I know it’s just the 4 Nations, and the Olympics will come the year after, but this fires me right up. It will have been 9 long years since best-on-best international hockey was last played.
This is the thing, it's a one-off tournament so it does not have too much significance to us, but the Olympics are the must-win international tournament so getting these sorts of wins will be necessary. Pennanen is the new coach, so we'll see if he follows Jalonen's strategy with the national team long-term having been his backup, but it has to be all-NHL players for this and that's fine, we have an okay NHL squad.
Canada, USA, and Sweden may have slightly better squads, and given how Finnish hockey is going these last two years I expect us to finish fourth, but for a country of 5,5 million, we have a decent one that can play so much better compared to the other one-off (2016 WCOH). It's going to be close in the end
OK NHL squad? It is the best NHL squad Finland has ever had by far. Canada and the U.S have a far deeper pool to choose from but the Finnish squad is going to be very competitive.
Guaranteed, just pointing out though that Finland is 5,5 million and has only [66 687 registered players](https://www.iihf.com/en/static/5324/survey-of-players) compared to the other three countries - add in the fact that Liiga is not too funded and is in financial issues (partly due to their own reasons and partly due to others) but we're getting first or second round prospects every single year. I think that with what we have, we have developed some of the best talent in the world, and that is incredible - there does need to be more investment in Liiga to be able to develop more, though.
I would go with
Lehkonen - Barkov - Rantanen
Hintz - Aho - Teräväinen
First line has Avalanche connection and second line Hurricanes connection. Lundell and Luostarinen with their Panthers connection could be in third line with Maccelli/Granlund and fourth line could be Granlund/Maccelli, Tolvanen and Haula. There's still Kotkaniemi, Armia, Kapanen, Puustinen, Kakko and Pärssinen to consider. I have no idea if Laine is going to play or not.
People just hate when I say this, but if people are valuing Lundell and Luostarinen over Granlund already, his career has not gone where it was supposed to go.
I'm just not that familiar with Granlund's game in the last couple of years. He probably deserves a place in the third line and would bring a veteran presence to that line. He did have 60 points in 69 games last season which is quite a lot.
He was in a bit of a slump for a season and a half, but swung back and had a really strong winter and spring this year, except his +/- was bad. Though that may just be the Sharks in general.
Going up against the top national teams in a tournament, I might pick Lundell ahead of him because defensive discipline will be really important.
I was thinking Granlund once upon a time he seems like leadership material and has been the captain before but after the trick Granlund did during this year's world hockey championship as a captain i don't think there will be any question about it.
Crosschecking a guy to the face presumably in frustation during a game that finland was losing against switzerland and getting 5+20 for it. Also that hit caused him to be suspended causing him to miss the quarterfinal's game
The fans are going to blow the roof off. Two great teams playing and combined the Finns entering the arena count for a decent chunk of the population of the southern US :D So excited to be there!
They are really not going to do that. Not even close. Just tell the truth to our North American friends here in reddit: the Finnish NHL games here are a borefest when it comes to the atmosphere. No one is REALLY enthusiastic about NHL teams (or there might be 100 poeple out of 12k) although they love the game and it's great to see some great talent on ice.
Hmm, felt alright the last year. And the reigning Stanley Cup winner wasn't parading around then. Granted, they could do with fewer corporate seats to generate more noise, based on the previous experience.
It was okay yeah. But I think you might not have been in a sports arena with a "blow the roof off" atmosphere if you think they will do that for a florida panthers in finland. There is absolutely no chance. It will be OK, not anything more.
Was there in 2022. Probably won't go louder than that. But it was quite the pop.
As for all of these, the best atmosphere might be in the pubs in the vicinity.
During last Global series in Finland, the Avs-Jackets games were so lopsided that it made them less exciting for an audience that mostly consists of people, who aren't either team's fans. However now we have Stars & Panthers, much better match up ( and no doubt Chucky can arrange some extra entertainment if need be)
What about PuLa-Aho? Aka Finlands first line at 2016 WJC. Puljujärvi, Aho, Laine.
https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suomi_j%C3%A4%C3%A4kiekon_nuorten_maailmanmestaruuskilpailuissa_2016#Joukkue
Also included: Rantanen, Mikkola, Hintz
No real surprises, but I did think we'd see Granlund or Hintz before Lindell. Especially Granlund where he has been captain of Team Finland in the past.
Not that it matters, they'll all be on the team regardless.
Granlund, as captain of the team, took an exceptionally stupid penalty that got him suspended from the quarterfinals of the last world championships. That might have factored into it.
They are joke compared to peak Jalonen tournament hockey. But maybe this team is good enough to stop first defence then attack mentality. Then it would actually be better without Jalonen. To be seen.
Might see some similarities since he was Jalonens assistant coach. He's quite young (45) for a coach and he started coaching in 2007 I believe.
Has won Finnish Liiga and coached some competitive teams there. Imo, not on the same level as Jalonen yet, but now he's coaching a full roster of NHL players so I'll be excited to see what he's cooking.
I don't really know to be honest.
Like the name Saros doesn't jump out to me as anything specific.
Juuse does though, which now that i think of it is very Finnish sounding but for some reason that never clicked
Juuse is actually relatively rare in Finland (i‘m 50% finnish and lived there 19 years). Juuso is a fairly common name and Juuse to me sounds like a weird version of Juuso, kinda like Geoff or something. Saros on the other hand doesn‘t necessarily sound finnish, but there are a fair few surnames in Finland that are like that.
Fun fact: Saros had a poster of Pekka on his wall growing up which makes the handoff extra cool. I think that's one of the reason Juice signed long term with the Preds. I'm pretty sure Pekka mentioned it in one of the articles he wrote around when he was retiring.
Silly nonsensical logic.
Hes simply not, because otherwise he'd be playing. It's not his ice time causing this.
If he can't beat out guys like Colin Miller or Samberg, it's cause he's not good enough. Not because he's not played enough lmao...
I don’t know if Hakanpää will be able to. He was out at the end of the year and all playoffs and had arthroscopic surgery on his knee.
I don’t foresee Nill re-signing him and I’m not sure if other teams will want to take a chance on him.
If we weren't so short on defence men Ristolainen might not make the team. He's a liability in a short tournament, has no playoff and very little international experience, and he's been reluctant to join the national team in the past.
I like these lines as a Panthers fan:
Laine - Barkov - Rantanen
Lehkonen - Aho - Teravainen
Haula - Hintz - Granlund
Luostarinen - Lundell - Kakko
Just stacked down the middle
I know it’s just the 4 Nations, and the Olympics will come the year after, but this fires me right up. It will have been 9 long years since best-on-best international hockey was last played.
This is the thing, it's a one-off tournament so it does not have too much significance to us, but the Olympics are the must-win international tournament so getting these sorts of wins will be necessary. Pennanen is the new coach, so we'll see if he follows Jalonen's strategy with the national team long-term having been his backup, but it has to be all-NHL players for this and that's fine, we have an okay NHL squad. Canada, USA, and Sweden may have slightly better squads, and given how Finnish hockey is going these last two years I expect us to finish fourth, but for a country of 5,5 million, we have a decent one that can play so much better compared to the other one-off (2016 WCOH). It's going to be close in the end
OK NHL squad? It is the best NHL squad Finland has ever had by far. Canada and the U.S have a far deeper pool to choose from but the Finnish squad is going to be very competitive.
Guaranteed, just pointing out though that Finland is 5,5 million and has only [66 687 registered players](https://www.iihf.com/en/static/5324/survey-of-players) compared to the other three countries - add in the fact that Liiga is not too funded and is in financial issues (partly due to their own reasons and partly due to others) but we're getting first or second round prospects every single year. I think that with what we have, we have developed some of the best talent in the world, and that is incredible - there does need to be more investment in Liiga to be able to develop more, though.
Yes with 4 teams anything can happen, and it would not surprise me if Finland did win! These are great hockey nations.
Man Aho as the third best forward on a line is just going to be magic to watch.
I would go with Lehkonen - Barkov - Rantanen Hintz - Aho - Teräväinen First line has Avalanche connection and second line Hurricanes connection. Lundell and Luostarinen with their Panthers connection could be in third line with Maccelli/Granlund and fourth line could be Granlund/Maccelli, Tolvanen and Haula. There's still Kotkaniemi, Armia, Kapanen, Puustinen, Kakko and Pärssinen to consider. I have no idea if Laine is going to play or not.
People just hate when I say this, but if people are valuing Lundell and Luostarinen over Granlund already, his career has not gone where it was supposed to go.
I'm just not that familiar with Granlund's game in the last couple of years. He probably deserves a place in the third line and would bring a veteran presence to that line. He did have 60 points in 69 games last season which is quite a lot.
He was in a bit of a slump for a season and a half, but swung back and had a really strong winter and spring this year, except his +/- was bad. Though that may just be the Sharks in general. Going up against the top national teams in a tournament, I might pick Lundell ahead of him because defensive discipline will be really important.
I would go Aho - Barkov - Rantanen Lehkonen - Hintz - Teräväinen
>I have no idea if Laine is going to play or not. If Laine is in and plays well, I'd pair him with Barkov. Barkov can play defence for both of them.
More likely 2C than winger for Barkov.
That first line is gonna be cooking with oil, gas, and gravy
He would be 2nd line Center, no?
Yes Aho will be 2nd line center
I don't know how any of this works. Maybe on the PP
No surprises, but happy to have all of these guys confirmed. Captaincy for Barkov, I assume?
I don't even think it's a question that he'll be captain of that team.
Shouldn't be, no.
Let‘s give it to Konsta Helenius or smtn lol
Is Mörkö still available?
Experience matters, let's get Lasse Kukkonen an NHL deal, so he can join.
Pretty sure he retired few years ago :(
From international play, yeah, but he still plays in Liiga.
Really? Isn‘t he like 40?
He was in Kärpät last season,and I haven't heard anything about him retiring.
Didn't he sign a 1 year contract with Kärpät or am I misremembering things?
I went back and checked, and yes, you're correct.
No but björninen is
I was thinking Granlund once upon a time he seems like leadership material and has been the captain before but after the trick Granlund did during this year's world hockey championship as a captain i don't think there will be any question about it.
what was the trick?
Crosschecking a guy to the face presumably in frustation during a game that finland was losing against switzerland and getting 5+20 for it. Also that hit caused him to be suspended causing him to miss the quarterfinal's game
Captain Barky for sure - I can’t wait to see the reception in Tampere when the Panthers go to play there next season
Now that’s they’ve won the cup it’s going to be even more special. I was considering going but held off and the tickets sold out nearly instantly.
I'm so excited for him, and the other Finns on the team
On top of that Tampere is Barkov's hometown too, I think it will be quite special.
It's also Roope Hintz's hometown. Damn, I wish I was going. The cup final I had hoped for.
The fans are going to blow the roof off. Two great teams playing and combined the Finns entering the arena count for a decent chunk of the population of the southern US :D So excited to be there!
They are really not going to do that. Not even close. Just tell the truth to our North American friends here in reddit: the Finnish NHL games here are a borefest when it comes to the atmosphere. No one is REALLY enthusiastic about NHL teams (or there might be 100 poeple out of 12k) although they love the game and it's great to see some great talent on ice.
Hmm, felt alright the last year. And the reigning Stanley Cup winner wasn't parading around then. Granted, they could do with fewer corporate seats to generate more noise, based on the previous experience.
It was okay yeah. But I think you might not have been in a sports arena with a "blow the roof off" atmosphere if you think they will do that for a florida panthers in finland. There is absolutely no chance. It will be OK, not anything more.
Was there in 2022. Probably won't go louder than that. But it was quite the pop. As for all of these, the best atmosphere might be in the pubs in the vicinity.
During last Global series in Finland, the Avs-Jackets games were so lopsided that it made them less exciting for an audience that mostly consists of people, who aren't either team's fans. However now we have Stars & Panthers, much better match up ( and no doubt Chucky can arrange some extra entertainment if need be)
I’m not even Finnish but I’m so giddy about this team. It’s basically going to be a collection of all my favorite players.
Perhaps the greatest Finnish team of all time. Our golden generation!
Barkov alone makes Finland my second favorite in the tournament, not to mention Eetu and Lundell might make the team.
Without anything drastic happening both should be locks for the team, as well as Mikkola.
Aho finally getting to be with his boys at an international event! So happy for the kid.
Why does Finland have Swedish defenceman Sebastian Aho on their team?
Why did Canucks draft Elias Pettersson twice?
What about PuLa-Aho? Aka Finlands first line at 2016 WJC. Puljujärvi, Aho, Laine. https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suomi_j%C3%A4%C3%A4kiekon_nuorten_maailmanmestaruuskilpailuissa_2016#Joukkue Also included: Rantanen, Mikkola, Hintz
Can they bring Windows95man for the entertainment?
Would be lit. Me personally? I want some Cha Cha Cha. Bring Käärijä too!
And JVG to really round it out 🤪
no other country of these four has sandstorms, so that said, bring on Darude ;)
Why is everyone from Finland so likeable?
Moose looking at us like we ate the last Pulla he was saving.
Perkele
I hope Hintz is healthy enough to play. Can't wait to see the rest of the roster!
Mirp
Mirp
Mirp
Mirp
Mirp!
No real surprises, but I did think we'd see Granlund or Hintz before Lindell. Especially Granlund where he has been captain of Team Finland in the past. Not that it matters, they'll all be on the team regardless.
I think they want everyone to announce 3F, 2D, 1G as the first 6. Otherwise they would've announced like Hintz before Lindell.
Canada: best i can do is 5 forwards and 1 defencemen
Yeah lol mb was proven wrong by all other teams
It just looks like Finland named their starters essentially, 3 F, 2 D, 1 G. Probably why We didn't see Hintz and Granlund first.
Isn’t this the one where all the players are supposed to be NHL or AHL, too?
Every player needs to have an NHL deal and they need to be on an NHL roster on Dec 2nd 2024 to be eligible.
Granlund, as captain of the team, took an exceptionally stupid penalty that got him suspended from the quarterfinals of the last world championships. That might have factored into it.
Either they're holding out the big names til later, or we're seeing an all-time snub of Jesse Puljujarvi
I predicted 5/6, I chose Hintz over Lindell.
What do Finns think of Pennanen & Co., and how do they compare to Jalonen?
They are joke compared to peak Jalonen tournament hockey. But maybe this team is good enough to stop first defence then attack mentality. Then it would actually be better without Jalonen. To be seen.
Might see some similarities since he was Jalonens assistant coach. He's quite young (45) for a coach and he started coaching in 2007 I believe. Has won Finnish Liiga and coached some competitive teams there. Imo, not on the same level as Jalonen yet, but now he's coaching a full roster of NHL players so I'll be excited to see what he's cooking.
Somehow I didn't know Saros was Finnish
Where did you think he was from?
I don't really know to be honest. Like the name Saros doesn't jump out to me as anything specific. Juuse does though, which now that i think of it is very Finnish sounding but for some reason that never clicked
Juuse is actually relatively rare in Finland (i‘m 50% finnish and lived there 19 years). Juuso is a fairly common name and Juuse to me sounds like a weird version of Juuso, kinda like Geoff or something. Saros on the other hand doesn‘t necessarily sound finnish, but there are a fair few surnames in Finland that are like that.
It's the double vowel that makes it sound Finnish
But not in Haaland or Ødegaard. I think it’s the specific vowels that make it sound distinctively Finnish.
just checked, less than 50 people (I think) have the name Juuse
Fun fact: Saros had a poster of Pekka on his wall growing up which makes the handoff extra cool. I think that's one of the reason Juice signed long term with the Preds. I'm pretty sure Pekka mentioned it in one of the articles he wrote around when he was retiring.
Got the prediction 100% right, yippee.
[удалено]
Yea cause I guessed they'd name 2Ds, and he's the 2nd best D
I honestly think Heinola could be 2nd best if he wasn‘t in Winnipeg, they don‘t know how to play young players
... He's played 35 nhl games. This isn't about young players being played enough lol, he just isn't the 2nd best. Not even close.
That‘s why I said could obviously, if he was played he COULD be.
Silly nonsensical logic. Hes simply not, because otherwise he'd be playing. It's not his ice time causing this. If he can't beat out guys like Colin Miller or Samberg, it's cause he's not good enough. Not because he's not played enough lmao...
On the other hand, Rutger McGroarty is asking for a trade for a reason.
Stacked-ass squad already!
Laine, Hintz, Lehkonen, Ristolainen, Maata and Raanta next 6?
Mikkola before risto or määttä
Lehkonen, Hintz, Maccelli, Mikkola, Hakanpää, Luukkonen.
This team is gonna be good.
I don’t know if Hakanpää will be able to. He was out at the end of the year and all playoffs and had arthroscopic surgery on his knee. I don’t foresee Nill re-signing him and I’m not sure if other teams will want to take a chance on him.
Lundell maybe
If we weren't so short on defence men Ristolainen might not make the team. He's a liability in a short tournament, has no playoff and very little international experience, and he's been reluctant to join the national team in the past.
Absolutely no Laine unless he goes on a spree in the beginning of next season and scores 20 goals by December.
I like these lines as a Panthers fan: Laine - Barkov - Rantanen Lehkonen - Aho - Teravainen Haula - Hintz - Granlund Luostarinen - Lundell - Kakko Just stacked down the middle
Here come people complaining about so and so getting selected before so and so.