I wonder how many of these players will play in the U18 WC. The U18 team was not great at the Ivan Hlinka tournament and this team wins the U17 tournament, I'm guessing there could be quite a few players from this U17 team + Rasmus Andersson.
A.Karlsson, Nylander, Lindblom and Andersson imo. But I can see a case for Franzen, Kempe and Aho too. Emil Johansson has already played with the U18 this year, so he's gotta be a candidate at least. 95 D's are good though, might be harder to crack.
A.Karlsson, Nylander, Lindblom and Andersson imo. But I can see a case for Franzen, Kempe and Aho too. Emil Johansson has already played with the U18 this year, so he's gotta be a candidate at least. 95 D's are good though, might be harder to crack.
I really don't know, that's why I'm asking, but is the 95 D's really that good? From the back of my mind I can't think of more than Hägg, Bergman and Westlund.
Generally I just get the feel that the 95's are the weakest group out of all 90-97. Would be really cool if someone could talk some sense in me tho
I really don't know, that's why I'm asking, but is the 95 D's really that good? From the back of my mind I can't think of more than Hägg, Bergman and Westlund.
Generally I just get the feel that the 95's are the weakest group out of all 90-97. Would be really cool if someone could talk some sense in me tho
The forwards lack depth, but have top guys obviously with Burakovsky, de la Rose and Wallmark. They will need some -96 firepower.
The D's outside of those you mentioned are the Rögle trio Cederholm, Hansson and Krupic mostly. The former two have gotten games in Elitserien and Krupic has tore it up offensively before. Craig Button has Hägg, Westlund and Hansson top60 in his mid-season draft ranking(Bergman is a 2014 pick). We're not talking about two-three high first rounders, but some solid enough competition. As a comparison, the -94 age group only has one first round defenseman and two top60, Arnesson is yet to be drafted though.
And what about a guy like Mäkitalo? Isnt he about as good as all those guys?
I was surprised he didn't make the roster. Maybe he was injured or maybe they thought he wasn't a good enough skater? His skating do look quite awful. But that hasn't been holding him back before. He's been scoring a lot both in the J18 league and the national team. I was also a bit surprised that Fredrik Forsberg (Filip's little brother) was cut as well. Just like Mäkitalo he is not a great skater, but he's been scoring like crazy in the J18 league as well. Compared to Mäkitalo he hasn't produced as much in the national team this year though, therefore I have more understanding for him being cut. Another reason they were cut was maybe that they needed more role players on the roster. There were already a whole lot of firepower on the team.
Last edited by B Boarding: 01-06-2013 at 12:04 PM.
I was surprised he didn't make the roster. Maybe he was injured or maybe they thought he wasn't a good enough skater? His skating do look quite awful. But that haven't been holding him back before. He's been scoring a lot both in the j19 league and the national team. I was also a bit surprised that Fredrik Forsberg (Filip's little brother) was cut as well. Just like Mäkitalo he is not a great skater, but he's been scoring like crazy in the j18 league as well. Compared to Mäkitalo he hasn't produced as much in the national team this year though, therefore I have more understanding for him being cut. Another reason they were cut was maybe that they needed more role players on the roster. There were already a whole lot of firepower on the team.
The forwards lack depth, but have top guys obviously with Burakovsky, de la Rose and Wallmark. They will need some -96 firepower.
The D's outside of those you mentioned are the Rögle trio Cederholm, Hansson and Krupic mostly. The former two have gotten games in Elitserien and Krupic has tore it up offensively before. Craig Button has Hägg, Westlund and Hansson top60 in his mid-season draft ranking(Bergman is a 2014 pick). We're not talking about two-three high first rounders, but some solid enough competition. As a comparison, the -94 age group only has one first round defenseman and two top60, Arnesson is yet to be drafted though.
Yea, you're right. I forgot about Krupic and Cederholm. It's a bit better than I thought actually.
I think they wanted some size on the team to be honest. Törnqvist, Engvall, Muzito-Bagenda - those are big guys that were physically dominant in the tournament aswell. Gunnarsson and Kovacs are also certainly guys that did fit well in the bottom 6. Kempe actually started out on the 4th line, also a fairly big player.
The spots I think could've been up for grabs(and I'd look for other options next time) were F.Karlsson's and Timashov's. Filip Karlsson started the tournament on the first line though so they obviously thought highly of him going in. I think Timashov was thought of as a scoring player, and he ended up on the 4th line to end the tournament.
I think they wanted some size on the team to be honest. Törnqvist, Engvall, Muzito-Bagenda - those are big guys that were physically dominant in the tournament aswell. Gunnarsson and Kovacs are also certainly guys that did fit well in the bottom 6. Kempe actually started out on the 4th line, also a fairly big player.
The spots I think could've been up for grabs(and I'd look for other options next time) were F.Karlsson's and Timashov's. Filip Karlsson started the tournament on the first line though so they obviously thought highly of him going in. I think Timashov was thought of as a scoring player, and he ended up on the 4th line to end the tournament.
From what I understand Timashov didn't attend camp and still made the final roster which is... interesting.
From what I understand Timashov didn't attend camp and still made the final roster which is... interesting.
Yeah, but neither did Emil Johansson and Adrian Kempe. Considering Nylander was there, they must've had some injuries or bruises. The camp was a good two weeks before the tournament.
