GDT: Finland-Czech Republic, 3:30 p.m Local Time

[Diaboli]

I'd say that Rask and Joensuu have been our best tonight.

Nokelainen has also been fairly good IMO.

 

[Le Golie]

Rask was awful against Sweden and bad against Canada, really not impressed but he did bounce back tonight and stop a few good scoring chances. Might have saved himself a top 12 draft spot tonight.

Nokelainen is a force out there, most impressive Finn I've seen.

 

[Make]

That`s it...

 

[D´Alessandro]

3-0
58 min

 

[Panopticon]

Well, 5-6th place is still better than 7th in the U18.

 

[kmad]

okay, NOW the game is over. Rask melted and let in something he should have had. Like the announcer said, Rask is tired. Finland and USA both fall victim to their own defensive ineptitude.

 

[Korkki]

okay, NOW the game is over. Rask melted and let in something he should have had. Like the announcer said, Rask is tired. Finland and USA both fall victim to their own defensive ineptitude.

That reminds me on a exhibition match between Ässät and Ilves on September. Rask did all he could on two periods keeping the game on 1-0 for Ässät but in third period he was not that good letting in two very easy and two a bit tougher goals.

Maybe he is not physically ready enough yet.

And it was great to hear that Joensuu was good.

 

[Panopticon]

Nokelainen and Tukonen played well but still disappointed me. Korpikoski and Joensuu were good.

Mäntymää and Laakso were the only defenders that shouldn't quit hockey just yet.


I don't care what people say, Finland lost this game because of the penalties (and the ref, if you ask me. 2-3 of those penalties were miscalled). They prevented them from playing their game and more importantly they wore them down.

Also, some players were too selfish to match their talent causing Finland to lose the puck way too often.


We'll, now all I have to look forward to is the U18 later this year, hopefully Laakso will be healthy and Rask will have a better tournament. And Joensuu doesn't lose that touch.

 

[Douggy]

People are saying Joensuu looked good?? Maybe for a 16 year old he looked good, but he was absolutely outmatched physically, compared to Frolik who was playing physically and earning chances the hard way.

 

[PanthersRule96]

How did Olesz look? I heard he scored a nice goal, but other than that, I heard he also played well but any details on how he played would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Diaboli]

People are saying Joensuu looked good?? Maybe for a 16 year old he looked good, but he was absolutely outmatched physically, compared to Frolik who was playing physically and earning chances the hard way.

Outplayed physically?!

I think you watched a different match than I did. The game that I watched, showed e.g. Joensuu travelling the puck infront of the net with a defender strapped to his back...

 

[FINNtastic]

I think Joensuu has been very good in this game.

EDIT: Just like Epsilon said...

I second that. Considering the 2006 draft Joensuu was much better and more visible than Frolik tonight. Maybe Joensuu played more minutes but still...
Other tournament notes:
Jussi Makkonen really surprised me with his speed for such a big guy (6'4" 198lbs). He also has quite good hands. Teemu Nurmi filled his role as a 2-way forward very well. Arsi Piispanen was perhaps the biggest disappointment to me personally, he's got some soft hands but that's about all he has..he really does need to fill out his frame. He should add 20-30lbs in order to develop in to a solid scoring threat at a higher level.

Finland's problem is, has always been and probably will always be the lack of overall skill. That's quite sad but that shouldn't come as a big surprise to anyone that follows finnish hockey.

 

[Panopticon]

People are saying Joensuu looked good?? Maybe for a 16 year old he looked good, but he was absolutely outmatched physically, compared to Frolik who was playing physically and earning chances the hard way.

Frolik was invisible. Joensuu pretty much created all the chances Finland got.

 

[FINNtastic]

How did Olesz look? I heard he scored a nice goal, but other than that, I heard he also played well but any details on how he played would be appreciated. Thanks.

Simply put: the best player on the ice today, not spectacular but still very good. He showed a couple of great moves, especially one on Laakso, that was brilliant

 

[Panopticon]

Simply put: the best player on the ice today, not spectacular but still very good. He showed a couple of great moves, especially one on Laakso, that was brilliant

That was. Pretty much the only time Laakso was outplayed, though.

 

[kjri]

Better team won. Congrats to czechs.
Is Joensuu 16 yrs old ??

 

[Vic Rattlehead*]

How did Marjamaki look for Finland, and how did Krejci look for the Czechs.

 

[Riddarn]

I watched most of the game on YLE. Can't say I was impressed by any perticular player although Olesz has his moments.

 

[PanthersRule96]

Who got the Players of the game? I imagine it'd be Olesz for the Czechs, and I dunno, but on here, either Joensuu or Raska.

 

[Mountain Dude]

That was possibly the worst hockey game of all time.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Who got the Players of the game? I imagine it'd be Olesz for the Czechs, and I dunno, but on here, either Joensuu or Raska.

Smid was player of the game....

 

[Fighter]

Smid was player of the game....

Way to go Slava!

 

[Stidi]

Did anyone notice that when they showed Frolik sitting on the bench, im pretty sure he had blue tape is his blade? I thought that only black or white are allowed.

 

[PanthersRule96]

Did anyone notice that when they showed Frolik sitting on the bench, im pretty sure he had blue tape is his blade? I thought that only black or white are allowed.

Unless it's a WJC rule, you can use whatever tape you want I thought.


BTW, from the HF article:

Rostislav Smid and Tuukka Rask were named the players of the game.

A superprospect formed when Rostislav Olesz and Ladislav Smid join forces and evolve. Canada watch out. Rostislav Smid can score, play defense, hit, etc.... He can do it all.

j/k