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Salming · 11-04-2020, 07:44 AM

(WJC media x2)

You can find Team Finland's WJC team for S56 from this post: https://simulationhockey.com/showthread.php?tid=111438

However, in this post I am going through each member of the team by looking what kind of club season they had before heading to the WJC bubble. I am confident that Finland can continue its medal streak. I wish also every team best of luck for the upcoming tournament.

Offense
LW - Valtterri Kauppinen - S56 - 458 TPE - [Image: whalers.png]

- Kauppinen played all 50 games in the regular season. He scored 27 points and had plus-minus rating of +8. His game rating was decent 58. He played only 13:39 per night so 13 goals with 112 shots on goal is a good amount of goals and shots in my opinion with that kind of ice-time. Kauppinen has great physical stats (SPE 13, ACC 12, AGI 12, BAL 12) and he is going to bring a lot of energy to this WJC team.
LW - William Salming - S56 - 433 TPE - [Image: citadelles.png]

- I scored also 27 points like Kauppinen but played much more, 17:26 per game as an average. I had 11 goals and 16 assists. I am happy about that because I am a two-way forward. I am trying to be a reliable winger also in this WJC team like in Quebec City. I am not the fastest or strongest player on the ice but I have good puck skills and defensive mindset.
LW - Lemo Pihl - S56 - 425 TPE - [Image: armada.png]

- Pihl scored 7+15=22 in 50 games for Anchorage. He played almost 15 minutes per night and had only six penalty minutes so Pihl plays very cleanly even though he has 12 checking and 11 hitting. Pihl is very balanced player because his puck skills are almost all 12 and physical attibutes are mainly 11. Defensive rating are between 11 and 12. However Pihl's stamina is only 11 so that might limit his ice-time on the upcoming tournament.
LW - Jarmo Kekäläinen - S57 - 271 TPE - [Image: raptors.png]

- It is great to have a GM of Columbus Blue Jackets also in our team. He is apparently forever young. Kekäläinen had 18 points in 49 matches in regular season. His plus-minus rating was excellent +9 with TOI of 13:12. He had 14 assists thanks to his passing (13) and puckhandling (12) skills. He is going to be an interesting right-handed playmaker to follow in this tournament and needs to be paired with players who are a little bit better defensively than Kekäläinen and can steal pucks for him and then Jarmo can show his magic.

C - Jean-Uthred Ragnarsson-Tremblay - S54 - 784 TPE - [Image: raptors.png]

- Let's move on to centers. Ragnarsson-Tremblay is a superstar in this team. He played almost 18 minutes per night in Colorado but scored only 25 points. Well, Ragnarsson-Tremblay is of course more defensive-minded center and his defensive game rating was great 66 in regular season but hopefully he can be the best version of himself also on the attacking zone in this tournament because Team Finland needs that to be successful. I expect Ragnarsson-Tremblay be a monster on the PK and be the same kind of leader than Mikko Koivu has been many years for Team Finland.
C - Walton Stromberg - S55 - 628 TPE - [Image: timber.png]

- Stromberg scored massive 39 points in SMJHL this season and is probably going to be one of the best scorers also for this team. He played three minutes per night on power-play in Maine and I expect that he is going be in similar kind of role also in this team. His passing and stamina are 14 so Stromberg will get a lot of minutes and assists, I guess and hope.
C - Santtu Rasanen - S53 - 582 TPE - [Image: armada.png]

- Rasanen scored even more points than Stromberg this season. He had 16 goals and 30 assists for Armada. Rasanen is pretty balanced center. Only shot blocking (7), hitting (9) and fighting (5) are under 10. He played about 19 minutes per game in SMJHL and is trying to be a two-way forward and you could also say he is a mix of Ragnarsson-Tremblay and Stromberg. I like the top three centers of this team because they are not all similar kind of players.
C - Kaapo Kampainen - S57 - 227 TPE - [Image: outlaws2.png]

- Kampainen played only 28 games and had three points for Anaheim. His best attributes are defensive read, stickchecking, checking, positioning, passing, puckhandling, shooting accuracy and offensive read (all 11). With right players around him I think Kampainen will survive well enough in the upcoming tournament.

RW - Jesse Seppanen - S55 - 487 TPE - [Image: timber.png]

- Seppanen scored 17 goals and 31 points for Maine this season. He played 16 minutes per night so 17 goals is solid number. His average game rating was 62. What is most impressive, Seppanen did not played almost at all on power-play so 17 goals (all on even strength) is even better number when you notice that fact. Hopefully Seppanen can continue his goal-scoring form and maybe improves it if he gets PP minutes on this team. Strength rating of 14 also helps win puck battles.
RW - Raivo Helminen - S56 - 454 TPE - [Image: battleborn.png]

- Helminen had 35 points in 50 games in Nevada. He played 19:29 per match but probably won't play as much in this team. We will see. However, Helminen had 142 PIM and 254 hits so he brings aggressiveness and toughness which is also important. He is a player who is tough to beat on ice in 1v1 situations.
RW - Taisto Jutila - S54 - 366 TPE - [Image: falcons2.png]

- Jutila had 14 assistst and four goals fot Detroit. His plus-minus was -19 but Detroit was one of the worst teams in SMJHL so that is the reason for his bad number in that category. Taisto is one the most experienced player in this team and that's why very valuable. His checking game (13) and defensive read (14) will show on ice on the upcoming tournament. I guarantee that.
RW - Eero Makinen Jr. - S56 - 324 TPE - [Image: raptors.png]

- Eero had 17 points in 50 matches. He played 14:55 per night in Colorado. Shooting accuracy is Makinen's best attribute (13) but still he scored only five goals in SMJHL but I am sure that he will find his form again when representing Finland.
RW - Brennan Huff - S57 - 264 TPE - [Image: knights2.png]

- Huff played in Kelowna and scores 12 points (6+6) in 50 games. His plus-minus was -20 even though he played "only" 14 minutes per night. Of course Kelowna was dead last in the Western Conference so you can't blame too much Huff. He made his best for sure. I am excited to see what he can bring to this team. I am sure that he wants to ends his season in good light after disappointing regular season in Kelowna. Huff has skills to stickcheck and shoot so you can expect solid two-way game from him.
RW - Tokkulu Lakkamaa - S57 - 247 TPE - [Image: armada.png]

- Lakkamaa scored only one goal but had eight assists in Armada. He played only 11 minutes per night but made his own job properly because plus-minus was neutral. Tokkolu is a balanced kid because he has 15 different attributes rated as 11.

Defense
D - Aumy Jr. - S54 - 833 TPE - [Image: raptors.png]

- Aumy is going to be one of the top defencemen in this team and tournament. He scored massive 15 goals and 20 assists in Colorado and was 2nd best scorer among all defencemen in SMJHL. Hopefully he can continue his form also on lion jersey. He has shooting range of 16 so Aumy is a dangerous player everywhere on offensive zone.
D - Igor Victory - S55 - 647 TPE - [Image: armada.png]

- Igor had four goals and 22 assists this season. He played 20:42 per night and had excellent defensive game rating of 75. He has good balance, defensive read, stickchecking and checking but Victory can also score points especially on power-play. He had nine power-play points this season.
D - Tinke Jutila - S54 - 500 TPE - [Image: berserkers.png]

- Another Jutila in the team is Tinke. He scored 5+11=16, +19 in regular season for Newfoundland. He is also only member from that team representing Finland. Jutila played 22 minutes per night so you can trust him a lot. His DR was 77 so it was even better than Victory had.
D - Anrijs Asts - S54 - 439 TPE - [Image: raptors.png]

- Asts plays in Colorado and had 17 points in SMJHL. He is a right-handed defenceman. Asts has good stamina, strength and overall defensive skills. He played about two minutes per night on short-handed on his team and will probably get also SH minutes in this team. He is also a good partner for someone more offensive-minded defenceman (Aumy, Victory or Jutila).
D - Kolja Kekkonen - S55 - 437 TPE - [Image: falcons2.png]

- Kekkonen scored 21 points for Detroit. He played 21:57 per night and had rough plus-minus of -20 but again Detroit wasn't the best team in SMJHL. He had eight PP points but it might be a challenge to get PP minutes in this company when Finland has also other great defencemen who can score points. Luckily Kekkonen has many defensive attributes which are 13 so he will be useful also on PK if needed and who knows if he can grab a spot also on the power-play.
D - Jari Heikkinen - S57 - 288 TPE - [Image: citadelles.png]

- Heikkinen plays also on Quebec like me, myself and I. He shoots from left and had 20 points in 50 games. TOI was 18:45. Heikkinen played both PP and PK in Quebec but in this team he will probably only get 5v5 and possible PK minutes. Heikkinen has good defensive read and checking game even though he had only 31 hits in Quebec. Heikkinen has also solid top speed and passing skills so he can move the puck without losing it.

Goalies
G - Mat Smith - S56 - 434 TPE - [Image: citadelles.png]

- I know Smith very well because he plays in the same team in Quebec City. He had five shutouts which ranked him 2nd in the SMJHL after Cale Amundsen. He had 7th best save percentage also so Smith is a very solid goalie who can steal games if team in front of him plays well enough. I am happy that he decided to represent Finland this year.
G - Ragnar-Alexandre Ragnarsson-Tremblay - S56 - 270 TPE - [Image: kraken.png]

- Another Ragnarsson-Tremblay in this team played 17 games and had one shutout. His save percentage was 91,3% which was a little bit better than Smith had (91,1%) but Smith played 20 games more than Ragnarsson-Tremblay who won 11 of his 17 starts. Hopefully he can bring same kind of winning mentality to this team.

Words: 2160
Word count without names of players and their TPE numbers (I don't know if it is allowed to count them to total amount of words): 2160 - 250 = 1910

st4rface · 11-04-2020, 07:48 AM

Finland - Winland! Finland

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