cheer for them in icehockey, otherwise i usually cheer for success for both as far as its possible. But that doesnt change that the points i have made are still right.

 

[Angry Little Elf]

ITT: Too many people are equating “serious contender” with “automatic gold medal champion”

 

[ORRFForever]

How dare you Finnish NHL'er

Canadian:

Touché !!!!

 

[RageQuit77]

ITT: Too many people are equating “serious contender” with “automatic gold medal champion”

You're right. There is nothing "automatic" in winning best-on-best hockey Olympic Gold.

 

[BB88]

defense is not good enough to go for gold but maybe we can medal

It has never been elite.

With Heiskanen& Lindell it’s the best it has ever been

 

[QnebO]

It has never been elite.

With Heiskanen& Lindell it’s the best it has ever been

I agree on the baseline, its never even been elite and its good now. But Its on par with Numminen & Timonen. Heiskanen might be better than Timonen and Numminen Better than Lindell. Then there was Sami Salo. Id say its pretty close, but its good enough to win anyways. Finland will probably never have best on paper team, nor will anyone else Except Canada.

Or maybe I overrate Numminen and Lindell is better? Idk but If I recall right Numminen was really good defensively, not the most elite but top tier on NHL.

 

[Eye of Ra]

For all these swedish trolls you are calling me a troll? Read this thread again carefully.

saying that silver in 2014 olympics was a failure is trolling

 

[paragon]

If I was the GM of team Finland

Kapanen - Hintz- Rantanen
Heiskanen - Jokiharju

Granlund - Barkov - Donskoi
Lindell - Ristolainen

Teräväinen - Aho -Laine
Nutivaara - Hakanpää

Haula - Lundell - Armia
Lehtonen - Kaski

Kakko, Kotkaniemi, Puljujärvi, Määttä and Välimäki are the extras.

My reasoning is that first 3 lines are all fairly balanced with clear strengths. First line is fast and dangerous and they played together for Jalonen as a line in 2016 when they won WJC gold, so previous chemistry is already established. 2nd line has great possession players, 3rd line has the Teräväinen - Aho pairing that will be also the main PK duo with Lindell and Ristolainen. 4th Line has Haula and Armia that will be 2nd PK duo with Heiskanen and Hakanpää. Barkov and Granlund can play PK also if need be. First PP will be Granlund, Hintz, Rantanen, Laine, Heiskanen. 2nd PP Teräväinen, Aho, Barkov, Lindell, Ristolainen.

Defensive depth is pretty bad and clearly the weakest of any top country, and the team needs to lean heavily on the top4. Luckily Heiskanen, Lindell and Ristolainen have been top25 in ice time for the last 3 years, so they can eat minutes.

I think special teams will be extra important and Finland has great special teams players. Aho, Teräväinen and Armia are all top 15 players in the NHL in SHP/60 for the past 3 years with Aho and Teräväinen being both top 5. Lindell is the SHTOI king in the entire NHL. PP should be dangerous as well with Rantanen, Barkov and Laine all being top 20 in PPGs for the last 3 years and Hintz was actually 3rd in PPP/60 in the entire NHL this season and 1st in primary PPP/60.

Rask and Saros are self-explanatory and Lankinen has proved that he can handle the pressure of a championship game.

 

[ddlennon]

It has never been elite.

With Heiskanen& Lindell it’s the best it has ever been

Yeah doesnt really matter when other countries defense is also the best it has ever been

 

[Ippenator]

If I was the GM of team Finland

Kapanen - Hintz- Rantanen
Heiskanen - Jokiharju

Granlund - Barkov - Donskoi
Lindell - Ristolainen

Teräväinen - Aho -Laine
Nutivaara - Hakanpää

Haula - Lundell - Armia
Lehtonen - Kaski

Kakko, Kotkaniemi, Puljujärvi, Määttä and Välimäki are the extras.

My reasoning is that first 3 lines are all fairly balanced with clear strengths. First line is fast and dangerous and they played together for Jalonen as a line in 2016 when they won WJC gold, so previous chemistry is already established. 2nd line has great possession players, 3rd line has the Teräväinen - Aho pairing that will be also the main PK duo with Lindell and Ristolainen. 4th Line has Haula and Armia that will be 2nd PK duo with Heiskanen and Hakanpää. Barkov and Granlund can play PK also if need be. First PP will be Granlund, Hintz, Rantanen, Laine, Heiskanen. 2nd PP Teräväinen, Aho, Barkov, Lindell, Ristolainen.

Defensive depth is pretty bad and clearly the weakest of any top country, and the team needs to lean heavily on the top4. Luckily Heiskanen, Lindell and Ristolainen have been top25 in ice time for the last 3 years, so they can eat minutes.

I think special teams will be extra important and Finland has great special teams players. Aho, Teräväinen and Armia are all top 15 players in the NHL in SHP/60 for the past 3 years with Aho and Teräväinen being both top 5. Lindell is the SHTOI king in the entire NHL. PP should be dangerous as well with Rantanen, Barkov and Laine all being top 20 in PPGs for the last 3 years and Hintz was actually 3rd in PPP/60 in the entire NHL this season and 1st in primary PPP/60.

Rask and Saros are self-explanatory and Lankinen has proved that he can handle the pressure of a championship game.

Well done here mate! The only thing that I completely disagree with here is Kaski instead of Määttä or Välimäki. I just can’t see it by any means. Otherwise I think you have a really well thought out and balanced roster here.

 

[JianYang]

For a nation of 5.5 million, that is an exceptional roster pound for pound.