WJC: Finland WJC Roster

[FinnGoalie]

Quit comparing Finnish and swedish teams. i am an fin and i know finland is a challanger in the tournament and sweden is a gold medal canditate. I would take Jere Sallinen and eero elo over Haula. Jere Sallinen is very physical player. Hes energetic and plays every shift 110%. Not a point machine but he can do points and hes perfect for 3-4line. Eero Elo is big and very skilled. J. Sallinen and E. Elo are very good for a mask man for PP. As we know finland has very good PP players. Laakso and Vatanen has very good shot and they quarterback pp very well. Especially Laakso. He makes smart moves and has the patience to search a good shooting opportunity. Vatanen shoots to often and from the bad spots. He isnt very calm. With small pressure he can make bad moves. Granlund and Rajala are very good players to run PP. Elo, Sallinen and Hartikainen are good players infront of net. Good team overall. Goaltending is the weakest part atm. This team lacks a sniper like pulkkinen. 2 line of higly talented offensive players. 2 Line of very energetic players with size to shutout starplayers. Good team. Black horse for the tournament. Could beat canada in good day. Vatanen and Granlund are the players to watch.

This post sounds about right here...content-wise that is
As a note to some Finnish fans, I think you get too carried away about the overall talent Finnish team possesses. It's true that there's more Elite League players than before, but you have to remember that SM-liiga is not the same it used to be. Because of the financial and other reasons, teams pick their 3rd/4th liners more easily from talented juniors than using established older (expensive) players. It's a good thing for youngsters, but it also brings down the overall level of the league.

Having the best Finnish team in a long time still doesn't mean that the team is on par with THE best in this tourney. Finns definitely have the talent to challenge properly, though. It still would require them to play up to their potential as a whole team.

just my 2 cents...

 

[korben*]

Having the best Finnish team in a long time still doesn't mean that the team is on par with THE best in this tourney.
just my 2 cents...

Exactly. We are nowhere near Big 4 (Canada, Russia, USA and nowadays Sweden) Even when having couple decadional talents, by our standards. That are all questionable by Canadian standards, isn´t changing that. Not now or in near future. We have trouble finding Top 6 talents for even U20s. Thanks to "all play" socialist system

For those not familiar with that. It means when team has 12 forwards. All 12 play same time. Same with Ds. All play same time.
Even blind can pick Top 3 forwards in any given team. So in here, play is not to win. But to give "equal oppurtunity" Imo that is one of most idiotic ideas ever

 

[HamiltonOHL]

j/w if anyone knows when finland will announce there final roster for u-20 wjc tourney... wild fan here and courious to see which wild prospects will be on the final roster

 

[Jussi]

j/w if anyone knows when finland will announce there final roster for u-20 wjc tourney... wild fan here and courious to see which wild prospects will be on the final roster

After the exhibition game against Canada.

 

[Habsfan18]

I'm hoping Nattinen gets PP time again this year.

 

[Urgi]

Looking forward to watch this team play, finland always gives 100% and with the offensive talent this year they can be deadly.

 

[wings5]

I think they will give Canada a stronger test than Sweden for sure and they can surprise a lot of teams. Like Canada they play a North South game which is needed for small rinks, they drive the net hard and best of all they are finally producing skilled players, again. Would be great to see them against Sweden you know there will be alot of love in that game.

 

[Boltz9]

On Rajala:

There are a lot of players to share powerplay time with in Brandon. On most other teams I think he would have 5-10 more points on the powerplay.

Sat out practice this week with a hip flexor injury. For the sake of Finland and Brandon fans hopefully it's minor

As others have said, has a lot of offensive skill. Very good vision, very good passer and when it comes time to shoot he can pick his spots with authority. In my opinion has been a more dangerous player offensively than #8 overall pick Scott Glennie this year. You get the feeling Rajala is ready for a big second half.

Praise aside, he seems very shy when it comes to any kind of physical play. Many times I've seen him step aside and let the other team have its way rather than take a hit or go into the corners. To become dominant in the WHL, to be effective in the playoffs and to be an NHL player he doesn't have to become a tough guy but he has to be more willing to be bumped. This should come with time, but as far as the WJCs go he's going to have to be complimented by players that can dig the puck out against the better teams.

Couldn't agree more. He really shy's away from the puck when its on the boards, and I haven't seen him go around a defender and take the puck to the net yet this year. He always seems to curl and then look to pass. Definately needs some gritty linemates to do the work or he and Finland will be in trouble against teams like Canada.

 

[Qmjhl4life]

Anybody think they know what the next cuts are going to look like and what the are the forward and defence locks on the team.

Mikael Granlund is he expected to be on the team? I'Ve heard good things about this kid

 

[wings5]

Anybody think they know what the next cuts are going to look like and what the are the forward and defence locks on the team.

Mikael Granlund is he expected to be on the team? I'Ve heard good things about this kid

He played last year as a 16 year old so I don't see why he wouldn't be, especially after the season he's having this year.

 

[FiLe]

Granlund is a lock, yeah. In fact, he's going to be the leading forward, centering the 1st line.

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=640611

See the last posts in this thread for more in-depth speculation about cuts and possible lineup of the Finnish roster.

 

[Grabovski]

I'm thinking of picking Joni Ortio for my goalie in a WJC Hockey Pool, is this a good idea or no? Just wondering since most of you guys are Finnish and know how he plays like.

 

[No1Joker]

I'm thinking of picking Joni Ortio for my goalie in a WJC Hockey Pool, is this a good idea or no? Just wondering since most of you guys are Finnish and know how he plays like.

He has developed this season for sure and is a black horse in this tourny. He is worth a try if Markström is already taken

 

[HamiltonOHL]

just wondering where can i find out which finnish players will be in the line up tonight and what jersey numbers?

 

[Grabovski]

He has developed this season for sure and is a black horse in this tourny. He is worth a try if Markström is already taken

Yeah I was looking to for Jake Allen or Markstrom but theyve been taken so this is my next choice.

 

[studley49]

Rajala-Granlund-Hartikainen should defenetly not be a line if you have seen any finnish games but you obviesly haven't. Hartikainen doesn't have the pace and chemistry to play with them.

I dont even want to talk about canada cause they are allways favoured by the refs.

I would just like to point out that the Finns used the Rajala-Hartikainen-Granlund line in the exhibition game against Canada. Oh - and they had the team's best chances, by far.

Thanks buddy, thanks.

 

[HamiltonOHL]

Anyone from Finland know what are the chances of Eero Elo and Jere Sullivan making the team... Both wild prospects

 

[4rde]

Anyone from Finland know what are the chances of Eero Elo and Jere Sullivan making the team... Both wild prospects

Both will probably make it.

 

[FiLe]

Jere Sullivan?

 

[Finnish Flasher]

Jere Sullivan?

Sallinen

 

[FiLe]

Yeah, I kinda figured. Still, I was hoping that especially with the Internet at their fingertips, people would have half a mind to actually check the spelling from somewhere, instead of just typing what it sounds like.

 

[f1nn]

Yeah, I kinda figured. Still, I was hoping that especially with the Internet at their fingertips, people would have half a mind to actually check the spelling from somewhere, instead of just typing what it sounds like.

ehh I'm sure we've all misspelt some names over the years eh? There's definitely some names I manage to butcher im sure

 

[Grabovski]

Can someone give me the names of some good Finnish forwards.

 

[ThinMcWhistle]

Can someone give me the names of some good Finnish forwards.

Toni Rajala
Mikael Granlund
Teemu Hartikainen
Joonas Rask
Joonas Nattinen

BTW, I watched the exhibition game last night on TSN, and Hartikainen was IMO the best forward on the Finnish team. He played with a lot of heart, and crashed the net on several opportunities. I like his size and speed, I am excited to see him play in this tournament.

He should even have had a goal, but the ref was blind and ruled it as being kicked in. Had there been a video review, the goal would have clearly counted.

Overall the Finns play a good physical game, they were smashing the Canadians all night long. They need to work on their special teams though, especially the PP. They had like 10 of them and did not score.

 

[montreal]

Did Simila get cut?