J. Ruutu and Salo named to Fin WC team

Status
Not open for further replies.

TK79

Registered User
Jul 5, 2002
1,191
2
Helsinki, Finland
Visit site
Sami Salo and Jarkko Ruutu where named to the Finnish World Championship team today. Salo is an wellcome addition and will make the defense better, but what can Ruutu possibly bring to the team? He's too slow for the international rinks and has hands of stone. Coach Raimo Summanen seems to be infatuated with NHL forwards, as he also made some very questionable selections, naming Lazy-Lasse Pirjetä, Niko Kapanen and Esa Pirnnes to the team. They all had terrible seasons in the NHL and mostly sat on the bench. Why couldn't he select players like Antti Miettinen or Kimmo Kuhta and Jarkko Immonen, who actually have the potentional to score? Finland already has enough grinders, it's going to be really frustrating to watch the team outshoot opponents 35-15 and lose 3-1.Again.. :banghead:
 

Padawan

Former power tripper
Dec 31, 2002
2,613
0
Jyvaskyla, Finland
www.jypht.fi
Summanen chose a TEAM, not individuals. That's the main thing when I look at his selections. Sure I would love to see Immonen and Kuhta there but they would have been placed on the 4th line and that's just not a good place for them. They (Kuhta and Immonen) need the ice time to produce. They are not grinders and for the 4th line you gotta have grinders imo.
 

The Hrkac Circus

Registered User
Jul 1, 2003
75
0
Visit site
I dont feel like Pirjeta had a bad season at all once he came to Pittsburgh. He established himself as a solid two-way player and made it very difficult for Craig Patrick to not sign him next year. I mean 12 points in 13 games for the Pens is quite an accompishment and it proves to be a bargain for Brian Holzinger. I think Lasse deserves an opportunity over most of the players that were named above.
 
Last edited:

LaVal

Registered User
Dec 13, 2002
6,695
2,299
Kelowna
TK79 said:
Sami Salo and Jarkko Ruutu where named to the Finnish World Championship team today. Salo is an wellcome addition and will make the defense better, but what can Ruutu possibly bring to the team? He's too slow for the international rinks and has hands of stone.

Jarkko Ruutu was named to the 2002 Finnish Olympic team, so this is nothing new to him. he deffinately doesn't have hands of stone.... every goal he scores seems to end up on the highlight reel as a sweet 1-on-1 deak before putting it top shelf.

from the only game i saw him in, against Team Canada, he hit absolutely everything that moved, on the open ice and along the boards. he was a very good addition to that team. that's what his role with the team will be... to check other lines and wear down forwards and defensmen by hitting them silly. you'll see him on the PK, and he's no stranger to being used on the PP as a screen.
 

SopelFan*

Guest
<------ the FIB in action.
Sami Salo is the straight-faced, serious, experienced, balding, white man.
Jarkko Ruutu is the excentric, wacky, young black man, with an attitude.
 

psycho_dad*

Registered User
Jul 14, 2003
4,814
10
Saint John, N.B
Visit site
TK79 said:
Sami Salo and Jarkko Ruutu where named to the Finnish World Championship team today. Salo is an wellcome addition and will make the defense better, but what can Ruutu possibly bring to the team? He's too slow for the international rinks and has hands of stone. Coach Raimo Summanen seems to be infatuated with NHL forwards, as he also made some very questionable selections, naming Lazy-Lasse Pirjetä, Niko Kapanen and Esa Pirnnes to the team. They all had terrible seasons in the NHL and mostly sat on the bench. Why couldn't he select players like Antti Miettinen or Kimmo Kuhta and Jarkko Immonen, who actually have the potentional to score? Finland already has enough grinders, it's going to be really frustrating to watch the team outshoot opponents 35-15 and lose 3-1.Again.. :banghead:


Summanen used the best available players. He has a fascination with NHL players for one reason...they are generally better! I can easily see why someone would choose Pirnes, he is the ultimate tournament/playoffs player. He really rises up to the occasion. Pirjetä had a good end to his season, you cant replace a guy like that from SM-liiga. Kuhta was a bit injured so it's natural to use healthy guys who are equal or better. Niko Kapanen at least played up in Stars, Antti Miettinen in their farm team. Not a very hard choise.

Jarkko Ruutu is a valuable player, especially in tournament like this. He was quite a player in last years NHL playoffs. Actually, this team has lots of guys who are known as good playoff players or people who have stood up in tough situations. Jokinen, Hagman, Peltonen have all scored a championship winning goal. Pirnes, Ruutu etc are good playoff players...I like the team!

Just dont expect lots of goals to either end.
 

Raimo Sillanpää

Registered User
Mar 11, 2003
1,848
199
Espoo, Finland
TK79 said:
Sami Salo and Jarkko Ruutu where named to the Finnish World Championship team today. Salo is an wellcome addition and will make the defense better, but what can Ruutu possibly bring to the team? He's too slow for the international rinks and has hands of stone. Coach Raimo Summanen seems to be infatuated with NHL forwards, as he also made some very questionable selections, naming Lazy-Lasse Pirjetä, Niko Kapanen and Esa Pirnnes to the team. They all had terrible seasons in the NHL and mostly sat on the bench. Why couldn't he select players like Antti Miettinen or Kimmo Kuhta and Jarkko Immonen, who actually have the potentional to score? Finland already has enough grinders, it's going to be really frustrating to watch the team outshoot opponents 35-15 and lose 3-1.Again.. :banghead:

Pirnes was pound for pound Finlands best player last year. He wasn't a star, but the work he did was great. He won faceoffs, competed fiercely and was full of energy. He was the best player in SM-Liiga at the end of the season, rose up to the challenge of the playoffs and rose up to the challenge of the world championships. Not choosing him would be stupid.
Besides, even on the 3rd/4th line he'd be better than Kuhta/immonen/miettinen who either a) aren't 4th line players ie useless there or b) had even worse seasons than him (Miettinen)
Ruuut was great in the olympics and a "team" needs its character players to push it, colourless players will result in collapses like when we lost 5-(5+1) to Sweden last year, had we had Nieminen there the result would have been different as he'd have kept the guys alive.. Ruutu would certainly have pissed Forsberg or someone else off in the box so we woudnt lose too..

Lasse ended the season brilliantly. That's something that must be considered. And he too knows what lower line duty means. This is very important for Finland.

Unlike Canada, we can't build a team of 4 first lines. *thinks* Russia could probably build that..
If we want to succeed in the Olympics/World Cup, when it counts, we need "teams" that resemeble what a winning club team would be. Clear offensive lines, clear trap lines and clear 4th liners. That's what we were like in 1998 in Nagano and that recipe was perfection. Summanen understands that and works with that, not against that.
It'd be suicide to go to any tournament with 4 first lines.

But for Canada.. it could work..
 

Pekka Lampinen

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
1,423
0
Helsinki
Visit site
They can always have Ruutu stand motionless at the end of the bench, facing the opponents' bench with the trademark grin on his face.

Now that I think of it, I want a six-foot cardboard Ruutu - with the grin, of course. Mix with rinkside seats and the results won't be pretty.
 

HellsBells

Registered User
Nov 6, 2003
3,734
0
PEI
Visit site
People in Finland probably wish that the Canucks had won against Calgary. Instead of getting Kiprusoff, Nieminen & Lydman (hurt, probably wouldn't go), they get Salo & Rutuu. :lol
 

SopelFan*

Guest
Garfield said:
People in Finland probably wish that the Canucks had won against Calgary. Instead of getting Kiprusoff, Nieminen & Lydman (hurt, probably wouldn't go), they get Salo & Rutuu. :lol
Yeah... Salo and Ruutu really suck... :shakehead
 

incawg

Registered User
Mar 7, 2003
4,009
0
Canuckland
Visit site
Garfield said:
People in Finland probably wish that the Canucks had won against Calgary. Instead of getting Kiprusoff, Nieminen & Lydman (hurt, probably wouldn't go), they get Salo & Rutuu. :lol

Yes, poor finland, they missed out on the perennial allstars Nieminen & Lydman :joker:
 

CCF

This is the year....
Feb 8, 2003
6,717
59
Across Canada
Garfield said:
People in Finland probably wish that the Canucks had won against Calgary. Instead of getting Kiprusoff, Nieminen & Lydman (hurt, probably wouldn't go), they get Salo & Rutuu. :lol

You make it sound as if Niemenen and Lydman are any better than Salo and Ruutu.
 

Hoot

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
1,532
0
Visit site
Finland has done well when Ruutu has played for the team. I like this Finnish team. The d-men can all move the puck, the forwards can skate and all players are young or in their prime. If Finland gets rocksolid goaltending (enough with this "imuri" business already) and gets the powerplay going this team could do some damage. A new coaching team will also help with an energetic new gameplan.
 

psycho_dad*

Registered User
Jul 14, 2003
4,814
10
Saint John, N.B
Visit site
TK79 said:
Coach Raimo Summanen seems to be infatuated with NHL forwards, as he also made some very questionable selections, naming Lazy-Lasse Pirjetä, Niko Kapanen and Esa Pirnnes to the team. They all had terrible seasons in the NHL and mostly sat on the bench.

Yeah BOOO Summanen. Lazy-Lasse. How could he ever choose such a stiff over some SM-liiga heroes. I am so sad.

Maybe now you realize why Summanen chose an NHL workhorse over an SM-liiga star. The horse is still twice better.

Rintanen played a great game. That guy is so underrated, it makes me sad.
 

Panopticon

Registered User
Apr 20, 2004
4,940
0
Helsinki
psycho_dad said:
Rintanen played a great game. That guy is so underrated, it makes me sad.


Yeah, he's good with the stick, but he often shoots too high. The guy would have much more goals if he didn't always shoot over the goal.
 

psycho_dad*

Registered User
Jul 14, 2003
4,814
10
Saint John, N.B
Visit site
tommi462 said:
Yeah, he's good with the stick, but he often shoots too high. The guy would have much more goals if he didn't always shoot over the goal.

Yeah thats true. I have watched him since he was a junior and made it in the league. He has a very hard shot, but sometimes it misses the target.

He is amazing in european hockey, big ice. Probably the best player outside NHL. But he will never be and never was NHL caliber player. He could outscore Keith Tkachuck on big ice any day, but he could never make it in the NHL.
 

Sampe

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
2,648
2
Vantaa
As much as I like Rintanen and his magnificent 'glide' with the puck, he can't even be the best Finn outside the NHL. Both Peltonen and Nummelin outscored him in the Swiss League, and Nummelin's a D-man while Peltonen (who is very underrated as well. That no-look-behind-the-back pass to Jokinen for instance was absolutely ingenious) is far more versatile than Rintanen.

Not that I didn't like what I saw from Rintsi yesterday. He was far more effective against NHLers than against European players in the Euro Hockey Tour. And this is a guy who's said to disappear when the stakes are high...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->