Team Finland WC 2023

Jersey Fan 12

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Nov 20, 2006
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How about Jussi Ahokas for next coach? Doesn't have a job now.
Was going to mention him or Pelicans' Tommi Niemela. Is it too soon for the next generation of Finnish coaches to start reaching the national team ranks?

Outside of Finland I was also wondering if Petri Matikainen might be worth considering. Seems to get the most out of his teams in Austria, bringing together players from various backgrounds.

Also a coach who studied under Erkka Westerlund.
 
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Mestaruus

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Apr 11, 2011
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A healthy Sami Vatanen could've done wonders for our offense, especially getting rid of that 5 letfie powerplay.

MiG + Laine + Vatanen. None of them weren't too far to get and then some unlucky stuff happened where Florida recovered from brink of elimination. This wake up call was probably needed though. Now Jalonen can start fresh next season with less sauna buddies and with updated strategies. Some of those sauna buddies just had to be taken into the team this year and I was all for that as well, because if we had not taken them and failed, we would be asking why didn't we take Mörkö and Ohtamaa etc.
 

mattihp

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Any two more offensive oriented players would have been nice. Suomela was a dud, can play a depth role in future teams but not relied upon to score.

One offensive defenseman who wasn't snake-bitten like Kemiläinen was and any offensive player with some kind of versability. Doesn't need to be a Laine of MiG, a motivated MaG, a Ruotsalainen or maybe, just maybe even Rajala would have been enough.
 

Mestaruus

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Apr 11, 2011
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Any two more offensive oriented players would have been nice. Suomela was a dud, can play a depth role in future teams but not relied upon to score.

One offensive defenseman who wasn't snake-bitten like Kemiläinen was and any offensive player with some kind of versability. Doesn't need to be a Laine of MiG, a motivated MaG, a Ruotsalainen or maybe, just maybe even Rajala would have been enough.

True.
 

mattihp

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Some guys I would like to see get a better look to participate in the world champs:

Vesalainen
Haapala
Joona Ikonen
Aku Räty(if he doesn't go over)
Turkulainen

Anyone who could somehow find offense and creativity on the national team and exceed what they do on a club level.

There's a huge lack of puck moving defensemen for Finland in Europe, so hopefully someone comes through very soon there too. It is becoming a problem that those spots are filled by foreigners in the Liiga instead of giving more finns a shot.
 
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24 others

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Any info on what will be next for Jukka Jalonen? Apparently, he wants leave the national team after the 2024 WC, does this mean he's NHL bound?
 

Mestaruus

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Love it. He was the clear top-1 option for me. Do we know anything about the assistant coaches? If I got to guess, I think we'll see at least one of Jukka Jalonen's assistant coaches continuing under Pennanen. Manner maybe? Personally I'd like to see Olli Jokinen as an assistant if he can be in such role and if he has a decent enough relationship with Pennanen. We don't want two captains for the boat so that it won't will sink like Titanic...
 
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THE JAM

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So Penn'anner it will be - easy to pronounce for non-fenno-ugrians:)

- could of been much worse: e g Yrjö Lepistö-Tyräväinen - assisting coaches Toumo Mäenalainen-Hyväristö and Juuso-Tuomas Skinnhufvud-Päivärintä :))
 
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mattihp

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So Penn'anner it will be - easy to pronounce for non-fenno-ugrians:)

- could of been much worse: e g Yrjö Lepistö-Tyräväinen - assisting coaches Toumo Mäenalainen-Hyväristö and Juuso-Tuomas Skinnhufvud-Päivärintä :))
My dad's name is Yrjö and for most people he is Yyti. It was always hilarious to see which spelling my English ex-brother's parents (who had never seen his name in writing) went with!

Urju
Uudi
Odie
Oryo
Etch
 
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THE JAM

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My dad's name is Yrjö and for most people he is Yyti. It was always hilarious to see which spelling my English ex-brother's parents (who had never seen his name in writing) went with!

Urju
Uudi
Odie
Oryo
Etch
One of the most significant Estonian poets/cultural icons in the 20th century was known as JÜRI ÜDI

 
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THE JAM

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Penn'anner - most Winland fans are not declaring it as a fiasco choice rightaway so it seems to be silently accepted as pretty OK ;)
 
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SantosHalper

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Penn'anner - most Winland fans are not declaring it as a fiasco choice rightaway so it seems to be silently accepted as pretty OK ;)
Pendo is a winner, it's easy to like.

2007 - 2009 HPK U18, 2 x silver medals
2009 - 2011 HPK U20, no medals but coach of the year 2011
2013 - 2016 Jukurit, 2 x gold medals & 1 x silver medal
2016 - 2020 HPK, 1 x gold medal & coach of the year 2019 (low budget team)
2020 - 2022 Finland U20, 1 x silver medal (literally a centimeters away from the gold) & 1 x bronze medal
2022- present Ilves, 1 x bronze medal already

2016 U20 World champion as a assistant coach
2019 Men's World champion as a assistant coach

Only real option imo.
 

karhukissa

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Apr 2, 2019
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Pendo is a winner, it's easy to like.

2007 - 2009 HPK U18, 2 x silver medals
2009 - 2011 HPK U20, no medals but coach of the year 2011
2013 - 2016 Jukurit, 2 x gold medals & 1 x silver medal
2016 - 2020 HPK, 1 x gold medal & coach of the year 2019 (low budget team)
2020 - 2022 Finland U20, 1 x silver medal (literally a centimeters away from the gold) & 1 x bronze medal
2022- present Ilves, 1 x bronze medal already

2016 U20 World champion as a assistant coach
2019 Men's World champion as a assistant coach

Only real option imo.
Pennanen is a good choice imo, Tapola would've been my number one choice though. He's been superior coach in Liiga and also in CHL he showed what's top tier Finnish playstyle at the moment. My concern with Pennanen and also would've been with Tapola, is that is he a leader. Jalonen truly is a leader, not sure with Pennanen yet.

Finnish liitto is a corrupted mess, and Pennanen is the only good choice they've made in a long time. But they probably do something crazy for the future Olympics. Kekäläinen as vice vice GM, Antti Mäkinen as official hypeman and arse kisser and Teemu Selänne as team mascot.
 

SantosHalper

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Mar 21, 2012
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Pennanen is a good choice imo, Tapola would've been my number one choice though. He's been superior coach in Liiga and also in CHL he showed what's top tier Finnish playstyle at the moment. My concern with Pennanen and also would've been with Tapola, is that is he a leader. Jalonen truly is a leader, not sure with Pennanen yet.
Tapola seems like a real deal but Tappara has been a well oiled machine for a long time. This season and a whole new project shows what kind of coach Tapola really is.
But they probably do something crazy for the future Olympics. Kekäläinen as vice vice GM, Antti Mäkinen as official hypeman and arse kisser and Teemu Selänne as team mascot.
What about Han? :laugh:
 

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