Granlund, Ruuttu, Salomäki, Barkov C Donskoi, Granlund, Partanen, Torniainen LW Pulkkinen, Armia, Teräväinen, Salminen RW
Määttä, Hakanpää, Riikola, Ristolainen, Pokka D
Gibson, Aittokallio G
That does not sound a bad team.
Definately theres some firepower with the forwards! Theres also a few talented defensemen on the list but they are all very young. Ristolainen and Pokka are already very good, but I'm concerned wether they'll be able to play well in U-20 level. There was some talk about defenseman Fagerudd, who's now been playing ET games with Luleås mens team, maybe he could be this years Jokipakka.
Forget Torniainen and especially Salminen. Torniainen has to perform miracles to be in that team and Salminen has to get his brains exchanged with someone with more humble approach to the game + a body that doesn´t fall in to pieces after every hit.
You really seem to have a lot of impact players this year. Finland should be in the mix to fight for the medals. Will all of the impressive 1994 d-men be on the team, Määttä, Ristolainen and Pokka?
Judging by the training games in European trophy players like Salomäki, Pulkkinen and the Granlunds seems to be in great shape.
Last edited by cheerupmurray: 08-30-2011 at 09:26 AM.
You really seem to have a lot of impact players this year. Finland should be in the mix to fight for the medals. Will all of the impressive 1994 d-men be on the team, Määttä, Ristolainen and Pokka?
Looks like it, both because of their considerable talent and the lack of defensive talent within 92's and 93's. Right now I would say our defense looks pretty bad, but if Määttä has a good year in NA, and Pokka and Ristolainen grab roster spots on their SM-liiga teams, things could look pretty good for defense. If all these 3 defensemen impress during the start of the season, Finland could be in shape of being considered a medal-round threat, but right now it's too early to tell. It could be that Pokka and Ristolainen still dont have what it takes, and the only U-20 calibre defensmen would be Määttä and Jani Hakanpää
Petteri Lindbohm(-93) could be a suprise selection this year, he looked very steady with Jokerit in Czech. Big physical d-man with good skating and a mean side to his game, consistent and not afraid to mix it up with opposition forwards and play the mental game.
Have you seen how Torniainen has looked this pre-season or is he still injured? I’d like to see how he looks after the summer before counting him out. At least the other top 94’s Määttä, Ristolainen, Pokka and Teräväinen have shown some improvement compared to last season. There’s not much depth in 92- and 93-born forwards, so if some of the key guys get injured Helminen might be forced to pick players with little or no experience from pro hockey.
What kind of team is Finland sending to the ongoing j-20 tournament in Russia? I am guessing a b-squad?
Yup! The bolded players are those who I expect to make the final team for the WJC. So it's very much a b-squad. I guess a few more of them could make the final team if there are big improvements
GOALIES
69 Kolppanen Ville ILVES 1 Perhonen Samu JYP
DMEN
4 Auvinen Henri JYP 7 Hakanpää Jani (C) BLUES
12 Hietanen Valtteri JYP
3 Kankaanperä Samuli JYP
67 Lindbohm Petteri JOKERIT
26 Nyqvist Julius HIFK
54 Valkonen Joonas BLUES
FWARDS
46 Aaltonen Miro BLUES
39 Halinen Petteri JYP
42 Huhtala Santtu TPS
34 Hämäläinen Roope SAIPA
43 Hännik Markus JOKERIT
40 Kallela Toni KALPA
28 Koski Eetu (A) JOKERIT
45 Kuronen Mikael ILVES 38 Mustonen Joel SKELLEFTEÅ
21 Rautiainen Teemu HPK
50 Salmivirta Mikael HIFK
24 Suoranta Simon KÄRPÄT
51 Åsten Micke-Max HIFK
If Ristolainen keeps playing like he did against Ilves, he should be a lock. He looks like a top4 SM-Liiga defenseman already.
isn't top4 kinda pushing it? I'd say he's a solid SM-liiga defenseman, but is he better than even one of these guys: Vatanen, Mäntymaa, Väänänen, Lintner, Koistinen... Not really.
But I agree if he continues like this he's a lock.
isn't top4 kinda pushing it? I'd say he's a solid SM-liiga defenseman, but is he better than even one of these guys: Vatanen, Mäntymaa, Väänänen, Lintner, Koistinen... Not really.
Ristolainen obviously isn't a top4 defenseman in the league. But he would be a top4 defenseman (almost) in every team. That's what I meant.
Ristolainen obviously isn't a top4 defenseman in the league. But he would be a top4 defenseman (almost) in every team. That's what I meant.
Almost every team, lol no. Ristolainen is very talented, but he is no where near a finished player. And he's not supposed to be, he's only 16 years old. He is still a bit too soft at times and can't keep the level of his play consistent. But damn his size is scary. Can't wait until he really knows how to use it. It's great to see another extremely interesting Finnish D prospect. Give him a year or two and he'll be a beast. Though I must say that so far this season Ristolainen has most def been one of the best players of TPS in the games I've seen. It's funny how many of the core players are acting like little *****es and then this kid comes and scores twice. Almost as funny as when Junttila played his first men's game and scored a hat trick.
We also have to consider Juuso Ikonen. 11 points in 5 games in a-juniors. Lets see if he can top Granlund's point totals. Imo he is the most skilled forward coming out from Finland since Granlund. Just an amazing talent. Hopefully he an grow 5-7cm
We also have to consider Juuso Ikonen. 11 points in 5 games in a-juniors. Lets see if he can top Granlund's point totals. Imo he is the most skilled forward coming out from Finland since Granlund. Just an amazing talent. Hopefully he an grow 5-7cm
I doubt he will get the chance, he's really small and hasn't even made his SM-liiga debut yet. I doubt he could use his strengths successfully at the WJC level yet. And yes I pray to god he's still growing
We also have to consider Juuso Ikonen. 11 points in 5 games in a-juniors. Lets see if he can top Granlund's point totals. Imo he is the most skilled forward coming out from Finland since Granlund. Just an amazing talent. Hopefully he an grow 5-7cm
I was going to post this. Statistically he has been great. I think that he has a good chance to make more points than Granlund in season 08-09 but I have to say that Granlund's linemates were less talented than what Ikonen has now. Kossila and Aaltonen have both played in national teams. When Granlund played in jr A. He was sometimes centering the third line and he maybe had to do more for his points than Ikonen. That been said I think too that Ikonen is the most talented kid since Granlund. Only flaw is his size... If I remember correctly he was listed 169 cm last season and now 170cm... I really hope that he hasn't stopped growing...
He is still a bit too soft at times and can't keep the level of his play consistent. But damn his size is scary. Can't wait until he really knows how to use it. It's great to see another extremely interesting Finnish D prospect. Give him a year or two and he'll be a beast. Though I must say that so far this season Ristolainen has most def been one of the best players of TPS in the games I've seen. It's funny how many of the core players are acting like little *****es and then this kid comes and scores twice. Almost as funny as when Junttila played his first men's game and scored a hat trick.
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