Team Finland: following Ruutu and Pitkanen in the Olympics

[legend-1]

Yea really... 8-0...8-2.. if USA didn't self mutilate it's roster/coaching staff this year the Switz game wouldn't have been close either.

Let me know when we play Canada, prolly the only interesting game in this prelim round thingy. 

[TSA]

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Yea really... 8-0...8-2.. if USA didn't self mutilate it's roster/coaching staff this year the Switz game wouldn't have been close either.

Let me know when we play Canada, prolly the only interesting game in this prelim round thingy.

Sweden vs Germany might be a decent match up tonight.

Finland out shooting Belarus 24-4, Ruutu has to eventually get one in.  Pitkanen with 1 assist so far. 

Oh and Jussi would have had at least 1 by now

[jb_online]

[quote name='TSA wrote:

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legend-1']Yea really... 8-0...8-2.. if USA didn't self mutilate it's roster/coaching staff this year the Switz game wouldn't have been close either.

Let me know when we play Canada, prolly the only interesting game in this prelim round thingy.

Sweden vs Germany might be a decent match up tonight.

Finland out shooting Belarus 24-4, Ruutu has to eventually get one in.  Pitkanen with 1 assist so far. 

Oh and Jussi would have had at least 1 by now

Dude, that was a snooze-fest.  I was expecting a lot more, but I guess scoring on the King isn't going to happen that much.  Why should it be any easier than in the NHL, right?  lol, that guy is amazing.

Anyway, Germany looked awful.  I mean, their uniforms were nice, but as a team, they looked soooo out of sync.  Just not a good team.  I have enjoyed the women's hockey games, though.  That is something we will only get to see in the Olympics... these ladies are really fun to watch.  They deserve a pro league.

[v1atlantis]

Okay, good mornings. A good game from the finns. Without that Kukkonen´s mistake it would and should have been 5-0.

I was pullling my hair When that happened . My take on Carorolinas finns:

Tuomo:

First period: Did not notice him much. He always seems to find that magic with M.Koivu though.

Second:  Played much better, more with his own style; more tackles etc. Very intense . Clears  room well for Hagman,

              who makes it 3-1.  Sigh of relief.

Third: Yet another great tackle leads to goal. Filppula scores 4-1. Ruutu´s having great energy and hustle, parking his butt

          in front of Belarus goalie. He seems immovable there. Great game from him.

Pitkänen:

First:     Seems phlegmatic. Bad decisions in his own end. Seems nervous, shaky and slow.

Second: Didn´t notice him much , but that is maybe for better. It seems obvious what his strenghts are.Some good opening

             passes.

Third:   Where is he? The invisible man! Ok, now i found him. He is spearheading our offense. Great that he knows his playing position

            this well.

 

I guess he played okay. There is much room for improvement. He needs to improve.

Defense was before the tourney a question mark for us finns. And it still is. I really hope that Pitkänen can find his groove.

Attacking lines are good . Jussi should be there over Peltonen. Filppula is really good.

My Three stars of the game:

Filppula - After a shaky first, this national team rookie found his groove. Very sound defensively, Very skilled. 1+0  +0

Hagman - Spectacular. That 3-1 goal was pure gold. Played well with Ruutu and Koivu  2+0    +1

M. Koivu - He was as good as expected. Very reliable. Future captain of Finland    0+3    +1

[GhoulieGirl]

I agree, I think Joni was nervous. Maybe next game he will play better. He does get better the more he plays, maybe he just needed to get one game under him and know what is expected of him. Same way with his first every play off race with Philly. He didn't know what to expect, so next game should be better for him. He can quarterback the offense.

Ruu is Ruu...glad to see his physicality coming back. We love those hits he does.

[v1atlantis]

I agree, I think Joni was nervous. Maybe next game he will play better. He does get better the more he plays, maybe he just needed to get one game under him and know what is expected of him. Same way with his first every play off race with Philly. He didn't know what to expect, so next game should be better for him. He can quarterback the offense.

Ruu is Ruu...glad to see his physicality coming back. We love those hits he does.

I think he does. It was his fourth game in national team. ? Anyway, i was a little dissapointed in him , because i expected 

him to score highlight reel goals here and give a magical pass there. After that he should have punished those Belarussians

with a bone crushing hit. So thats just my fault , expecting maybe tad too much.

  

[GhoulieGirl]

[quote name='v1atlantis wrote:

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GhoulieGirl']I agree, I think Joni was nervous.

Maybe next game he will play better

. He does get better the more he plays, maybe he just needed to get one game under him and know what is expected of him. Same way with his first every play off race with Philly. He didn't know what to expect, so next game should be better for him. He can quarterback the offense.

Ruu is Ruu...glad to see his physicality coming back. We love those hits he does.

I think he does. It was his fourth game in national team. ? Anyway, i was a little dissapointed in him , because i expected 

him to score highlight reel goals here and give a magical pass there. After that he should have punished those Belarussians

with a bone crushing hit. So thats just my fault , expecting maybe tad too much.

  The passing yes, he can do that, but highlight reel goals, no.  He has a great shot from the point and it should go in more than it does.  He can make those passes to Jussi since they have played together for so long.  Maybe a another practice will get him used to his team mates tendencies.  There's not much time to adjust in the Olympics.

Joni is my favorite player, but he is not free of my criticism.  LOL

  

[v1atlantis]

[quote name='GhoulieGirl wrote:

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v1atlantis wrote:

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GhoulieGirl']I agree, I think Joni was nervous.

Maybe next game he will play better

. He does get better the more he plays, maybe he just needed to get one game under him and know what is expected of him. Same way with his first every play off race with Philly. He didn't know what to expect, so next game should be better for him. He can quarterback the offense.

Ruu is Ruu...glad to see his physicality coming back. We love those hits he does.

I think he does. It was his fourth game in national team. ? Anyway, i was a little dissapointed in him , 

because i expected 

him to score highlight reel goals here and give a magical pass there.

After that he should have punished those Belarussians

with a bone crushing hit. So thats just my fault , expecting maybe tad too much.

  

The passing yes, he can do that, but highlight reel goals, no.  He has a great shot from the point and it should go in more than it does.  He can make those passes to Jussi since they have played together for so long.  Maybe a another practice will get him used to his team mates tendencies.  There's not much time to adjust in the Olympics.

Joni is my favorite player, but he is not free of my criticism.  LOL

  

That is always good to hear. Criticism is always good , unless it reaches a level where it crushes the spirit of its target. In Finland we tend to be

too critical , giving players insane pressure.  It´s called Toronto maple leafs syndrome . Hockey is huge here, and everytime we expect them to win

gold or win a scoring title in NHL etc. And if they don´t , the bashing is endless.

[GhoulieGirl]

I read or heard somewhere that Gold is more important to your nation than the Cup.  That is awesome that you have passion for your players.  

Trust me, I am probably the hardest on Pitkanen.  He gets no free passes from me.  There are games that I will say dang it Joni, with another word used instead of dang.  There are games where I will say a goal was all on him.  So, I will probably fit in great over there.  LOL  He is a very nice guy though, as are all the Finns on our team, and I'm sure the others are as well. 

I think that one Belarus goal was partially on him for not telling the forward pressure was right behind him.  Like I said, hopefully he improves his next game. 

[jbk_ltd]

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Forgot to mention I saw several Team Finland jersey's in the arena for the NJ game.  Saw a Pitkanen jersey on someone sitting on the glass for warm ups and a Ruutu jersey on someone in the premier concession area pre-game too.  Pretty nice looking jersey's, Im willing to bet the Ruutu jersey I saw belonged to Dreamie

Ha!  It certainly could have been me, I'm sporting the white Tuomo Suomi jersey.  Very sweet...

Anyhow, late weighing in here, I very muchenjoyed watching the game yesterday.  It was the first time I'd everwatched  Team Finlandplay in any venue.  Finlandis known for their tight team chemistry and I thought it was apparent in thefirst game how well the players know each other, know their roles, know eachother's tendencies.  One would think they'd spent a lot of time togetherpracticing before that first game.  Very strong work effort on and off thepuck.  I thought Tuomo had a great game, he looked very strong, lookedback to his old form in terms of hitting, and 5 shots on goal.  He got alot of mention from the announcing team.  Joni was much quieter whichyou'd expect from a defenseman, I thought he started off tentative but lookedlike as the game progressed he got into his rhythm and you started to noticehis strong skating and passing, and he picked up his first Olympic point with anassist on Hagman’s goal.  Very impressedand proud of both our Finns on their first Olympic experience!

[super_dave_1]

  Very impressed and proud of both our Finns on their first Olympic experience!

Should have been 3 and not 2.  I don't know what the Finnish National Drink is, but the selection commitee must have been partaking when they made the decision to leave Jussi off the list.

  

[jbk_ltd]

^ Yeah, that.

[TSA]

[quote name='Dreamie wrote:

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TSA']

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Forgot to mention I saw several Team Finland jersey's in the arena for the NJ game.  Saw a Pitkanen jersey on someone sitting on the glass for warm ups and a Ruutu jersey on someone in the premier concession area pre-game too.  Pretty nice looking jersey's, Im willing to bet the Ruutu jersey I saw belonged to Dreamie

Ha!  It certainly could have been me, I'm sporting the white Tuomo Suomi jersey.  Very sweet...

Anyhow, late weighing in here, I very muchenjoyed watching the game yesterday.  It was the first time I'd everwatched  Team Finlandplay in any venue.  Finlandis known for their tight team chemistry and I thought it was apparent in thefirst game how well the players know each other, know their roles, know eachother's tendencies.  One would think they'd spent a lot of time togetherpracticing before that first game.  Very strong work effort on and off thepuck.  I thought Tuomo had a great game, he looked very strong, lookedback to his old form in terms of hitting, and 5 shots on goal.  He got alot of mention from the announcing team.  Joni was much quieter whichyou'd expect from a defenseman, I thought he started off tentative but lookedlike as the game progressed he got into his rhythm and you started to noticehis strong skating and passing, and he picked up his first Olympic point with anassist on Hagman’s goal.  Very impressedand proud of both our Finns on their first Olympic experience!

Were you wearing a backpack of sorts?  If so, it was you with a young girl around section 105-106.

[jbk_ltd]

Yep, probably was me, for that game I was over there for warmups and I remember I had my "hockey purse" because I was carrying two lenses. Next time say hey, no excuses!

[v1atlantis]

19 Hours to go. Germany will be toasted. 6-0. I´m getting tired , 12 hours of driving truck... then coffee and 8 hours of

all kinds of winter sports . After that three to four hours of not so invigorating sleep. It´s hard work to be a hockey

and sports fan these days. Go Finland, crush them sakemannit.

[v1atlantis]

Lines are the same as they were in Belarus game. Bäckström the goalie is starting tonight.

[GhoulieGirl]

Lines are the same as they were in Belarus game. Bäckström the goalie is starting tonight.

Go Team Finland!  Bäckström play your heart out. 

Any word on if Nitty will ever play?  I like Nitty, and wanted him here.

  

[v1atlantis]

[quote name='GhoulieGirl wrote:

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v1atlantis']Lines are the same as they were in Belarus game. Bäckström the goalie is starting tonight.

Go Team Finland!  Bäckström play your heart out. 

Any word on if Nitty will ever play?  I like Nitty, and wanted him here.

  

I guess he will not be playing unless Kipper or Bäckström get injured.  

[GhoulieGirl]

Bummer for Nitty.  He's been playing so well.

[TSA]

Game preview for Finland vs Germany

Teemu Selanne  is one point from breaking the Olympics points record.

[UNCCaniac8]

The first of our players to score an Olympic goal---------was not our Captain, but our RUUUUUUUUU!!

Finland vs. Germany and Ruutu scores the first Finland goal on the powerplay--YES! 

And Joni scores the fifth Finnish goal tonight, with Ruu screening in front of the goal.

 Our guys are looking good ! 

                                                                                                                                 

(And , yes, Teemu Selanne breaks the Olympic point record tonight with 37 points !!)  

[fpsndiver]

The first of our players to score an Olympic goal---------was not our Captain, but our RUUUUUUUUU!!

Finland vs. Germany and Ruutu scores the first Finland goal on the powerplay--YES! 

And Joni scores the fifth Finnish goal tonight, with Ruu screening in front of the goal.

 Our guys are looking good ! 

                                                                                                                                 

(And , yes, Teemu Selanne breaks the Olympic point record tonight with 37 points !!)  

Darnit....fell asleep 5 minutes before the game....stupid sleepy thing.  At least I didn't miss a close game.  Looking forward to Sunday.  Sorry Staalsy, but GO USA!!!

  

[v1atlantis]

Ok. I don´t know where to begin... The result of this game was way too flattering for us. Germany was good at even strength, but

our ridiculously good powerplay gave us the advantage in this one. Our defensive corps... I don´t know how it manages against big ones.

Kukkonen should not be in this team. All hail SELÄNNE.

Now to this:

Ruutu:

First: Got us a powerplay. Now everybody can see that its not a wise move to give Finland powerplay. Ruutu fights his way around german defenseman and scores. After this goal he fell asleep, as did the whole team.

Second:  Tuomo and Jarkko are playing in the same line. Cool. But only for a shift . Bummer. Seems to hit everything. Recieves couple of hits too.

Third:  His intensity went down , but that ´ s how it usually goes when you lead by a wide margin. I think also that it´s a smart move to reserve some of that energy into upcoming games.            1 + 0     +0   2 mins.

Pitkänen:

First:  Better in own end than he was in Belarus game. Good , strong passes that go where they´re meant go. Unfortunately he has to play with Kukkonen who = Gritty veteran.

Second: some good passes on the powerplay , and it is very clear that he was very nervous in his first game. He ´s using that speed and passing

well. Backchecking is not his game , or at least its not a priority to him.

Third: Sometimes seems to lose focus. He´s obviously looking for Jussi with those long opening passes. But for Joni´s suprise Jussi is nowhere

to be found. Howizer!! Powerplay goal for Pitkänen! Finnish artillery has been on target in this game. Now he seems to be everywhere.

Maybe he is getting more confident out there. Hope this is sign of things to come. Yeah! 1 + 0    + 1

A good game from Tuomo and Joni.

Three stars as i see them:

- Kimmo Timonen: Good , reliable Kimmo Scored couple of goals tonight, or morning. He´s the backbone of our defense.

- Niclas Bäckström: Took everything. Very calm and stoic there.

- Tuomo Ruutu : Grinds, battles hard... and scores the game winner. Good game.

HM:  Teemu Selänne - Olympic history was written. he´s now the alltime leader in points in olympics. 20+17 and more will come.

[v1atlantis]

Bummer for Nitty.  He's been playing so well.

Yeah , he has. He´s been my favourite goalie since Turin. He let in eight goals in six games there, and three of those goals came in final against Swedes.

He had three shutouts. And his winning streak against Atlanta is absolutely ridiculous, 16-0. But, if these two keep playing like they have, i doubt that there is any chance that he´ll be getting any starts. Is he a free agent next summer or not??

  

[fkelly]

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Ok. I don´t know where to begin... The result of this game was way too flattering for us. Germany was good at even strength, but

our ridiculously good powerplay gave us the advantage in this one. Our defensive corps... I don´t know how it manages against big ones.

Kukkonen should not be in this team. All hail SELÄNNE.

Now to this:

Ruutu:

First: Got us a powerplay. Now everybody can see that its not a wise move to give Finland powerplay. Ruutu fights his way around german defenseman and scores. After this goal he fell asleep, as did the whole team.

Second:  Tuomo and Jarkko are playing in the same line. Cool. But only for a shift . Bummer. Seems to hit everything. Recieves couple of hits too.

Third:  His intensity went down , but that ´ s how it usually goes when you lead by a wide margin. I think also that it´s a smart move to reserve some of that energy into upcoming games.            1 + 0     +0   2 mins.

Pitkänen:

First:  Better in own end than he was in Belarus game. Good , strong passes that go where they´re meant go. Unfortunately he has to play with Kukkonen who = Gritty veteran.

Second: some good passes on the powerplay , and it is very clear that he was very nervous in his first game. He ´s using that speed and passing

well. Backchecking is not his game , or at least its not a priority to him.

Third: Sometimes seems to lose focus. He´s obviously looking for Jussi with those long opening passes. But for Joni´s suprise Jussi is nowhere

to be found. Howizer!! Powerplay goal for Pitkänen! Finnish artillery has been on target in this game. Now he seems to be everywhere.

Maybe he is getting more confident out there. Hope this is sign of things to come. Yeah! 1 + 0    + 1

A good game from Tuomo and Joni.

Three stars as i see them:

- Kimmo Timonen: Good , reliable Kimmo Scored couple of goals tonight, or morning. He´s the backbone of our defense.

- Niclas Bäckström: Took everything. Very calm and stoic there.

- Tuomo Ruutu : Grinds, battles hard... and scores the game winner. Good game.

HM:  Teemu Selänne - Olympic history was written. he´s now the alltime leader in points in olympics. 20+17 and more will come.

thanks for the recap, I never made it out of the 1st period.  Im getting too old. Sounds like Ruuuu had a decent game and Pits stepped it up too.  Not sure why I always thought Backtrom was Swedish.  Germans arent that good and the competition is gonna get tougher from here.  Good showing so far by our boys.