SEL vs. SM-Liiga vs. RSL

[SChan*]

swedish hockey has been very succesful latley with olympic gold and always a top3 finish in the world champs. SEL is good.

 

[Crazyhorse]

Yeah, like Seikola, who's doing better in Sweden than he used to in Finland.

No he doesn't, thats a false statement. He plays seventh defenceman.

 

[Aki Berg]

SM-Liiga, and it's not close.

 

[Pepper]

In terms of talent, it's RSL > SEL > SM-Liiga

In terms of closest to NHL in general (not talent alone), the order is SM-liiga > RSL > SEL

 

[Borlag]

In terms of talent, it's RSL > SEL > SM-Liiga

In terms of closest to NHL in general (not talent alone), the order is SM-liiga > RSL > SEL

If you're talking about only offensive talent, then that is true. Overall though I'd say that all 3 are pretty near equal. Russia seems to be the one producing the flashy offensive guys, whereas Sweden and Finland are the ones producing more defensive and two way players. For goalies Finland is pretty much ahead of everyone, including N.America.

 

[Slitty]

OK
the first European Championship Cup was during the lockout year, then it doesn't indicate league power.
Then in second Dynamo won in the SHOOTOUTS on the HOME ice, and Frolunda has not played with optimal squad.

To be fair, the Dynamo team that won European Championship Cup was a mediocre mid-table team by RSL standards.

 

[Slitty]

Another point I would like to add in favour of the RSL being the best league in Europe is Russia's fairly convincing victories at the Eurotour the past two years. While it is not a perfect measure of league quality - it is a fairly good indicator of the quality of the (non foreign) cream of the crop in each league.

 

[Slitty]

And in Russia there is lack of good foreigners, all the best players except Marek, Noronen amd maybe Prusek and Rosa are Russians.

Depends on whether you consider Belarussians and to a lesser extent Ukranians + Kazakhs foreigners.

 

[Vikke]

Depends on whether you consider Belarussians and to a lesser extent Ukranians + Kazakhs foreigners.

Not foreginers to the same extent as a Czech or Swede would be, no.

 

[Panopticon]

SM-Liiga: Most physical, much grittier
SEL: Most tactial, lots of skill
RSL: Most skill, most entertaining


In my opinion, based on the limited amount of games from SEL and even more limited amount of RSL games.

And it's not to say there's no skill in Finland. Not at all. Just comparing them.

 

[Seiza]

I have no idea of which league is the best. I actually don't think there's a good way of telling, it's three very different leagues.

-I consider SM-Liiga to be a tougher league, with better goalies and higher speed.

-The SEL is much more tactical and also the most defensive leauge. I also think that the competition among the teams is bigger, there are several teams that could win the title.

-The offence in the RSL seems to be much better than in any of the other leagues, defense and tactical knowledge is worse though.

 

[KRM]

Name the best players in SM-liiga that move to SEL.

Steve Kariya, won the scoring title in Finland, comes here and isn't even top 25.

 

[Joretus]

Steve Kariya, won the scoring title in Finland, comes here and isn't even top 25.

It was about finns, not about foreigners. And players, not player. Kariya won anyway couple of years ago when he had player like Patrik Stefan with him. And as addition didn't Tomi Kallio win scoring title in Sweden clearly? And never won anything in Finland. So based on one player that's pretty useless. You can take one player of any league and make it look like bad. Ie Mikko Lehtonen have scored more ppg in NHL than in Finland. Does it mean NHL is worse league than finnish league?

Some1 brought up again good point about goalies. You could compare goalies if you want to talk about talents and see how much more talent in goal finnish league have. Ie. Ilves having TWO first round picks in their goal.

 

[KRM]

Yeah, like Seikola, who's doing better in Sweden than he used to in Finland.

He is? 7th defenseman who mostly get to play on the PP because he is the only d-man who shoots right. The only player that gets less icetime then him is Pettinen. Both get outplayed by a 18 year old 2nd year junior player.

 

[Joretus]

Steve Kariya, won the scoring title in Finland, comes here and isn't even top 25.

Kopitar is scoring over a PPG in NHL, but had only 0.5ppg in SEL. So based on your statement SEL is better than NHL?

 

[KRM]

Some1 brought up again good point about goalies. You could compare goalies if you want to talk about talents and see how much more talent in goal finnish league have. Ie. Ilves having TWO first round picks in their goal.

No I don't want to do that and would never do that because that would make me look like an idiot. There's no denying that Finland produces some of the best goalies in the world right now.

 

[KRM]

Kopitar is scoring over a PPG in NHL, but had only 0.5ppg in SEL. So based on your statement SEL is better than NHL?

Diffrent styles of play and development, that's what I call it. Kopitar was a prospect playing on a team that got relegated from the SEL, now he has developt and is one year older playing on a good team in the NHL.

 

[Joretus]

No I don't want to do that and would never do that because that would make me look like an idiot. There's no denying that Finland produces some of the best goalies in the world right now.

Still there is a lot of scoring in Finland, maybe points vs points aren't good comparing after all. Maybe Sweden is so much more defensive minded league that there isn't much scoring.

My point is and have been, that when leagues are quite equal it's easy to find couple of players to prove your point. Some who are better in some league and some who are better in another.

Ie. if we would take Öhman last year and compare him to Öhman in Sweden it would show how much worse SEL is league is. Then again if we would take Öhman this year FEL would be worse in point wise. It's always about things like your teams style, chemistry and how player feels in his team. Then there is other factors too.

 

[Joretus]

Diffrent styles of play and development, that's what I call it. Kopitar was a prospect playing on a team that got relegated from the SEL, now he has developt and is one year older playing on a good team in the NHL.

Not sure about good team in NHL, but otherwise you are correct. It's about styles and developement, roles, etc. There is many factors not just "he have more points in this league than in this one so the other league is crappy".

 

[KRM]

And about European championships and such. How about the recent Nordic Trophy?

And the WHC Gold medal says it all IMO. A team of SEL players outplaying team after team on their way to the gold.

 

[Joretus]

And about European championships and such. How about the recent Nordic Trophy?

What a about it? Finland had 2nd team, 5th and 6th and 8th. It was in training season and Finland had last years 3th, 4th, 5th and 10th of our league representing Finland. Sweden had their last year 1st, 2nd, 4th and 10th. So obviously Sweden should have had at least top-3 if it would be so dominating league compared to Finland.

 

[Joe MacMillan]

He is? 7th defenseman who mostly get to play on the PP because he is the only d-man who shoots right. The only player that gets less icetime then him is Pettinen. Both get outplayed by a 18 year old 2nd year junior player.

I stand corrected then. I just remember after he moved to Sweden he started putting up points.

 

[Crazyhorse]

What a about it? Finland had 2nd team, 5th and 6th and 8th. It was in training season and Finland had last years 3th, 4th, 5th and 10th of our league representing Finland. Sweden had their last year 1st, 2nd, 4th and 10th. So obviously Sweden should have had at least top-3 if it would be so dominating league compared to Finland.

Even still, it doesn't make sense. The finnish teams had been skating on ice three weeks more than the swedish teams, when the tournament begin. You don't prove anything.

I think it's ridiculous to say which league is the better really. What are you trying to prove?

FEL : Most physical, awesome average speed
SEL : Most tactical, Most competitive, loads of skill
RSL : Most skilled top teams, speedy, not so competitive

It doesn't say anything really. It depends on how you define _best_.

 

[Joretus]

I think it's ridiculous to say which league is the better really. What are you trying to prove?

I'm trying to prove to all these swedes their league is the best in the world, that it's hardly even much better or better at all than finnish league. I didn't start this "my league is best in the world" thing. Swedes started and I'm simple proving it's not.

 

[Riddarn]

I don't think there is any sure way to tell which league is "better" than the other. I will say this though: The SEL teams have bigger budgets and on average the SEL clubs can afford a little bit deeper and more experienced rosters than their finnish counterparts. There is also a difference in average age between the two leagues. The SEL teams are on average a couple of years older than the SM-Liiga ones. The SEL also have a slight advantage in the number of players with national team/international play merits.