Prospect Info: Mikko Rantanen Part II

[tigervixxxen]

Mikko Rantanen 10th overall 2015

Continued from here​

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[The Kingslayer]

Love this dude been buying a bunch of his cards of late. A little concerned about him rackin up the injuries so early in his career. Hope he goes to the WJC which I didnt know was in his country. Be awesome if they made him captain too. He was awesome in last yrs WJC.

 

[kelsier]

Kind of odd they couldn't find him a place in the roster while by all reports he was playing well. Still happy to have him in the WJC. Rantanen will make Finland the front runner for the gold imo. Don't think there's a country that can challenge the offensive group if you add the punch of Rantanen, Aho, Laine, Puljujärvi and Repo. The defence doesn't look bad either at the moment (alright, maybe a little bit off topic but still..)

 

[The Kingslayer]

Kind of odd they couldn't find him a place in the roster while by all reports he was playing well. Still happy to have him in the WJC. Rantanen will make Finland the front runner for the gold imo. Don't think there's a country that can challenge the offensive group if you add the punch of Rantanen, Aho, Laine, Puljujärvi and Repo. The defence doesn't look bad either at the moment (alright, maybe a little bit off topic but still..)

Has this been confirmed? Would be awesome.

 

[agentblack]

It would be really hard not to root for him if he goes to the U20s and the Finns make some noise.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Has this been confirmed? Would be awesome.

No but there's rumblings.

Yeah I'd be team Finland all the way for sure

 

[Tweaky]

Finland would be my #2 team for sure. Might even throw some love to the Sweden team depending on who plays. But I will never root against the USA. Side question, is Pajpach going to play for Slovakia?

 

[tigervixxxen]

Not that I've heard.

I root for Avs players first and foremost. When the tourney gets going I manage a twinge of national pride but otherwise I know where my loyalties will lie.

 

[henchman21]

Pajamas might as a backup or 3rd... I'd put my money on Huska being the starter for the WJC team. The kid looks really, really good right now.

 

[trip trancid]

Finland would be my #2 team for sure. Might even throw some love to the Sweden team depending on who plays. But I will never root against the USA. Side question, is Pajpach going to play for Slovakia?

Really? Why is it so bad to cheer for a ream more than the USA? The US players don't belong to you, nor you to them.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Can we please not turn this into the patriotism debate thread? Mikko is doing well and he should be recognized. I'll post the tweets later but he was top 5 in assists and points in the AHL for November and he missed 5 games.

 

[StayAtHomeAv]

He is 5th in ppg game (Street 1st, Everberg 4th). 1st out of players with 10+ games.

 

[tigervixxxen]

 

[trip trancid]

Is he playing LW exclusively? If not, where else?

 

[Tweaky]

Really? Why is it so bad to cheer for a ream more than the USA? The US players don't belong to you, nor you to them.

Personal preference. But I don't expect anyone else to feel the same. But given that my taxes and USAH fees help pay for their trips, etc., I feel some connection. You don't have to.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

If Rantanen does go to the WJC I hope he does well against every team except for Canada.

 

[henchman21]

Personal preference. But I don't expect anyone else to feel the same. But given that my taxes and USAH fees help pay for their trips, etc., I feel some connection. You don't have to.

I'm with you Tweaks. I have some patriotism in me and in a tournament where my country is participating, I will cheer for the USA first and then other teams/players I like.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Is he playing LW exclusively? If not, where else?

Probably the majority of the time but it's mostly due to who he's playing with. When he played RW it was because Agozzino was on the left side. Now he's playing with Everberg so he's back on the left

 

[tigervixxxen]

Bob only cares about reporting on Nylander and Kapanen but basically he said there actually is part of their contract in the a European assignment clause that can't prevent them from going to the a WJC if they aren't in the NHL. So that matches what Finland's coach was saying.

 

[StayAtHomeAv]

I don't know why it has to be one or the other regarding country vs prospects. We can root for both. Hope your country wins, but the opposing prospect have amazing games in their loss.

 

[henchman21]

Bob only cares about reporting on Nylander and Kapanen but basically he said there actually is part of their contract in the a European assignment clause that can't prevent them from going to the a WJC if they aren't in the NHL. So that matches what Finland's coach was saying.

So.... tinfoil hat when Rantanen gets called up.

 

[tigervixxxen]

The last I'll say about this is the tournament isn't important to me as an American. I wouldn't know about it nor care about it if I wasn't deeply involved in the Avalanche. I can't really root against the USA but I much more care about our guys and how they do, I'd prefer that Finland wins.

 

[tigervixxxen]

So.... tinfoil hat when Rantanen gets called up.

I don't think the Avs would do that, the Leafs might screw Nylander

 

[Bender]

The last I'll say about this is the tournament isn't important to me as an American. I wouldn't know about it nor care about it if I wasn't deeply involved in the Avalanche. I can't really root against the USA but I much more care about our guys and how they do, I'd prefer that Finland wins.

Don't worry about it Tiger, I'm very much the same way.

When my brother, my dad and I were watching the Olympics way back in 1994, my brother and I were cheering when Forsberg scored the 'stamp goal' against Canada and got the win for Sweden.

My dad was like "what the hell is the matter with you two!?!?!" not really knowing that Forsberg was Nordiques property at the time.

We didn't give a crap about Corey Hirsch, Paul Kariya or any of the other canadians on that team but generally speaking, we would have cheered for Canada. But having the Nordiques top up-and-coming prospect and centerpiece we just got from the Lindros trade made us cheer for him more than anything else.

Speaking of the WJC, I'm not sure anything will ever beat the 1993 WJC where Peter Forsberg completely *****-slapped that tournament.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_World_Junior_Ice_Hockey_Championships#Leading_scorers

Sweden beat Japan 20 to 1 and Forsberg put up 10 points that game. LOL

I hope Rantanen ends up going. He would very much dominate that tournament as well. A kid playing that well against men in the AHL is going to have a much easier time at the junior level.

 

[Risingwind]

I hope Rantanen ends up going. He would very much dominate that tournament as well. A kid playing that well against men in the AHL is going to have a much easier time at the junior level.

I think the same as well. Even though the compete level isn't as high there's still the international media attention and home crowd to consider -- It'll likely be a trip that he can appreciate having been to down the line. It's not like Rantanen needs to adhere to a super strict training routine to have any hope of surviving a professional hockey career, I'm quite sure he can afford to take a couple weeks "off" without damaging his ultimate potential (referring to the Marlies rumors).