Few days ago we announcened official roster with which Finland will fight for medals in WJC. Now it's time to deep dive a bit in and make some deeper analysis about this team. Our roster, what changed from last season, our goals and even more! Let's go!
Team contains of 22 players - 20 skaters and 2 goalies. Most players are from Colorado Raptors team - five in total. Four players play for Anchorage Armada, but three for Quebec City Cidalles. Maine Timber and Detroit Falcons have both two players which plays for Finland. Only one player from Vancouver Whalers, Anaheim Outlaws, Nevada Battleborn, Kelowna Knights, Carolina Kraken and Newfoundland Berserkers. Only St. Louis Scarecrows don't have a player which plays for Finland in WJC this season. Team's captain is Igor Victory, but assistant captains - Jean-Uthred Ragnarsson-Tremblay and Walton Stromberg.
Finland have pretty similar roster as last season with few differences. For example - majority of players are much better than last season. They have progressed and earned a lot of TPE and big amount of them are capped out. One of the biggest losses was Lassi Suhonen trasnfering from Finland to Japan, but even that didn't make a big loss for Finland. There are still three full lines of capped out players and team is ready to dominate. Finland got lucky and picked up a goalie from British Isles - capped out goalie Mat Smith who plays for Quebec City Citadelles. To have some reserve on offense, they picked up Kelowna Knights forward Brennan Huff too. This Canadian player might not get so many minutes to play, but at least he will not have to sit out this tournament. Lemo Pihl is a new name in this team aswell - he is hockey player from Estonia and it's his first season under Finland's flag.
We have really strong defense - five of six defenders are capped out at max 425 TPE. Only one is under 300 TPE, but he will play in third line, so it doesn't change that much. Decent offense too. Upgraded goalie spot, so that might help a lot. Capped out goalie might help a lot here and our mission is to be in higher position as last season. I think we are able to do that and our roster is pretty great. Best what we could get!
However... Team looks good and are definitely championship contenders. We decided to take @Wearingabear as our CO-GM to have more experience and I think it will help. He got Finland bronze medals last season and this season we have some bigger goals - gold! Finland have good players, right chemistry and of course - nice coaching stuff. If we will play our cards right - we will get these medals. But let's drop aside this analysis and jump in to individual analysis.
Forward - Valtterri Kauppinen - 458 TPE - Vancouver Whalers - @Pythonic [S56]
New player, new user. Already capped out and that's amazing. He played all 50 games for Whalers this season - scored 13 goals and got 14 assists. 27 total points, great plus/minus and helped Whalers to finish in first place with no worries. Whalers were dominant in this regular season.
Forward - William Salming - 433 TPE - Quebec City Citadelles - @Salming [S56]
Similar situation TPE wise as Kauppinen. Multiple attributes at 13 - passing, offensive read and others. Good in offense. Played all 50 games in regular season - scored 11 goals and recorded 16 assists. Same situation as Kauppinen - 27 points. Pretty decent season - will definitely help Finland to fight for medals. Stromberg is assistant captain for Team Finland too.
Forward - Lemo Pihl - 425 TPE - Anchorage Armada - @Rooniewalker [S56]
All three left wingers on this team have similar situation. Salming, Kauppinen and Pihl has same situation TPE wise - only difference is how they played in regular season. Lemo Pihl scored 7 goals and got 15 assists in all 50 regular season games. Plus/minus +2 and 22 total points. Finland got lucky, because this is another new player. This hockey player from Estonia didn't play on Finland's roster last season.
Forward - Jarmo Kekäläinen - 271 TPE - Colorado Raptors - @TheFlash [S57]
First Raptors player is here! However - he isn't capped out, but it's okay, because he started to play one season later than previous three players. Jarmo played almost full season - 49 games. He scored 4 goals and got 14 assists - 18 total points. He helped Raptors to get as fasr as they got and will definitely be the future of this franchise for next new seasons.
Forward - Jean-Uthred Ragnarsson-Tremblay - 784 TPE - Colorado Raptors - @lespoils [S54]
Re-create and with no doubt one of the biggest names out there. No attributes at 14, but eight attributes at 13. Good in defense, great physical rating too. Not so good season for so capped out player though - 50 games in which scored 6 goals and 19 assists. Still decent though. Will play a big role for Finland this off-season. He is assistant captain too. Probably last season in WJC. Would be cool to leave with a gold, right?
Forward - Walter Stromberg - 628 TPE - Maine Timber - @sulovilen [S55]
Another amazing player and one of the biggest names we have. Plus, he will be able to play in WJC next season too. Stromberg had an amazing season - played all 50 games and scored 15 goals. Total of 39 points (24 assists). Played a big role for Maine Timber and is definitely a reason why they got so far. Best ratings are stamina and passing for him - both at 14.
Forward - Santtu Rasanen - 582 TPE - Anchorage Armada - @KenitohMenara [S53]
Not so many TPE, but still capped out. He has a great build and it's proven by his regular season. He played all 50 games - scored 16 goals and got 30 assists. Total of 46 points - almost averaged 1 point per game. Pretty sick. Only 6 penalty minutes too and almost 20 powerplay points. A player which you wanna see on ice in powerplays for sure.
Forward - Kaapo Kampainen - 227 TPE - Anaheim Outlaws - @marco999 [S57]
New player who will have an oppurtunity to prove himself in WJC already so fast. Only skill over 11 is stamina at 12 and that's it. He is pretty much back up forward and reserve for Finland. Played only 28 games in regular season - 2 goals and 1 assist, while -9 plus/minus. Ouch!
Forward - Jesse Seppänen - 487 TPE - Maine Timber - @crutch [S55]
Seppänen has strength at 14 and stamina, offensive read, getting open at 13. Decent forward who will have a lot of stuff to do and will play a big role for Team Finland. He had decent season in Timber too - in 50 games scored 17 goals and assisted 14 other goals by getting total of 31 points. Pretty effective player!
Forward - Raivo Helminen - 454 TPE - Nevada Battleborn - @jRuutu [S56]
Center position player which is trained by forum's old-head with a lot of experience. Highest attributes are shooting accuracy, offensive read and stamina at 13. Helminen played all 50 games this SMJHL season and got 35 points in total - 11 goals and 23 assists. He led entire SMJHL with 142 penalty minutes aswell. More than 25 penalty minutes than his closest enemy in this race - Boris Petrov. He will play a big role for Finland too, so hopefully he won't earn a lot of penalty minutes.
Forward - Taisto Jutila - 366 TPE - Detroit Falcons - @Murtsi [S54]
Technically pretty old player for WJC, but hasn't capped out yet. Best attribute is defensive read at 14. Pretty much - forward with great defense and will play a big role in 4v5 situations for sure. Taisto didn't have pretty good season though. He played all 50 games for Falcons, but scored only 4 goals while got 14 assists. 18 total points, but -19 plus/minus. Not so good for his team, but hopefully he will do better in WJC.
Forward - Eero Makinen Jr. - 324 TPE - Colorado Raptors - @mcgriddleluver [S56]
New player who will be needed for next seasons in WJC for Finland too. We all know that players need to have some attributes at 13 to do well on this simtool in WJC and he has some too. Shooting accuracy and offensive read at 13. Should continue to improve. He played all 50 games for Colorado Raptors in regular season in which he scored 5 goals and got 12 assists. 17 total points, 20 penalty minutes and -2 plus/minus. Not bad!
Forward - Brennan Huff - 264 TPE - Kelowna Knights - @Jayrome [S57]
This is some new name in roster on Team Finland. This is a skater which we claimed from Team Canada. New player and we are happy to have him on our team. No attributes over 12 though and he will be a 4th line forward or a reserve, but he will have a time to play. At least he will not have to sit out entire off-season waiting for new season and draft. However - he played all 50 games for Knights this season - 12 points of which half are goals and other half - assists. Plus/minus -20, mostly plays just in 5v5 situation and had 16 penalty minutes. Not bad for first season.
Forward - Tokkulu Lakkamaa - 247 TPE - Anchorage Armada - @dmuda11 [S57]
Player with lowest TPE amount between our players. Still good player though. Tokkulu played all 50 games and scored 1 goal. Got 8 assists too. 9 total points, neutral plus minus and 4 penalty minutes. However - will have a chance to try his powers out in WJC too.
Defender - Aumy Jr. - 833 TPE - Colorado Raptors - @st4rface [S54]
Hardest thing always is to talk about yourself. This is my player and he had a decent season. Got shooting range at 16, stamina at 14 and few attributes at 13. Last season in WJC and SMJHL. In full season scored 15 goals and 20 assists - 35 points. Not shocked or dissapointed - was expected to do well. Could've played even better. However - will test strategies and see how my player does too. This doesn't mean that he will have biggest ice time or something. Our goal is to win as a team.
Defender - Igor Victory - 647 TPE - Anchorage Armada - @Wearingabear [S55]
Our captain and CO-GM which will help us to get these gold medals. Igor Victory plays for Armada and had decent season - 4 goals, 22 assists - total of 26 points in all 50 games. 33% of all points he got is in powerplay. Definitely will have a big role this season in WJC. Great build, great future.
Defender - Tinke Jutila - 500 TPE - Newfoundland Berserkers - @Snussu [S54]
I remember this player, because he was from the same draft class as me. He was one of the best players out there, but he was a bit inactive one time and is at 500 TPE right now. Happy to see him on Team Finland though. Majority of his attributes is at 13 and he is a great defender. Only Berserkers player on our team though. 50 games - 5 goals, 11 assists. Not so good season as his brother points wise, but had much better plus/minus: +19. 16 total points, 34 penalty minutes. Not bad.
Defender - Anrijs Asts - 439 TPE - Colorado Raptors - @asts [S54]
My little brother in this league and it's interesting to talk about him. He isn't that active anymore, because he is more in to basketball than hockey. Haven't updated in a while, but will try to get back in to this league. Majority of attributes at 13. He played 46 games in regular season and scored 5 goals while got 12 assists. Not bad season - 17 points, plus/minus +5, 41 penalty minutes. Much better Play-Offs though: 1 goal and 8 assists.
Defender - Kolja Kekkonen - 437 TPE - Detroit Falcons - @WannabeFinn [S55]
I am GM now for my own GM, haha. That's cool. Hopefully he will be still my GM next season! Legendary user! Once again - majority of attributes at 13. Played all 50 games for Falcons this season - 4 goals and 17 assists. -20 plus/minus, one third of points in powerplay and total of 21 points. Not bad! Bright future for this player for sure.
Defender - Jari Heikkinen - 288 TPE - Quebec City Citadelles - @Allegiant [S57]
Another Citadelles player. Under 300 TPE mark, but doing well and future for him is bright. Legendary user once again! Best attributes checking, defensive read and speed - all at 13. Played all 50 games for new SMJHL team - scored 7 goals and got 13 assits. 20 total points, 18 penalty minutes and -1 plus/minus. Decent season - hopefully will step up in WJC.
Goalie - Mat Smith - 434 TPE - Quebec City Citadelles - @Matteo [S56]
Hopefully, our saviour. We got lucky and we claimed Mat Smith from British Isles. Maxed out goalie and finally a goalie which is over cap limit. Hopefuylly, that will increase our chances for gold medals too. He played majority of this season - 37 games. 14 of games won, 23 lost - 3 in overtime. 91,1% saves and 5 shutouts - 2,90 goals allowed per game (average). Great goalie and hopefully it will help Team Finland!
Goalie - Ragnar-Alexandre Ragnarsson-Tremblay - 270 TPE - Carolina Kraken - @LarryTheMVP [S56]
We thought Ragnarsson-Tremblay is inactive, but we talked with him and understood that he just don't have so much time to update his player. Played just 17 games with Kraken, but was pretty good - 11 wins, 6 losses. 2,62 goals allowed usually per game and 91,3% saves. Playing pretty well. Last season he was our primary goalie, but this season we upgraded this spot. However... hopefully he will help us a back up this season.
These are our 22 players who will play for Team Finland this season in WJC. This was some small analysis about our squad and hopefully we will bring home gold medals. Our roster is really good and I am sure we win all games we need to win. Let's go! Finland = Winland! Best of the luck to all other nations too. Most important thing - let's have fun. And I hope that y'll are safe out there. Stay safe!
st4rface
![[Image: dsc_1212.jpg]](https://blob.iihf.com/iihf-media/iihfmvc/media/2019/wm20/games/08-fin-kaz/dsc_1212.jpg)
- @Pythonic [S56]
- @Salming [S56]
- @Rooniewalker [S56]
- @TheFlash [S57]
- @sulovilen [S55]
- @marco999 [S57]
- @jRuutu [S56]
- @Murtsi [S54]
- @Jayrome [S57]
- @Snussu [S54]
- @LarryTheMVP [S56]
