International TournamentsDiscuss International Tournaments like the WJC, Olympics, and World Cup, as they take place, or discuss past tournaments. performances.
I agree. I think it's a good thing to play for him. he can gain some confidence and hopefully can find his game. Especially im happy that I see him play first time live in stadium! God save finnish baby jesus!
If it's announced 1 day after HIFK is out that Granlund is joining the team next monday. It has been Granlund's own choise to join. So he knows what he's doing. I'm sure him and Jalonen have had a good conversation about it and he would've told Jalonen that he needs one week for resting if it was really necessary. It's about him needing some 'pelituntumaa' and then he'll be his old self again.
Let's remember Granlund isn't stupid but instead a rather intelligent guy. So for that reason i'm happy to see him playing as soon as possible. Will be much more interesting to follow how the team does with him in it in a rather nameless squad.
Even that I'm HIFK fan I would like to see Eronen-Väänänen pair in the WHC expecially if Vatanen is out. They are a rock solid pair and against HIFK they didn't have any trouble against HIFK forwards.
Jesus, if he can't handle this he can't handle 82 games + playoffs. He just came back from a month long break, he can't be gassed. It's good to start building back his confidence soon rather than later.
Some things you should remember:
- he was in army
- short summer
- I don't think that he has to play the number one pk-unit in Minnesota like he played in IFK and WJC. Over 20 minutes per game in WJC and IFK + WJC is like playoffs in middle of the season.
-biggest media attention to athlete ever in finland
I don't think he is gassed, it's just hard to lose in playoffs so little mental break would be great. He should get drunk
Even that I'm HIFK fan I would like to see Eronen-Väänänen pair in the WHC expecially if Vatanen is out. They are a rock solid pair and against HIFK they didn't have any trouble against HIFK forwards.
Some things you should remember:
- he was in army
- short summer
- I don't think that he has to play the number one pk-unit in Minnesota like he played in IFK and WJC. Over 20 minutes per game in WJC and IFK + WJC is like playoffs in middle of the season.
-biggest media attention to athlete ever in finland
I don't think he is gassed, it's just hard to lose in playoffs so little mental break would be great. He should get drunk
It's debatable can you call that place army . And he was there like 10 days or so for whole summer. 14 total.
Other things I agree with.
And I wouldn't say month long break = being sick and recovering from it and that's why being out for a month.
Last edited by InjuredChoker: 03-31-2012 at 10:44 AM.
There's no way we'll get all these forwards. It's a fantasy team.
Pyörälä in his current form might elevate Immonen & Granlund to wonders again. I like that line. Can anyone remember did Jalonen try this line last year?
There's no way we'll get all these forwards. It's a fantasy team.
Yeah, possible but not likely.
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Pyörälä in his current form might elevate Immonen & Granlund to wonders again. I like that line. Can anyone remember did Jalonen try this line last year?
There's no way we'll get all these forwards. It's a fantasy team.
Pyörälä in his current form might elevate Immonen & Granlund to wonders again. I like that line. Can anyone remember did Jalonen try this line last year?
Actually, it's a fairly plausible lineup. Perhaps a bit on the optimistic side but definitely not as outlandish as most of what I've seen. After all, most of those forwards have a fair chance of being available from the get-go and it's not completely unbased to believe that Detroit and Florida will get eliminated in the first round.
Last year, Pesonen was a staple with Granlund and Immonen. That line didn't change at all over the course of the tournament. Pyörälä did get a "promotion" to the first line, next to Koivu and Ruutu, likely to take over some of the defensive duties so that Mikko and Tuomo could play more offensively. It did work quite well.
Which is why the one change I'd make to that is to switch Jokinen and Leino around. Jussi has past chemistries with Mikko and Tuomo plus he's definitely a better multipurpose forward than Leino. And the second line could play nicely with the intense skillsets between Leino and Filppula with Bergenheim thrown in as a headbanger with a knack for scoring.
Yeah, it's a bit optimistic but I don't think it's fantasy at all. Five out of eight NHL-forwards are able to play in WC (I don't know Koivu's health status though), Bergenheim, Leino and Filppula are all plausible. Three great players, right now I would rank them 1. Filppula 2. Bergenheim 3. Leino. I believe in Nashville, so I'm really excited to see Valtteri's return to Hartwall Areena (as well as Leino's and Bergenheim's).
So Nashville-Detroit is a likely pair, what about Buffalo's and Florida's opponents?
And oh, if Philadelphia is going to face Pittsburgh, there's a fair chance that Timonen could join the team (!). It would be a huge asset, not sure if old man Timmo is as excited as me.
So Nashville-Detroit is a likely pair, what about Buffalo's and Florida's opponents?
Buffalo may not make it at all. Currently, they're the first team out. But if they make it, they'll be the last team in, which means they'll be facing the conference leader which will be either the Rangers or the Pens. No happy times for them at all.
Florida seems quite safe at SE lead (which is by far the weakest division), which means they'll be the third seeded team and facing Devils, which makes a pretty even pairing, perhaps even minor edge to NJ. Or if Washington somehow manage to inch past them to grab the division, they'll likely be the 8th seed then, which means the same toils as projected to the Sabres.
So if I were to predict, Buffalo is completely out, Florida will suffer a first round exit and while Detroit vs. Nashville is more of a toss-up, it's definitely not outlandish to give the edge to the Preds with Radulov back and Rinne in top form.
I think that the only reason why Koivu wouldn't come would be if his shoulder would get hurt again. I don't think that he has never declined an invitation to the National Team, other than the two WC's, 09 and 10 where I think he had surgeries and was hurt. As much as I like Vehanen, I'm hoping to see at least one of Backstrom or Lehtonen in the team, even Kipper for that matter, but I think that at least Kipper will stay out.
Mikko + Carolina duo = 1st line locked down. There's also no need to drag along any oldtimers such as Peltonen or S.Kapanen simply because the team lacks leadership.
Overall, offence starting to look good. Perhaps some extra aids from first round and it's starting to look REAL good.
But defense... Vatanen, a huge blow. I'm especially worried about offensive D-men. The usual suspects Väänänen, Kukkonen, Jaakola and whatnot will lock down the own end just fine, but token offensive puck-movers and PP shooters seem more of a rarity at the moment. Niskala and Salmela only given ones and nothing but a huge amount of question marks from there.
Söderholm would definitely be nice and perhaps Mäenpää might be trustworthy. The guy was 2nd overall in KHL d-man scoring after all. Hietanen didn't do bad either but I'm still not comfortable with his defensive work, but I'm all for him proving me wrong during the camp. Or perhaps some blindside picks? V.Lajunen? Kousa? Eronen?
It's kind of ironic that Karalahti already decided he's not going to make it months ago. Since in this situation, he'd actually have a rather nice shot to get there.
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Originally Posted by mikko1995
As much as I like Vehanen, I'm hoping to see at least one of Backstrom or Lehtonen in the team, even Kipper for that matter, but I think that at least Kipper will stay out.
I think Bäckström does have some health problems and looks unlikely. Lehtonen might show up, though there are more option in the west, such as Rinne and Niemi who might just both be available. Highly likely that at least one of 'em even is.
If Vehanen is to show up, the goalie situation definitely does get interesting, since Jalonen will make him at least a backup. That means there's no room for more than one NHL goalie so if Lehtonen or Niemi is available from get-go do they just grab him and roll with it, or wait it out and see if Rinne might fall into their lap from the 1st round. It'd certainly be a strange situation to have Vehanen + NHL goalie already gunning for it and then suddenly have Rinne available and willing to come. I'm almost hoping it doesn't come to that. Let's just take Filppula instead.
and then he'll be his old self again.
. And he was there like 10 days or so for whole summer. 14 total.
. I hope it is true.
