Because tall players choose football, basketball or volleyball.
It's Finland.....Nothing compares to hockey in terms of popularity of sport amongst Finnish youth. They should have bigger forward prospects as well its strange that the goalies and defence are decent sized but their forwards are usually smaller.
^ HV rested 10 players and goalie in favor of J20 guys today, but that doesn't make his scoring ability less impressive. I've seen him quite a few times and he oozes potential. Just a question though, why is every Finnish bluechip forward prospect 5'10"!? Or Ikonen 5'7"? Well, except for Barkov.
Because coaches favor small players at a young age because they are usually more developed, and can skate faster and have better coordination.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wings5
It's Finland.....Nothing compares to hockey in terms of popularity of sport amongst Finnish youth. They should have bigger forward prospects as well its strange that the goalies and defence are decent sized but their forwards are usually smaller.
Actually Football and probably basketball and floorball are more popular hobbies among youth, simply because hockey is very expensive. As a spector sport and how much media converage it gets, hockey is clearly number 1.
It's Finland.....Nothing compares to hockey in terms of popularity of sport amongst Finnish youth. They should have bigger forward prospects as well its strange that the goalies and defence are decent sized but their forwards are usually smaller.
Football has twice as much youth players as ice hockey. Even floorball has more. Basketball and volleyball come atleast pretty close.
Rofl Tuomaz who even plays basketball or volleyball in here? Like 1 of the male population maybe.
You clearly aren't very well informed of finnish ballsport culture, both basketball and volleyball have been quite popular sports here for a long time. Especially basketball is a popular sport among youth and volleyball too, but mostly in smaller towns and municipalities.
Also both sports have had periods of moderate success with the national team.
^ HV rested 10 players and goalie in favor of J20 guys today, but that doesn't make his scoring ability less impressive. I've seen him quite a few times and he oozes potential. Just a question though, why is every Finnish bluechip forward prospect 5'10"!? Or Ikonen 5'7"? Well, except for Barkov.
Ikonen was actually listed at 5'9 in Jääkekkolehti's season guide. Don't know if that's accurate though as the last time I saw him play was in April.
Ikonen was actually listed at 5'9 in Jääkekkolehti's season guide. Don't know if that's accurate though as the last time I saw him play was in April.
I don't buy it. I've seen him and hes maybe 5'8 max but if he's able to grow to 5'10 he's going to be 1st round pick. There is no more talented player in finland for this draft class as Ikonen. But Lehkonen is going to skyrocket in the rankings. First line player in top FEL team as 17 year old and so far most points in his team. 2nd in points at U18WC and best goal scorer as an underager. Could be homerun pick of the 2013 draft class.
How is Lehkonen's skating? He didn't seems _that_ fast in the u18 tournament.
He's fast and has seperation speed but not elite. Good technique and smooth skating. But he could be faster yes but it doesen't mean that he's average skater.
He's fast and has seperation speed but not elite. Good technique and smooth skating. But he could be faster yes but it doesen't mean that he's average skater.
That is the reason why i'm a little sceptical with Lehkonen. You rarely see players with his size doing good in NHL if they don't have that elite speed. Unless u have special vision.
That is the reason why i'm a little sceptical with Lehkonen. You rarely see players with his size doing good in NHL if they don't have that elite speed. Unless u have special vision.
I think he has good enough skating right now that if everything goes well it may still become a strength for him even in the nhl. He doesn't have "elite" speed, but he has very good speed, something that he can clearly use to his advantage. For example Lehkonen is a much better skater than Granlund was at the same age.
And not every below 6'0 guy in the nhl has elite speed. I don't think Parise or Eberle has elite speed.
I think he has good enough skating right now that if everything goes well it may still become a strength for him even in the nhl. He doesn't have "elite" speed, but he has very good speed, something that he can clearly use to his advantage. For example Lehkonen is a much better skater than Granlund was at the same age.
And not every below 6'0 guy in the nhl has elite speed. I don't think Parise or Eberle has elite speed.
I agree with Tuomaz here. Eberle doesn't have elite speed but he's not slow and has elite vision or close to it as Tuomaz mentioned.
Parise's vision is excellent too and imo he has elite speed or is very close to it. Parise's wheels are the reason why he's a star player.
Reg. Ikonen, I saw him this summer and I'm 5'8. I think he was little shorter than me.
Lehkonen was by far KalPa's best player against JYP. He played over 19 mins and had 8 shots. At times, he skated circles around JYP's defensemen and created scoring chances for himself & his linemates. Lehkonen could have scored couple of times but JYP's goalie Tarkki had a monster night.
Shoe in for Rookie of the Year? IIRC, Barkov has played too many SM-Liiga games already.
Lehkonen was by far KalPa's best player against JYP. He played over 19 mins and had 8 shots. At times, he skated circles around JYP's defensemen and created scoring chances for himself & his linemates. Lehkonen could have scored couple of times but JYP's goalie Tarkki had a monster night.
Shoe in for Rookie of the Year? IIRC, Barkov has played too many SM-Liiga games already.
It certainly hurts to lose player as talented as Lehkonen. We haven't had decent prospect in Turku for a while, so he could have helped. Money is always the answer. It shouldn't be with junior players though.
It certainly hurts to lose player as talented as Lehkonen. We haven't had decent prospect in Turku for a while, so he could have helped. Money is always the answer. It shouldn't be with junior players though.
What about that Ristolainen kid?
Lehkonen was excellent last night. He has a great shot and is not afraid to use it, and his skating seemed to have improved from last season. Still a bit weak physically, but IMO that makes his success against men even more impressive.
