WJC 2015 - Roster Talk

[bebl]

Team to Lake Placid in August....

My lottery:

Juuse Saros (-95)
Ville Husso (-95)
Kaapo Kähkönen (-96)

Atte Mäkinen (-95) - Julius Honka (-95)
Aleksi Mäkelä (-95) - Mikke Levo (-95)
Joonas Lyytinen (-95) - Joni Tuulola (-96)
Miro Keskitalo (-96) - Sami Niku (-96)

Artturi Lehkonen (-95) - Aleksi Saarela (-97) - Kasperi Kapanen (-96)
Juho Lammikko (-96) - Aleksi Mustonen (-95) - Juuso Ikonen (-95)
Sebastian Aho (-97) - Saku Kinnunen (-95) - Mikko Rantanen (-96)
Julius Vähätalo (-95) - Otto Rauhala (-95) - Waltteri Hopponen (-96)
Niko Ojamäki (-95) - Julius Nättinen (-97)

Biggest wingers ever?

Btw im not yeat sure that Vähätalo is good fit to play that 4th liner role cause he look'd like Miikka Tuomainen in some games. I mean what i saw he doesn't hit or give much pressure when he plays without puck.

 

[FiLe]

Juuse Saros (-95)
Ville Husso (-95)
Kaapo Kähkönen (-95)

Kähkönen is a '96 born.

 

[JJTT]

Team to Lake Placid in August:
Artturi Lehkonen (-95) - Aleksi Mustonen (-95) - Kasperi Kapanen (-96)
Juho Lammikko (-96) - Aleksi Saarela (-97) - Mikko Rantanen (-96)
Waltteri Hopponen (-96) - Saku Kinnunen (-95) - Juuso Ikonen (-95)
Otto Rauhala (-95) - Julius Vähätalo (-95) - Niko Ojamäki (-95)
Joel Janatuinen (-95) - Hannes Björninen (-95)

Aleksi Mäkelä (-95) - Julius Honka (-95)
Mika Ilvonen (-95) - Atte Mäkinen (-95)
Erik Autio (-95) - Teemu Vuorisalo (-95)
Miro Keskitalo (-96) - Sami Niku (-96)

Juuse Saros (-95)
Ville Husso (-95)


Other options down the line??
Sebastian Aho (-97) - Manu Honkanen (-96) - Jesse Puljujärvi (-98)
Joel Kiviranta (-96) - Roope Hintz (-96) - Patrik Laine (-98)
Janne Puhakka (-95) - Jonatan Tanus (-95) - Joose Antonen (-95)
Timi Lahtinen (-95) - Eetu Koivistoinen (-95) - Sebastian Repo (-96)
Teemu Turunen (-95) - Kasperi Ojantakanen (-95)

Joonas Lyytinen (-95) - Eetu Sopanen (-96)
Alex Lintuniemi (-95) - Vili Saarijärvi (-97)
Joni Tuulola (-96) - Miro Karjalainen (-96)
Mikke Levo (-95) - Veeti Vainio (-97)

Kaapo Kähkönen (-96)
Kevin Lankinen (-95)


Last resort if nothing else??
Ilkka Kangasniemi (-95) - Antti Kalapudas (-96) - Sami Anttila (-95)
Petrus Palmu (-97) - Julius Nättinen (-97) - Miikka Pitkänen (-96)
Santeri Vuoti (-95) - Henri Keskilohko (-95) - Panu Mieho (-95)
Miska Siikonen (-96) - Teemu Lämsä (-96) - Felix Westermarck (-95)
Roope Kuhakoski (-95) - Teemu Pulkkinen (-95)

Olli Juolevi (-98) - Matias Pulli (-95)
Ville Väinölä (-96) - Petteri Laakso (-95)
Samuel Sikstus (-95) - Sebastian Moberg (-96)
Jarkko Parikka (-97) - Elmeri Eronen (-95)

Kalle Hokkanen (-95)
Veini Vehviläinen (-97)

Good to see so many players with good size. Hopefully some of these lesser known big players develop into quality players some day. Our prospect development seems to be finally steering away from that small, hard working 2 way guy mold.

 

[Tormentor]

Biggest wingers ever?

I don't think that would be the case. Vähätalo, Rantanen, Lammikko, Hopponen and Nättinen are on the taller side, but otherwise the forward group you listed is not very big.

One of my lotteries at the moment:
Artturi Lehkonen (-95) - Saku Kinnunen (-95) - Kasperi Kapanen (-96)
Juho Lammikko (-96) - Julius Vähätalo (-95) - Mikko Rantanen (-96)
Roope Hintz (-96) - Aleksi Mustonen (-95) - Juuso Ikonen (-95)
Waltteri Hopponen (-96) - Otto Rauhala (-95) - Niko Ojamäki (-95)
Aleksi Saarela (-97)

Aleksi Mäkelä (-95) - Julius Honka (-95)
Joonas Lyytinen (-95) - Atte Mäkinen (-95)
Alex Lintuniemi (-95) - Sami Niku (-96)
Joni Tuulola (-96)

Juuse Saros (-95)
Ville Husso (-95)
Kaapo Kähkönen (-96)

No clear 1st line here, lack of a high-end centre forward makes this more like three 2nd lines. Lehkonen, Kinnunen and Kapanen played on the same team this past season, so that combo might be worth trying out. Rantanen has played plenty with both Vähätalo and Lammikko, so that might be another composition worth checking out. Finally, Mustonen played a few games with Hintz during Jr.A playoffs, and from past experience we know that Mustonen-Ikonen duo would work quite well. Saarela would be the odd man out in this case, but he has the potential to replace any of the top-9 forwards.

Btw im not yeat sure that Vähätalo is good fit to play that 4th liner role cause he look'd like Miikka Tuomainen in some games. I mean what i saw he doesn't hit or give much pressure when he plays with out puck.

Vähätalo isn't the hardest driving player out there, but a hound dog like Ojamäki might complement his game quite nicely. These two were lined up together at the latest U19 four nations tournament played in April.

Good to see so many players with good size. Hopefully some of these lesser known big players develop into quality players some day. Our prospect development seems to be finally steering away from that small, hard working 2 way guy mold.

Usually there are good players of all sizes, but occasionally we see an age group where most of the more skilled players are smallish. '99 class could end up being like that apart from few exceptions.

 

[Jussi]

Team for Lake Placid tournament: http://leijonat.fi/uutiset/tuoreimm...t-elokuussa-lake-placidiin-tassa-joukkue.html

Really like seeing V-P Ketola as team manager and Kipper as the goalie coach. So much experience and wisdom for those youngsters to learn from.

 

[YARR123]

Team for Lake Placid tournament: http://leijonat.fi/uutiset/tuoreimm...t-elokuussa-lake-placidiin-tassa-joukkue.html

Really like seeing V-P Ketola as team manager and Kipper as the goalie coach. So much experience and wisdom for those youngsters to learn from.

Any idea why Lehkonen and Rantanen aren't on the roster?

 

[JJTT]

Any idea why Lehkonen and Rantanen aren't on the roster?

Might be that Jortsu just wants to test guys who will play in North America and are not available for any other tournaments. So he lefts guys who he has seen plenty.

 

[YARR123]

Might be that Jortsu just wants to test guys who will play in North America and are not available for any other tournaments. So he lefts guys who he has seen plenty.

You'd think he would want to see Rantanen on the u20 team, where he has yet to play a game. I get that Lehkonen has nothing to prove.

 

[FrankTheTank]

Rantanen broke his arm, Honka is resting and Lehkonen got flu.

 

[Gaps]

And Husso is apparently in the army. Saarela is injured (foot) but should be able to play in the tournament.

 

[bebl]

Saarela is injured (foot) but should be able to play in the tournament.

Glass

- Se kokoonpano, millä lähdetään, on aina se paras mahdollinen. Muutamalla pelaajalla on kuitenkin pieniä loukkaantumisia, kartoittaa Karjalainen.

And Lyytinen is still out..... Though Ilvonen, Autio and Lintuniemi have probably only chance to show that they can play. Jortsu doesn't like NA scouting.

 

[QnebO]

Miikka Kiprusoff coming to work for our NT juniors is awesome. You never would've believed that when he was sunbathing during 2006 Olympics, declining. But it warms my hockey heart and he sure has alot to give.

 

[Periwinkle]

Shame about the injuries/exhaustion/other commitments. Does the team even get the chance to play together again until before the WJC?

 

[JJTT]

Shame about the injuries/exhaustion/other commitments. Does the team even get the chance to play together again until before the WJC?

If you mean the whole team with the North American guys, they usually have 3-4 practice games before the actual tournament.

Also there is probably 2 or 3 tournaments with Euro players this fall.

 

[Periwinkle]

Gotcha, thanks.

Hoping Kapanen steps up to his level at Lake Placid,and of course am interested in finding out who stood out the most. Found this schedule online:
http://worldjuniors.usahockey.com/page/show/1262682-2014-u-s-national-junior-evaluation-camp-schedule

Hopefully some twitter reactions trickle in at least.

EDIT: right on cue, line combos for the first match:
https://twitter.com/MarkEdwardsHP/status/496018450658369536/photo/1

 

[Jussi]

If you mean the whole team with the North American guys, they usually have 3-4 practice games before the actual tournament.

Also there is probably 2 or 3 tournaments with Euro players this fall.

One during the November break. They'll probably play one or two exhibition games before the WJC.

 

[JJTT]

One during the November break. They'll probably play one or two exhibition games before the WJC.

Really? Thought they would play more.

Lineup for the game vs USA, in better format:

Turunen-Mustonen(C)-Kapanen
Puhakka-Kinnunen-Saarela
Lammikko-Rauhala-Ojamäki
Hopponen-Vähätalo-Janatuinen

Ilvonen(A)-Mäkinen
Lintuniemi-Vuorisalo
Mäkelä-Autio
Niku-Keskitalo

Saros(starter)
Lankinen

Looks like Fasthockey.com will show these games but they cost 7€ each so not really worth it.

 

[Tormentor]

Really? Thought they would play more.

There's another tournament at the end of the month in Jönköping.

 

[Jussi]

1-2 loss vs USA Blue: http://www.jatkoaika.com/Uutiset/sa...edium=nosto&utm_campaign=keskustelu_ros_nosto

 

[Periwinkle]

As per Corey Pronman on Twitter Finland "never had offensive zone pressure", Saros was great. The first bit is depressing although expected I guess, the second part expected but still great to hear.

Hopefully some of our forwards take leaps in their development this season for little extra depth.

 

[JJTT]

Goals



Really nice work by Turunen on the goal.

 

[JJTT]

Goals vs USA white



Report: http://www.jatkoaika.com/Uutiset/suomelle-avausvoitto-lake-placidissa/159737

Box Score: http://worldjuniors.usahockey.com/game/show/7954336

That Turunen-Mustonen-Kapanen line seems to be working very well.

 

[edd1e]

Where is Julius Honka and Artturi Lehkonen?

 

[Jussi]

Where is Julius Honka and Artturi Lehkonen?

Honka was given rest due to hectic summer and Lehkonen has flu (as mentioned earlier in this thread).

 

[Jussi]

1-9 loss: http://www.iltasanomat.fi/jaakiekko/art-1288723143395.html?pos=ok-nln