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.