NHL Thread

[Ninetales]

Maybe if canada put their best players on the team they wouldnt have finished 4th. Sigh.. oh well bring on the olympic team.

But Finland was great. And they didnt have Maatta or Barkov or Kaspari Kapanen. Ristolainen looks like a stud too. Add Granlund and the future of Finnish hockey looks pretty bright.

[Taxman]

Let's hope so. For a while it looked a bit dark. I'd also like to believe Samu Vatanen could be something.

[Taxman]

I'm surprised that they left Saku Koivu out, but on a positive way. Let's face it, he couldn't really help the team at all. It was a wise decision that he decided to leave the team, even if he was chosen. Now we can take Barkov and he may be more useful and at least he'll get a lot of experience.
Selänne is in, which is quite strange cos he is just getting too old and has not been very good this year, but maybe it would be a scandal if he was left out

[Taxman]

Antti Niemi
Kari Lehtonen
Tuukka Rask

Olli Määttä
Ossi Väänänen
Lasse Kukkonen
Sami Salo
Sami Lepistö
Juuso Hietanen
Kimmo Timonen
Sami Vatanen

Teemu Selänne
Mikko Koivu
Olli Jokinen
Tuomo Ruutu
Alexander Barkov
Jori Lehterä
Jussi Jokinen
Petri Kontiola
Lauri Korpikoski
Antti Pihlström
Mikael Granlund
Juhamatti Aaltonen
Valtteri Filppula
Leo Komarov

[Thom Yorke]

Originally Posted by Taxman

It is funny how everyone keeps on talking about the decline of Finnish Hockey. They are not even realistic. How a country that has five million people could has as any many NHL players as Sweden or Russia?
Also hockey is so expensive hobby that nowadays it's hard even for a middle-class family to afford it.

I don't think Finnish hockey is declining, it's just that they're in a clear transitional phase when it comes to elite talent. The guys that have carried them for years are retired or nearly retired (Selanne, Kiprusoff, Timonen, Saku Koivu, etc.), and their top prospects might be a bit too young to make an impact at the highest level right now (Barkov, Granlund, Maatta, Ristolainen, etc.).

If you look at their elite players that are currently in their primes (who aren't goalies), you have Mikko Koivu and that's about it. Guys like Filppula, Ruutu, J. Jokinen are solid, but hardly elite.

[Thom Yorke]

Crossing my fingers here that Kunitz is kept off the team. It would be such a colossal mistake to take him. With Couture's status in question, it might open up that door for them though...

This is what I'd like to see though:

Couture-Crosby-Stamkos
Tavares-Toews-Giroux
Nash-Getzlaf-Perry
M. Richards-Bergeron-Sharp
Duchene, E. Staal

Pietrangelo-Weber
Bouwmeester-Doughty
Keith-Seabrook
Vlasic-Subban

Price
Luongo
Holtby

What I think we'll see:

Kunitz-Crosby-Stamkos
Sharp-Toews-St. Louis
Tavares-Getzlaf-Perry
Couture-Bergeron-Carter
Duchene, Giroux

Keith-Doughty
Bouwmeester-Pietrangelo
Hamhuis-Weber
Vlasic-Subban

Price
Luongo
Smith

[Thom Yorke]

I'm sorry, but putting Kunitz on the team is absolute insanity.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Benn there. He's a good pick, I just didn't think they'd put him on after he was left off the orientation camp roster. He was a great replacement for Couture.

Both St. Louis and Giroux left off is shocking to me.

Looks like it'll be:

Kunitz-Crosby-Stamkos
Tavares-Toews-Sharp
Nash-Getzlaf-Perry
Benn-Bergeron-Carter
Marleau, Duchene

Keith-Doughty
Bouwmeester-Pietrangelo
Hamhuis-Weber
Vlasic-Subban

Price
Luongo
Smith

[Taxman]

Originally Posted by Thom Yorke

I don't think Finnish hockey is declining, it's just that they're in a clear transitional phase when it comes to elite talent. The guys that have carried them for years are retired or nearly retired (Selanne, Kiprusoff, Timonen, Saku Koivu, etc.), and their top prospects might be a bit too young to make an impact at the highest level right now (Barkov, Granlund, Maatta, Ristolainen, etc.).

If you look at their elite players that are currently in their primes (who aren't goalies), you have Mikko Koivu and that's about it. Guys like Filppula, Ruutu, J. Jokinen are solid, but hardly elite.

This is true. It seemed like it was declining, but it really is not. Now it's the time to say goodbye to those old players (and even the middle-aged ones) and let those younger ones play. It may mean that two or three next cups will not be so successful, but you can only get experience if you are allowed to play.

Also considering how thin our material is and how small country Finland is, it is pretty respectable that since the NHL players have played in Olympic games, Finland has won the biggest amount of medals. Surely, no gold,but still. Ain't bad?

[Thom Yorke]

Russia might be shooting themselves in the foot with such a strong KHL presence again. It could be different on the bigger ice but Semin being left off is pretty crazy.

Surprised that a couple young guys like Tarasenko and Nichushkin made it as well.

[Taxman]

If you are a star in KHL, you'll be star in Olympics. Don't underrate the power of KHL.