Has Worrad been a healthy scratch this past weekend or was he sick/injured?
But yeah, Maatta's the real deal. Two way game is what he's all about.
I'm actually not sure. But Flemington might just goon himself right off of the team and then Worrad will play for sure. He has the offensive element that the team needs on the PP, which will allow Maatta to develop on 5 on 5 play.
i think the reason he went undrafted is because nhl scouts and management dont think he is good enough for a future in the nhl....
That's not What they thought a year before his draft. You know... Before he left to the CHL. He was up there as possibly the top Finn of the draft class. Wasn't given a proper chance to show his talent in the OHL ----> went undrafted.
Has happened many times before to Finns during the history.
Or maybe -- you know, just maybe -- he wasn't good enough.
If he was good enough, he would have earned his chance.
He was seen as a better player than Armia, skill wise. You're right. Maybe he wasn't good enough for the CHL, but if he Stayed in Finalnd he could have gotten a big role in the u20 league instead of playing 4th line minutes in the CHL.
Or maybe the guy had already showed in international games that he's good enough for top 6 Spot. But his OHL team was loaded with talent, he wasn't given a fair chance to compete and his team didn't think about the players devolopment and put teams benefit in front of his. That would never have happened if he stayed in Finland.
No Finn has ever gained anything from going over to play in the CHL. No one.
He was seen as a better player than Armia, skill wise. You're right. Maybe he wasn't good enough for the CHL, but if he Stayed in Finalnd he could have gotten a big role in the u20 league instead of playing 4th line minutes in the CHL.
Or maybe the guy had already showed in international games that he's good enough for top 6 Spot. But his OHL team was loaded with talent, he wasn't given a fair chance to compete and his team didn't think about the players devolopment and put teams benefit in front of his. That would never have happened if he stayed in Finland.
No Finn has ever gained anything from going over to play in the CHL. No one.
Gotta agree when looking at the Finns who have played in CHL. Some people said Toni Rajala did notably regress during his time in Brandon.
Anyway, there's an exception that proves the rule; Christopher Gibson...
No Finn has ever gained anything from going over to play in the CHL. No one.
Ever heard of Juuso Puustinen, Oskar Osala, Jyri Niemi, Christopher Gibson, Masi Marjamäki, Juha Metsola, Rasmus Rissanen or even Mikko Kuukka?
Every single one of them developed quite a bit in the CHL and going over seas seems to have been a good choice for them. Hard to say they would have been better off staying in Finland. You need to look at the big picture and not just Rajala, Partanen etc.
Not all players have serious potential and there are loads of skilled and promising players in Finland A-juniors who don't end up much more than just promising. Also, why do you think Partanen is still playing in Canada and didn't come back home, if it's clear that it's not the right place to be for him. You'd think he knows after a year where he's best off playing. POSSIBLY, he doesn't have the drive to aim for the NHL and just wants to have a piece of playing in North America? Lot's of kids would jump just to get a roster spot in the CHL.
Ever heard of Juuso Puustinen, Oskar Osala, Jyri Niemi, Christopher Gibson, Masi Marjamäki, Juha Metsola, Rasmus Rissanen or even Mikko Kuukka?
Every single one of them developed quite a bit in the CHL and going over seas seems to have been a good choice for them. Hard to say they would have been better off staying in Finland. You need to look at the big picture and not just Rajala, Partanen etc.
Not all players have serious potential and there are loads of skilled and promising players in Finland A-juniors who don't end up much more than just promising. Also, why do you think Partanen is still playing in Canada and didn't come back home, if it's clear that it's not the right place to be for him. You'd think he knows after a year where he's best off playing. POSSIBLY, he doesn't have the drive to aim for the NHL and just wants to have a piece of playing in North America? Lot's of kids would jump just to get a roster spot in the CHL.
Because Partanen was promised a bigger role in the team if he stayed. At least that's What he said himself in some Urheilulehti interview. He wants to show the NHL scouts he's worth a draft pick. He might THINK CHL is the best place to do that, but look how well it worked this year... Players might not know themselfs what's actually best for them in the long run.
Oh and did single one of the players who you listed become NHLers? Are you sure they wouldn't have become if they stayed here?
Because Partanen was promised a bigger role in the team if he stayed. At least that's What he said himself in some Urheilulehti interview. He wants to show the NHL scouts he's worth a draft pick. He might THINK CHL is the best place to do that, but look how well it worked this year... Players might not know themselfs what's actually best for them in the long run.
Oh and did single one of the players who you listed become NHLers? Are you sure they wouldn't have become if they stayed here?
Most of the time, Euros are better off staying in Europe. But Landeskog wouldn't have gone #2 if he stayed in Sweden. Rakell wouldn't have been a 1st rounder. Yakupov wouldn't be the odds-on favorite to go #1 if he stayed in Russia.
It didn't work out so far for Partanen, but having seen him play live a bunch of times, I don't really see top end skill by any stretch. Perhaps it appeared so against the weaker competition he faced in Finland.
Because Partanen was promised a bigger role in the team if he stayed. At least that's What he said himself in some Urheilulehti interview. He wants to show the NHL scouts he's worth a draft pick. He might THINK CHL is the best place to do that, but look how well it worked this year... Players might not know themselfs what's actually best for them in the long run.
Oh and did single one of the players who you listed become NHLers? Are you sure they wouldn't have become if they stayed here?
That's a hypothetical question and no-one can answer that. You said: "No Finn has ever gained anything from going over to play in the CHL. No one." We can also argue all day long if any Finnish prospect has ever gained anything by NOT going over to play in the CHL. But it's just stupid.
Most of the time, Euros are better off staying in Europe. But Landeskog wouldn't have gone #2 if he stayed in Sweden. Rakell wouldn't have been a 1st rounder. Yakupov wouldn't be the odds-on favorite to go #1 if he stayed in Russia.
It didn't work out so far for Partanen, but having seen him play live a bunch of times, I don't really see top end skill by any stretch. Perhaps it appeared so against the weaker competition he faced in Finland.
You have to remember that Landeskog was a huge talent, the biggest forward-talent of his age-group when he was still in Sweden. Not sure about Rakell and Yakupov, but i guess they were too.
But if you want to go first overall then you better show your skill in the Canadian juniors instead of Europe.
It didn't work out so far for Partanen, but having seen him play live a bunch of times, I don't really see top end skill by any stretch. Perhaps it appeared so against the weaker competition he faced in Finland.
It was more likely that he was physically more developed than most of the other players, when he played against bigger opponents with an equal or higher skill set, he didn't stand out. Not the first Finn to experience that.
Has Määttä found his game lately? I can see that he's started to produce some points lately, 5 assists in his last 6 games or so.
I saw him play against the Majors during this recent stretch and I was quite impressed.
Here was the report I posted on the blog.
"Seems like a really solid two way defenseman. Engaged forwards in the corners and in front of the net. He was able to win one on one battles in the corner and was composed with the puck. In the offseason, when I spoke to a European scout for my Import Draft review, I was told his skating needed some work. It looked pretty solid tonight, I thought. He's not to be confused with Ryan Murphy, but he seems to move pretty well. He had a few nice rushes up ice with the puck and was fine moving backwards and laterally on his defensive assignments. I was actually surprised with how involved he was offensively, considering his somewhat modest stat totals thus far. He was very aggressive in jumping up on the rush, in one case creating a goal finished off by Matt Rupert. He crept up into the slot area, showed some nice hands by sticking with a bit of a sloppy pass from Ryan Rupert and getting it to the front of the net following a 360 spin, which allowed the other Rupert to finish off the play in front of the net. The only negative was a bad turnover of his that resulted in a goal. He cut up the middle of the ice to rush the puck, but was stripped at the blueline by Sergey Kuptsov leading to a goal by Derek Schoenmakers."
He is looking very solid in London so far.
He's gaining his confidence playing in the league and in the last couple games he has been playing on the first line PP unit. He's been in the top 4 all season, but is starting to get more special Teams minutes in recent games.
Good with the puck in all zones and is really strong down low and in front of the net. He's more aggressive in one on one battles than I was expecting.
Sort of bumping this thread due to sheer curiosity. 20 games played with 1 goal and 10 assists combining 11 points and a +9 +/-. I'm guessing he's still doing alright..?
How many points does an avarage 94-born defenseman in OHL? Määttä is the point leader at London Knights defense with 11 points in 20 games.
Maatta is a horse and seems to always make the smart, appropriate play. Love his poise and his hockey sense. He's been a real shot i the arm for our PK and defensive game as well as chipping in offensively. Very impressive kid..
As for your question, I'm not sure.. but Maatta really is a plessure to watch.
