At the World Cup in the spring, Finland will largely depend on the body of the Olympic gold team. There is a tougher challenge ahead than in Beijing, when opponents are likely to get NHL stars, writes Joska Saarinen of Urheilun.
The lions will meet on Sunday at 1 pm at the Estrava tournament in Ostrava, Sweden.
Let’s make one thing clear right away. The World Hockey Men’s Tournament in Finland is a tougher puck competition than the Beijing Olympics, where Finland celebrated gold.
The reason is simply that the World Cup features the best hockey league players in the world, unlike the Olympics.
At least those who were left on the beach from the playoffs in the NHL regular season ending Sunday will be eligible for the World Cup. Last-minute confirmations can also be obtained from teams that fall in the first round of the playoffs.
In theory, Finland could choose players from 25 NHL hockey players for home competitions. In practice, the situation is different. With these prospects, NHL stars are not coming to admire Tampere’s new arena.
The contract of the twelve Finnish NHL players who have ended their season expires this season. Injury at the World Cup would be a severe blow to next summer’s contract talks, which are twisting millions of sums.
For this reason, players waiting for contract negotiations are almost never seen on World Cup ice. Sure, home races could get someone to consider taking a risk. Probably these 12 players, among others Patrik Laineare out of the race machine.
In addition, Laine was injured for the rest of the season. The Columbus star striker told North American media that he has not made a decision on a possible World Cup trip.
Joel Armia, Montreal Canadiens
Henrik Borgström, Chicago Blackhawks
Joonas Donskoi, Seattle Kraken
Santeri Hatakka, San Jose Sharks (played most of the season in AHL, including AHL)
Henri Jokiharju, Buffalo Sabers
Janne Kuokkanen, New Jersey Devils
Matias Maccelli, Arizona Coyotes
Rasmus Ristolainen, Philadelphia Flyers (injured)
Terminated contract:
Olli Juolevi, Detroit Red Wings
Otto Koivula, New York Islanders
Joonas Korpisalo, Columbus Blue Jackets
Kaapo Kähkönen, San Jose Sharks
Patrik Laine, Columbus Blue Jackets
Juho Pond, Vancouver Canucks
Kevin Lankinen, Chicago Blackhawks
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Buffalo Sabers
Arttu Ruotsalainen, Buffalo Sabers
Robin Salo, New York Islanders
Harri Säteri, Arizona Coyotes
Urho Vaakanainen, Anaheim Ducks
Going to the farm league AHL playoffs
Ville Heinola, Winnipeg Jets
Sami Niku, Montreal Canadiens
Lassi Thomson, Ottawa Senators
Jesse Ylönen, Montreal Canadiens
Kristian Vesalainen, Winnipeg Jets
Thirteen NHL players remain, some of which will continue in the AHL playoffs.
Of the eight players in NHL status Rasmus Ristolainen is not available due to injury.
Of the remaining players, the most likely NHL confirmations are Buffalo Sabers defender Henri Jokiharju and Montreal Canadiens striker Joel Armia. Maybe Seattle Joonas Donskoi wants to leave after a difficult season in pursuit of success on the World Cup. They would all be reinforcements for the Finnish team, but not stellar NHL players.
Head coach of the lions Jukka Jalonen rely on the Olympic gold-winning player body, making them more inexperienced Henrik Borgström, Janne Kuokkanen or Matias Maccelli barely fit.
Of course, Jalonen has said before that Alexander Barkovin superstars like that are possible to join even in the middle of a race if the road gets up in the NHL. It is possible that the Finnish team will be strengthened after the first round of the playoffs.
At least these players are involved in the World Cup
Only eight players from the Beijing gold team are missing from the current World Cup camp group. At least one of them Hannes Björninen may join later.
Hannes Björninen
Markus Granlund
Valtteri Kemiläinen
Leo Komarov
Petteri Lindbohm
Joonas Nättinen
Iiro Pakarinen
Harri Säteri
Finland’s responsibilities at the World Cup are the same as in Beijing. Sakari Manninen and Teemu Hartikainen form the backbone of the first chain. For the third time, two goals have been scored in the Austrian net Jere Innalawho was not involved in the Olympics.
The captain of the Olympic team is also the captain Valtteri Filppula can keep the World Cup venue safe. If Björninen joins, he played a quadruple Saku Mäenalanen–Hannes Björninen–Marko Anttila seen together again. They are also strong Harri Pesonen and Miro Aaltonen.
Sami Vatanen, Mikko Lehtonen, Atte Ohtamaa, Niklas Friman and Juuso Hietanen form the body of the defense.
Jussi Olkinuora and Frans Tuohimaa are very likely to play goalkeepers.
There will be fierce competition for the remaining seats in Ostrava and next week in the Swedish EHT tournament.
It will be interesting to see which players from the final teams of the SM League will join the World Cup camp. Tappara’s champion team experienced Veli-Matti Savinainen is at least strong.
The lack of NHL stars has not hurt the breed
The Olympic team is a good body for the World Cup in the spring. The game worked in Beijing like a greased machine.
One thing has changed. In Beijing, Finland had the best player material for the Games.
At the World Championships, for example, Canada and Sweden will have a harder team than Finland thanks to NHL reinforcements.
This is not a new situation for Jalon. In 2019, he did not even get the best possible players from Europe, but Finland rolled the NHL star clusters of Canada, Russia and Sweden to the World Cup gold.
This year, Leijon has a more well-known team, which has been in the camps together for a long time, when many Finnish players who left KHL due to the war were left without a club team for the rest of the season.
Jalonen hardly longs for NHL stars. His team is known to have found ways to win. It’s then about the status of the underdog, even the role of a pre-favorite, or the pressure cooker at home races.
The World Hockey Tournament starts on May 13th. Finland will play its match in Tampere.