Finnish Top Prospects part II

LoveHateLeafs

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Jul 7, 2009
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Does anyone know if 2001-born prospect Kaapo Kakko is injured? He was originally on Finland's Hlinka roster then was replaced by Leevi Aaltonen at the last minute. As far as I know, he didn't play in the early August u17 tournament and didn't play in the recent Finnkampen. He seems to be one of the most promising 01 forwards.
 

ijuka

Registered User
May 14, 2016
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Does anyone know if 2001-born prospect Kaapo Kakko is injured? He was originally on Finland's Hlinka roster then was replaced by Leevi Aaltonen at the last minute. As far as I know, he didn't play in the early August u17 tournament and didn't play in the recent Finnkampen. He seems to be one of the most promising 01 forwards.

Injured, yes. I don't know much more than that but it shouldn't be super serious.
 

LoveHateLeafs

Registered User
Jul 7, 2009
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327
Now that the junior season is a few weeks old, I was wondering if anyone had any scouting reports/thoughts on the following prospects:

2001's in Nuorten SM-Liiga
F(TPS)-Kaapo Kakko 9-GP-4G-5A-9P
F(Lukko)-Mikko Petman 11-5-3-8
F(Blues)-Veeti Miettinen 11-3-5-8
D(Assat)-Ville Heinola 12-1-5-6
F(JYP)-Henri Nikkanen 11-4-1-5
F(Lukko)-Antti-Saarela 5-2-3-5
F(Kalpa)-Leevi Aaltonen 11-3-1-4

Aaltonen and Nikkanen seem to be underachieving compared to their performance last year. For some reason, Aaltonen seems to get very little ice time and few shots. Kakko is the opposite. Going through his game sheets, he consistently gets above 20 minutes a game and generates a ton of shots from close to the net. It seems like before this year, the 2001's were viewed as a strong Finnish draft year. Has that changed with this arguably underwhelming start to the season?

2001's and 2002's in B-Nuorten SM-Sarja
F(TPS)-Aarne Intonen 8-8-5-13
F(Karpat)-Oliver Suni 10-6-10-16 <-leading the league in scoring as an underager
D(Karpat)-Kasper Puutio 6-1-3-4

Late 2002's and 2003's in C-Nuorten SM-Sarja qualifiers
F(Assat)-Eero Niemi 9-14-19-33
F(Tappara)-Jere Virolainen 8-7-13-20
F(Blues)-Niko Huuhtanen 8-7-11-17

All three have good size for their age. Anyone ever seen them skate?
 

Erikfromfin

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May 18, 2013
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How HIFK's Christoffer Sedoff played in Germany games?
Did he look good or totally out of place
played good game in game 1. liked his mobility seems to be good both offensivily and defensivily. didnt feature in game 2. should play on sunday again on game3


Niemelä Topi, Aatu Räty & Österman Olli some names that impressed in game2




After 3 games 2 per player top5 finns for me were
1. Aatu Räty
2. Oliver Suni
3. Kasper Puutio
4. Christoffer Sedoff
5. Topi Niemelä
 
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nyr2k2

Can't Beat Him
Jul 30, 2005
45,643
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Maryland
Any thoughts on Patrik Virta?

Also, are TPS games shown locally in Finland on TV? If so, what channel?
 

Dr Quincy

Registered User
Jun 19, 2005
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Any thoughts on Robin Salo? I see he's not putting up many points at all, but how has he looked?
 

Make

Registered User
Apr 15, 2004
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Finland
Any thoughts on Patrik Virta?

Also, are TPS games shown locally in Finland on TV? If so, what channel?

I think most TPS fans expected a bit more from him starting this season. He's been ok, not awful or anything, but he hasn't really taken the next step in development we expected. He's been the first line center for TPS for the past 15 games because both Eric Perrin & Ilari Filppula are injured. He's a skilled player with good vision and puck handling skills. A finesse type of player. What he lacks though is top speed and a willingness to do the dirty work at times. He's knocked off the puck too easily and loses too many battles.

I assume you're asking because he's a Rangers draft pick. I'd say that if he's ever to play in the NHL, he needs to battle harder, improve his skating and overall compete level. He'll never be a fourth line grinder, but neither is he naturally skilled enough to walk into a top 6 role in the NHL. I'd say he's a long shot to make it into the NHL, he'd probably have to work through the AHL first.

TPS games aren't shown on tv locally, but the Ruutu service has all games streamed on net (for 14,95 a month). I don't know if it works outside of Finland though.
 
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Romaniemi

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Nov 8, 2017
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Anyone knows where I can find report sheet about under 18 tournament played currently in Hämenlinna ? or website about it with the Finnish roster ?
Is there Kasper Simontaival there playing ?
 

Pardus

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Sep 25, 2017
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Oulu, Finland
Is there Kasper Simontaival there playing ?
Simontaival hasn't played a single game this season beacuse he's recovering from a knee surgery. Otherwise he could have been with U17 team in World Hockey Challenge. He still can hit the U18 squad next spring but needs a super end of the season to do that.
 
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Eyelanders

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Jan 9, 2011
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Simontaival hasn't played a single game this season beacuse he's recovering from a knee surgery. Otherwise he could have been with U17 team in World Hockey Challenge. He still can hit the U18 squad next spring but needs a super end of the season to do that.
Simontaival is very good and I like his offensive abilities, but I don't think he's the best Finnish forward prospect in the age-group. I think Oliver Suni is a more complete player and I'd prefer him for the U17 national team over Simontaival.

BTW, heard that Simontaival will return to game action this week - it'll be very interesting to see how he performs during the rest of the season.
 
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LoveHateLeafs

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Jul 7, 2009
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So I just finished watching Finland's games at the World Under-17 Tournament and thought I'd post a summary of my thoughts on some of the players here. All players played 5 games.

Anton Lundell(3G 4A) - He led Team Finland in scoring so he must have been doing something right, but honestly he pretty much escaped my notice. No aspect of his play really stood out then he'd just show up on the score sheet. Maybe I should watch the games again with a focus on him.

Patrik Puistola(2G 4A) - Despite being second in scoring, I didn't see much that I liked in his play. His standard operating procedure seems to be to skate and stick handle his way through whatever is between him and the net. The only problem with this is that he isn't that great a skater nor is he a good stick handler.

Henri Nikkanen(3G 2A) - Looks like he's still getting used to his frame. Some good passing and puck handling, although his hockey IQ seemed good but not great. His skating seemed inconsistent. Sometimes it looked really good, and others his balance appeared a bit off.

Veeti Miettinen(3G 2 A) - Small (listed at 174cm and 72kg), but good hands. Unfortunately for him, his skating doesn't appear fast enough that he'll be able to compensate for lack of size at the next level.

Antti Saarela(2G 2A) - Probably the biggest surprise for me. Although he didn't show up on the score sheet as much as I would have thought, based on the eyeball test alone, I felt he was by far Finland's best player. A centre, he's listed at 180cm, 77kg, which isn't huge, but he seems quite strong. He threw some good hits and was very good at separating his opponents from the puck, whether by using his stick or his body. A good skater, in terms of both acceleration and top speed, he was really good at moving the puck through the neutral and opposition zone, with his opponents having a hard time knocking him off the puck. He has good hands, capable of giving good passes and receiving bad ones(he got his fair share from his line-mates, Puistola and Petman). I didn't see much of his shot. He seems more of pass-first player. On the ice, he was always issuing instructions to his teammates between whistles, more so than any of the other players. He seemed very calm, rarely getting flustered, preferring to skate the puck out of trouble. He also seems to have a very high hockey IQ. He utilized his line-mates well, rarely throwing the puck away and giving crisp passes. When he didn't have the puck, he was good at evading his check and finding the dead space on the ice. My main criticism is that sometimes he can seem a little too calm on the back-check and he sometimes goes skating around the opponent's zone with the puck. I noticed he's played just eight games in the Nuorten SM-Liiga this season and didn't play in the first game back from the under-17's. Any reason why?

Leevi Aaltonen(1G 2A) - First the good stuff. You notice him immediately on the ice partly because he's so small, and partly because he's always skating at full speed. Unlike Miettinen, I think his top gear is fast enough to eventually compensate for his short(175cm) stature at the next level. He's also skinny, and doesn't appear particularly strong. Whenever the other team had the puck, he used his speed to harass them, and quite often managed to strip away the puck, deflect passes and even threw some hits, though the latter looked quite awkward. I've seen him criticized on here as being a perimeter player. That definitely wasn't the case. His hockey IQ appeared good in general. He was often putting himself in the right position and finding his line-mates. His hands appear to be lagging somewhat behind the rest of his skill set. He mishandled the puck a few times, which reminded me of what I saw at the Hlinka. His shot didn't appear to be anything special. The bad? In the game against Russia in the round robin, he made three crucial mistakes that taken together, pretty much cost Finland the game. I was surprised he played after that, but Finland's wing depth wasn't particularly good. I wonder if his low ice-time in the Nuorten SM-Liiga is the result of his coach punishing him for similar brain-farts.

Mikko Petman(1G 2A) - Big wrecking ball with an inaccurate shot.

Wiljami Myllyla(2G 0A) - Pretty big guy who skates at high speed constantly. Unfortunately he doesn't appear capable of much else.

Finland's defense - A disappointment. They weren't particularly adept at defending, moving the puck through the neutral zone or running the cycle when it got set up.
 
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SoundAndFury

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May 28, 2012
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There is this Lithuanian goalie playing in Finland - Laurynas Lubys. He will soon turn 17 and his numbers are through the roof. Having said that, there is next to no context to them so 1) can somebody tell your impressions; 2) maybe you guys actually even know him.
 

ijuka

Registered User
May 14, 2016
22,110
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There is this Lithuanian goalie playing in Finland - Laurynas Lubys. He will soon turn 17 and his numbers are through the roof. Having said that, there is next to no context to them so 1) can somebody tell your impressions; 2) maybe you guys actually even know him.
Nothing that crazy. To begin with, Jr B Mestis is pretty easy in that players might double or triple their production going from Jr B SM-Sarja to Mestis and also he's playing on an utterly dominant team with 137-32 goal differential. His age also is in line as in he's not especially young.

Maybe it's impressive for a goalie from Lithuania but I'm sure there are dozens of better Finnish goalie prospects in that age range. Essentially no one in that league can properly shoot the puck.
 

SoundAndFury

Registered User
May 28, 2012
11,294
5,271
Thank you. Again, I don't even know how impressive he is for a goalie from Lithuania as I've never seen him play but his numbers seem eye-catching and Finnish junior system is dark woods to me.
 

Romaniemi

Registered User
Nov 8, 2017
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What do you think of this Finnish Roster team u20 named for WJC @ Buffalo ?
Maalivahdit:
Halonen Niilo (HIFK)
Lehtinen Lassi (Lukko)
Luukkonen Ukko-Pekka (HPK)
Puolustajat:
Heiskanen Miro (HIFK)
Jokiharju Henri (Portland Winterhawks)
Juolevi Olli (TPS)
Kotkansalo Kasper (Boston University)
Laavainen Roope (HPK)
Räsänen Eemeli (Kingston Frontenacs)
Salo Robin (Sport)
Vaakanainen Urho (SaiPa)
Välimäki Juuso (Tri-City Americans)
Hyökkääjät:
Heponiemi Aleksi (Swift Current Broncos)
Ikonen Joni (KalPa)
Innala Jere (HPK)
Jääskä Juha (HIFK)
Koivula Otto (Ilves)
Koppanen Joona (Ilves)
Kuokkanen Janne (Carolina Hurricanes)
Kupari Rasmus (Kärpät)
Luostarinen Eetu (KalPa)
Moilanen Sami (Seattle Thunderbirds)
Nurmi Markus (TPS)
Räsänen Aapeli (Boston College)
Tolvanen Eeli (Jokerit)
Turkulainen Jerry (JYP)
Tuulola Eetu (HPK)
Vesalainen Kristian (HPK)
Päävalmentaja:
Jussi Ahokas

Possibilities of medal ?
any players missing in your opinion ?
I did my own selection ja I think is the more possible team available in Finnish Ice hockey .
 

rickardr

Registered User
Oct 10, 2016
481
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Sweden
What do you think of this Finnish Roster team u20 named for WJC @ Buffalo ?
Maalivahdit:
Halonen Niilo (HIFK)
Lehtinen Lassi (Lukko)
Luukkonen Ukko-Pekka (HPK)
Puolustajat:
Heiskanen Miro (HIFK)
Jokiharju Henri (Portland Winterhawks)
Juolevi Olli (TPS)
Kotkansalo Kasper (Boston University)
Laavainen Roope (HPK)
Räsänen Eemeli (Kingston Frontenacs)
Salo Robin (Sport)
Vaakanainen Urho (SaiPa)
Välimäki Juuso (Tri-City Americans)
Hyökkääjät:
Heponiemi Aleksi (Swift Current Broncos)
Ikonen Joni (KalPa)
Innala Jere (HPK)
Jääskä Juha (HIFK)
Koivula Otto (Ilves)
Koppanen Joona (Ilves)
Kuokkanen Janne (Carolina Hurricanes)
Kupari Rasmus (Kärpät)
Luostarinen Eetu (KalPa)
Moilanen Sami (Seattle Thunderbirds)
Nurmi Markus (TPS)
Räsänen Aapeli (Boston College)
Tolvanen Eeli (Jokerit)
Turkulainen Jerry (JYP)
Tuulola Eetu (HPK)
Vesalainen Kristian (HPK)
Päävalmentaja:
Jussi Ahokas

Possibilities of medal ?
any players missing in your opinion ?
I did my own selection ja I think is the more possible team available in Finnish Ice hockey .
Any idea why Kupari over Kotkaniemi?
 

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