Okay. Finland is a joke , bronze is a joke and we are shit. Got it. Only Canada is great, everyone else is pure shit.
Why is Finland underrated year in year out
- Thread starter Tyttojenvessa
- Start date
Okay. Finland is a joke , bronze is a joke and we are shit. Got it. Only Canada is great, everyone else is pure shit.
We are habitually overlooked basically because on paper we rarely if ever are among the top 2 or 3 favourites. And for some weird reason it doesn't seem to register that we almost invariably play much, much better as a team than our paper depth would indicate. We have skill, speed, discipline and grit - and are a very tough and unpleasant opponent in best of one elimination games. We are basically a good and competitive dark horse candidate every year.
teravaineSAROS
Registered User
- Jul 29, 2015
- 3,814
- 1,482
The Czechs have always been dangerous, their 2013 team looked good on paper. getting 7th place for a team that's anticipated to be the 5th best isn't exactly "horrendous".
The other teams have lost their fair share of quarter finals aswell.
7th place means you're finishing behind teams like the Swiss and then one of something like Denmark or Germany. It happens, and these fluctuate from tourney to tourney, a couple of good players (like Nino Neidereiter) can do that in these short tourneys, but it's absolutely a pretty bad result, when these tournaments have some teams that get pummelled every game.
Finishing 6th or worse in a tournament where there are only 5 reasonably competitive teams, 40% of the time, is not good.
teravaineSAROS
Registered User
- Jul 29, 2015
- 3,814
- 1,482
Canada losing to a flukey team Finland in the quarter finals 40% of the time in the past 5 years must be pretty embarassing then.
The Swiss and Czechs have been stealing top 5 finishes from other teams aswell. Czechia was also a lot better in 2013 than they were this year.
NorCalhockey
Registered User
- Jan 6, 2017
- 3,244
- 3,410
I once viewed Suomi as punching above their weight based on the population size of Finland versus what they've been able to achieve in international tournaments (Olympics, U-20 & U-18). But now, it's just a given to me that Finland can win gold (not that they automatically will win - just that they have the skill to do so).
Rabid Ranger
2 is better than one
I agree with you there. It's not much of a tournament when there are only five countries with a realistic shot of winning.
Burke the Legend
Registered User
- Feb 22, 2012
- 8,317
- 2,850
Yeah it is a joke. It is a "reward" for finishing 3rd of 5 relevant teams and with a win-loss record of 2-2 against those teams. whoop whoop go have a parade.
RageQuit77
Registered User
Does this statement apply to all of those other "relevant teams" (that includes US and CAN to be perfectly clear) too in a year when they end tournament with that same win-loss record, and also in those occasions when Finns reward their relevancy with early exist from a tournament? Or is it so that tournaments where something like that happens simply doesn't count?
Whoop whoop go have a parade!
RageQuit77
Registered User
During friday nights it is clear that Finns seldom underrate their national character particularly in conjunction to the Kingdom of Sweden's war history. 
600-700 years of being same state does miracles. The era of Principality (1809-1917) under Tzars of Russia was the most peaceful period of written history of geographical area of Finland, and thanks to old enemy of Sweden, even hostile Finnic tribes such as Tavastians and Karelians ultimately managed to fit on the same plot of land their ancestral fathers fought over against each others for their either western or eastern kings.
Luckily they got hockey, not surprisingly via Sweden, though it can be argued that The Red Machine was the primary hockey pedagogue.
But that's strictly off topic.
600-700 years of being same state does miracles. The era of Principality (1809-1917) under Tzars of Russia was the most peaceful period of written history of geographical area of Finland, and thanks to old enemy of Sweden, even hostile Finnic tribes such as Tavastians and Karelians ultimately managed to fit on the same plot of land their ancestral fathers fought over against each others for their either western or eastern kings.Luckily they got hockey, not surprisingly via Sweden, though it can be argued that The Red Machine was the primary hockey pedagogue.
But that's strictly off topic.
Burke the Legend
Registered User
- Feb 22, 2012
- 8,317
- 2,850
If there's only 5 serious teams and only playing a few games against each other, the only thing that matters is being #1. It's a really strange concept to be handing out 2nd and 3rd place medals for something like this and people actually being proud of it.
RageQuit77
Registered User
From Finnish perspective, generally if the team manages to medal, our media and public perception do not flog players or demand coaches to get hanged (figuratively, ofc). That is the meaning of Bronze. Anything less than 4th place causes a period of national mourning, and endless discussions and debates how our hockey system is declined from that previous golden age, that will never come back...
Seriously serious.
Shocker
Registered User
- Dec 20, 2019
- 1,919
- 3,394
Guess i'm proud that Finland scored 3 more goals than Canada against the winners of the tournament, in meaningful games.
RageQuit77
Registered User
Sure. Friday nights are worst.
I'm sure older generation swedes can recall that from their own neighborhoods when few hundred thousand Finns moved to Sweden to construct some spare Volvos and build local folkhemmet during 60s and 70s.
IceHockeyDude
Registered User
Can we just let this childish Sweden vs. Finland pissing match go? I think both countries are good places to live in and punch above their weight in hockey. Who is on top is a matter of taste and also fluctuates between years.
Henkka
Registered User
Pretty much this.
And our coaching is superior vs. rest of the world, when the right coach is there. Players will overachieve thanks to that coaching.
NHL has hilariously bad coaches, 40 years behind where the smartest modern guys are going, which these Finnish masterminds would outcoach every night.
What comes to junior tournaments, these smartest coaches avoid the worst junior classes. Then there will be a combo of a mediocre coach and poor class. Every finnish coach can't overachieve. But the best ones can smell the best classes, and then they are there, coaching them to pretty good results.
Jukka Jalonen went to juniors, when he knew that this Laine, Rantanen, Aho class is there. He knew that they are superior. And did the job in a perfect way.
Last edited:
Well, this is bit like Ireland and England (though far less serious historically as the Swedish times were really rather good considering all realistic alternatives and we were actually treated like an organic part of the realm, participating in Riksdags etc). It is also similar in the sense that in the colonized country the feelings run much more intense - Swedes don't know much anything about Finland (or about their own imperial history in general) but are very positive about us and pretty automatically support Finland if they themselves have been eliminated.
Luckily the younger generations in Finland are largely free of this inferiority complex and see Sweden like just another Nordic welfare state, rather boring obviously but as a good place to live. Of course the "true" Finns (our populist right-wing movement) think that Sweden is an islamizicing hellhole, but so do Sverige Democrats too.
I don t think that Finland is underrated. On paper is Finland Nr. 5 in touch to 4(Russia). This is a big progress. Long long time since 90s was Suomi Nr. 6 or 7(Slovakia somatimes above). But now they are a fixed Top 5. This is great + hopeful future to get 4 or even 3. Okay when you re Nr. 5, you re not the 1st topic of conversation. This is a long process. Which Nation has advance in Elite-Group of hockey in the last 50 years? Yes only Finland!
One thing about Finland, and perhaps this applies more to the Olympics than the World Juniors, but they will always bring it for a Bronze medal game. Whereas their opponent (Canada in '98, US in '14) though considered a heavy favorite and better team can't bring their best for the game after losing in the semi's.
Mickey Marner
Registered User
Finland does very well at the mens level as well, but always have the perception of being an underdog.
No need to have a parade. Bronze is a lame medal and as you can see, for Finland its usually gold or nothing at juniors. But its always nice to get a medal though, last was from 2006. Next year the gold is again the only option.
