LW Henrik Haapala - Tappara, Liiga (2012 undrafted)
- Thread starter Eye of Ra
- Start date
Quick and skillful player who has great work ethic. Never seems to give up. Probably good career in Europe but doesn't have NHL future because of his size. He is just too small and weak to become NHLer even though he is very elusive.
Has played in same line with Aleksander Barkov and Ville Nieminen this season.
Has played in same line with Aleksander Barkov and Ville Nieminen this season.
Loffer
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- Sep 22, 2011
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He seems to be really light weight, only 67 kg / 148 lbs. He is not THAT short but too light anyway to ever play in the NHL-.
really fun to watch and will be good player in Europe.
Agree regarding his NHL upside
Haapala is speedy and skillful much like Toni Rajala but has totally different attitude. He plays with high determination and doesn't mind to get into traffic. This has led to some amusing situations this season as he has shown even willingness to fight players much bigger than himself. Anyway I agree he's probably not good enough to play in NHL because of his size.
edd1e
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One thing i noticed about Haapala is that he is very easy to knock off the puck. That is definitelly going to get better in time.
I think NHL career might be possible because he is putting good numbers in SM-Liiga as 18 year old, but he has to get much much stronger. I would imagine he's going to get in trouble against physical Canada and USA at the WJC if he's picked.
I think NHL career might be possible because he is putting good numbers in SM-Liiga as 18 year old, but he has to get much much stronger. I would imagine he's going to get in trouble against physical Canada and USA at the WJC if he's picked.
I've watched a number of Tappara games this season, and he hasn't really stood out. Barkov is the star of the line, Niemenen has been quite good too (my guess is he could still be a 3rd liner at the NHL level, to me he looks just as good as he used to in the NHL), Haapala has been relatively invisible by comparison.
Juxtaposer
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It's obvious to me that Haapala is talented, but he's not an elite skater, and he honestly gets pushed around like a ragdoll.
Yep he is way too small for the small rink and struggles a lot in SM-liiga too. He's been carried by Barkov and Nieminen. Has potential to make a good career in Europe.
Eye of Ra
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BusQuets
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- Jul 16, 2010
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edd1e
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Last year we lost to Canada 1-14 in two games. Goal difference was -13 AND our team had multiple SM-Liiga regulars. So even if you play in FEL it doesn't make much difference.
Haapala is going to be in a lot of trouble against bigger Canadians. Bigger ice surface thankfully will help him a bit.
Haapala is going to be in a lot of trouble against bigger Canadians. Bigger ice surface thankfully will help him a bit.
We lost 1-8 and 0-4, so that makes it 1-12= -11, don't make it any worse than it is
Playing regularly in FEL does make a difference. Last year we had a lot of players that were either fringe FEL players or hadn't played there at all.
edd1e
Registered User
We lost 1-8 and 0-4, so that makes it 1-12= -11, don't make it any worse than it is
Playing regularly in FEL does make a difference. Last year we had a lot of players that were either fringe FEL players or hadn't played there at all.
Sm-Liiga regulars were:
Mikael Granlund
Joel Armia
Markus Granlund
Joonas Donskoi
Miikka Salomäki
Teemu Pulkkinen
Jani Hakanpää
Sasha Barkov
Players who played most of the season in FEL
Ville Pokka
Rasmus Ristolainen
Konsta Mäkinen
Nico Aaltonen
Otto Paajanen
Riikola
And many more..
I have question to you how many guys we had on the team who didnt get any FEL games under their belt last season?
You can leave Olli Määttä out because he could have played in FEL.
BusQuets
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- Jul 16, 2010
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You think Canada won because of physicality? No Canada won because of much higher overall skill level.
edd1e
Registered User
Dont get wrong. I think Haapala has very good skill set, but he's weak build will make him fall a lot against (for example) Canada.
I used to think that if our youngsters have FEL game experience going in WJC they could match the physicality of Canada etc. even the smaller weaker players. But i have to say last WJC changed that. We were in serious trouble against some countries in that aspect.
I used to think that if our youngsters have FEL game experience going in WJC they could match the physicality of Canada etc. even the smaller weaker players. But i have to say last WJC changed that. We were in serious trouble against some countries in that aspect.
edd1e
Registered User
It's obvious the team needs size to compete. It's OK to have a small player in a line, but when most of the line consists of small players it gets a bit difficult against the bigger teams. The big rink is a bit more forgiving when it comes to size though.
To rephrase my post, there were many players that were nowhere near SM-liiga level, and are the ones that struggled the most.
Hämäläinen
Kuronen
Paajanen
Hännikäinen
Riikola
Hovinen
Mäkinen
Ruuttu
Aaltonen
All of the above played very minor minutes in minor roles in their FEL teams, and played a lot in junior and Mestis.
The 8 players you listed as sm-liiga regulars, I don't think any one of them really struggled. My point was that the ones scoring good numbers in FEL weren't the ones who were struggling.
edd1e
Registered User
I dont think Ruuttu struggled against Canada. Didnt he score a goal.
Also Paajanen, Hovinen where ok.
Who should score the goals? First two lines and against Canada in two games they scored zero. The SM-Liiga regulars.
Both Haapala&Savinainen from Tappara are potential NHL-players even for next year.
tony d
Registered User
Meh, with his #'s even if he doesn't get drafted this year he still might get a contract from a NHL team.
