WC: Finland Roster 2024 U18 World Championship

[Playmaker82]

So Nurmi was cut then? With Marjala, Ranta?

 

[FiLe]

In SHL finals there is Valtteri Viljanen.

And what exactly makes him worth considering? An utterly unremarkable undersized d-man with no offensive edge and a total of zero NT games on his belt.

Now, I'm not calling him a complete scrub, considering that he's made the lineup in the final series of a major European league. But he also isn't anything we don't have in droves.

So Nurmi was cut then? With Marjala, Ranta?

Marjala, Ranta and Latvala were cut. Nurmi's name is on the list.

 

[Playmaker82]

Oh, I see him now. Just overlooked him I though it was kind of a strange cut so early.

Kind of a big and wide squad, with only the typical goalscorers missing bigtime...

 

[Svedu]

He’s the only 2007 born player to make the roster. Are you telling me Finland has no 2007 born players with first round potential?

We are speaking about goalies first of all. Are you saying a goalie should be drafted or is likely to be drafted in the first round if he's not exceptional? When did that happen?
UPL got drafted in the second round and was always a good prospect and bigger then all of these three. He played in the WJC-18's as an underaged goalie and won both the 18 and u20 being a big contributing factor.
Saros got drafted in the fourth round after being a monster at the WJC's as an underaged...He carried Finland with Teräväinen. Lindell and Lehkonen were okay too and they Ristolainen had only some good flashes but nothing else. Under Kivis management it was Saros and TT who did it.
Dostal in the third round...

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

We are speaking about goalies first of all. Are you saying a goalie should be drafted or is likely to be drafted in the first round if he's not exceptional? When did that happen?
UPL got drafted in the second round and was always a good prospect and bigger then all of these three. He played in the WJC-18's as an underaged goalie and won both the 18 and u20 being a big contributing factor.
Saros got drafted in the fourth round after being a monster at the WJC's as an underaged...He carried Finland with Teräväinen. Lindell and Lehkonen were okay too and they Ristolainen had only some good flashes but nothing else. Under Kivis management it was Saros and TT who did it.
Dostal in the third round...

I don’t know why you are getting upset. I’m asking a question. I don’t watch the Finnish teams as much as some of the Finns do. I saw he was the only 2007 born player on this team. It’s also very hard to play in older age groups as a goaltender. That made me ponder if he is a first round talent or simply better than whoever would’ve been the third goaltender on this team.

If the answer is that he’s not that good, okay then. Question resolved.

 

[Svedu]

I don’t know why you are getting upset. I’m asking a question. I don’t watch the Finnish teams as much as some of the Finns do. I saw he was the only 2007 born player on this team. It’s also very hard to play in older age groups as a goaltender. That made me ponder if he is a first round talent or simply better than whoever would’ve been the third goaltender on this team.

If the answer is that he’s not that good, okay then. Question resolved.

I'm not upset. But I feel there are some posters in here that seem to bash or even mock Finnish prospects a bit more compared to others. Well, no matter what. A goalie is rarely drafted in the first round if he's not playing with and against older opponents and also gets the opportunity to do so because he is better than older options.
Vasilievskiy was the first option when Kuznetsov played the WJC's for an example and he's two years younger. Also, when he did that he was the best goalie in the tournament followed by the second Russian goalie Makarov. So it wasn't like it was easy to earn the spot either.
Askarov is the last one getting as hyped but I never saw the calmness and in all honesty the whole package like in Vasi. With Askarov that is.

And last but not least, perhaps I overreacted. Regarding Kerkola, difficult time seeing him being a second rounder even. He's the third option here and therefor it's difficult to see him as a generational finnish goalie talent. Well, surely not as hyped as Rask, Saros or UPL. But who knows, late bloomers amongst goalies is a thing.
Perhaps he can reach similar reputation like Blomqvist if he's lucky.

Overall, UPL and Saros do stand out but there is a lot of potential amongst Finnish goalies and I do believe one of them mentioned down low will become a starter in the NHL, sooner or later:
Blomqvist,Tikkanen,Annunen,Vali,Vinni,Kokko,Meriläinen,Saarinen,Rimpinen,Vedenpää,Kohonen, Jatkola, Korhonen etc.
And none of these prospects got or will likely get drafted in the first round.

 

[JJTT]

After yesterdays game leaving out Soini and Muhonen looks just weirder and weirder. Only Väisänen, Kiviharju and maybe Nykyri looked like they should be playing in this tournament.

Kauppinen said that he wanted to have right roles for the players but yet he used all 6 d man on the pk? Going to be a really short tounament for us unless Rimpinen stands on his head.

Forwards were not that much better. Other than Hemming and Helenius, they all lack offensive skills, size or skating ability.

 

[SantosHalper]

Are you telling me Finland has no 2007 born players with first round potential?

Max Westergård & Eetu Orpana, maybe.

 

[Mestaruus]

Mhm. Although even without Hintz I'm wondering if we shouldn't place Granny on wing, assuming Suomela joins. 1st could be Granlund-Suomela-X, then Kapanen as 2C, Hyry/Lammikko as 3C and Bjöönis in his usual spot.

I wouldn't mind Granny on either position, because we know he can do both jobs well. Do correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that he pretty much played center exclusively this season. He finished the season well, at least point production wise, so I'm not sure I'd want to mess with removing him from center position at this point.

In the case where we'd have Granny as a winger, I'd rather have Hintz as Granny's center. In terms of even strength play, I'd rather stick the biggest guns, the NHL guys together, rather than think of equally balanced lines. They'll have some chemistry via NA play style, as do Euros with each other. Of course if it happens to be so that Hintz wouldn't join, then perhaps Suomela as Granny's center could be one of our best options.

 

[David OSullivan]

I wouldn't mind Granny on either position, because we know he can do both jobs well. Do correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that he pretty much played center exclusively this season. He finished the season well, at least point production wise, so I'm not sure I'd want to mess with removing him from center position at this point.

In the case where we'd have Granny as a winger, I'd rather have Hintz as Granny's center. In terms of even strength play, I'd rather stick the biggest guns, the NHL guys together, rather than think of equally balanced lines. They'll have some chemistry via NA play style, as do Euros with each other. Of course if it happens to be so that Hintz wouldn't join, then perhaps Suomela as Granny's center could be one of our best options.

Granny played centre all season and played a great season. One of his best in the NHL in my opinion.

 

[Mestaruus]

Alright thanks. In SHL finals there is Valtteri Viljanen.

It's kind of strange how small amount of Finns feature in the SHL finals this time, considering that in SHL Finns form the biggest minority group of foreigners. Looks like zero notable ones to me.

Granny played centre all season and played a great season. One of his best in the NHL in my opinion.

Absolutely, considering how crap San Jose is. Easily San Jose's best player. Funny how a while ago many people, especially Pittsburgh fans have been saying that Granny is useless and play wise looks like an actual granny. I didn't believe that for a second and I knew that he'd bounce back

 

[mattihp]

Ö

In the case where we'd have Granny as a winger, I'd rather have Hintz as Granny's center. In terms of even strength play, I'd rather stick the biggest guns, the NHL guys together, rather than think of equally balanced lines. They'll have some chemistry via NA play style, as do Euros with each other. Of course if it happens to be so that Hintz wouldn't join, then perhaps Suomela as Granny's center could be one of our best options.

I would rather have them on separate lines as that would mean we have one of them on the ice for longer. JJ will play the three first line rather equally as per usual and tjen have the fourth line play as much as needed; anywhere from 7 to 20 minutes.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

I'm not upset. But I feel there are some posters in here that seem to bash or even mock Finnish prospects a bit more compared to others. Well, no matter what. A goalie is rarely drafted in the first round if he's not playing with and older opponents and also getting the opportunity to do so because he is better than older options.
Vasilievskiy was the first option when Kuznetsov played the WJC's for an example and he's two years younger. Also, when he did that he was the best goalie in the tournament followed by the second Russian goalie Makarov. So it wasn't like it was easy to earn the spot either.
Askarov is the last one getting as hyped but I never saw the calmness and in all honesty the whole package like in Vasi. With Askarov that is.

And last but not least, perhaps I overreacted. Regarding Kerkola, difficult time seeing him being a second rounder even. He's the third option here and therefor it's difficult to see him as a generational finnish goalie talent. But who knows, late bloomers amongst goalies is a thing.

Can you tell me how this is related to 2024 U18 WJC team Finland roster talk?
If you guys wanna talk about 2025 draft prospects do it into prospect section not here.

 

[Svedu]

Can you tell me how this is related to 2024 U18 WJC team Finland roster talk?
If you guys wanna talk about 2025 draft prospects do it into prospect section not here.

Well, not that much. But a little, it's still our third goalie in this tournament. Also, brother, I don't give a rats *ss about what you think about it. Hyvää viikonloppua!

Max Westergård & Eetu Orpana, maybe.

Unlikely they will but yes for mentioning those two, I believe Westergård is the only one with that potential.

 

[FiLe]

In the case where we'd have Granny as a winger, I'd rather have Hintz as Granny's center.

If Hintz joins, moving MiG on wing seems like a no-brainer. But I wasn't advocating about that, but saying that it might be a move worth considering even if we get Suomela but no Hintz.

And this despite Granlund having a great season playing almost exclusive center.

 

[Luigi#17]

Koivunen is outta AHL playoffs. Any chance of him playing?

 

[mattihp]

Koivunen is outa AHL playoffs. Any chance of him playing?

I would love to see him on Grana's wing. Travelling back and forth might be a bit too much now though. Wouldn't be surprised if he wants to check out his new home.

 

[Mestaruus]

Can you tell me how this is related to 2024 U18 WJC team Finland roster talk?
If you guys wanna talk about 2025 draft prospects do it into prospect section not here.

A mod deleted the Finland men's WHC thread and moved the messages to U18 thread for some unknown reason.

 

[mattihp]

Does this mean we have to sendour 18yo to play in the world champs

 

[Eye of Ra]

. Travelling back and forth might be a bit too much now though.

Lekkerimäki did it.

 

[mattihp]

Sweden is getting scary. Their defense could be that of an NHL team and their adds up front are pretty good too

 

[FinPanda]

Wait so we don't have a WHC thread anymore? The adults tourney?

 

[mattihp]

Wait so we don't have a WHC thread anymore? The adults tourney?

Nope

 

[Mestaruus]

Wait so we don't have a WHC thread anymore? The adults tourney?

The mods don't like that idea.

 

[mattihp]

Or is the Eye of Ra thread still around? I bet many of us ignore 'im.