Team Finland for 2011 Worlds

The squad was released today and this is what the team will look like unless they get someone from NHL (Rinne...or some other goalie).

Goalies:
Hovinen Niko, Pelicans (Finland)
Lassila Teemu, HPK (Finland)
Vehanen Petri, Ak Bars Kazan (KHL)

• Vehanen is good goalie, KHL champion from last season but his play at the last Euro Hockey tour (tournament including Finland, Russia, Sweden and Czech) didn't really impress, so his current condition is bit worrying.
• Finland has generally always had good goaltending at Worlds but this year - with no help from NHL - might be a problem. Bäkcström, Lehtonen and Kiprusoff all were available but for various reason didn't want to play.
• The media has pretty been praying that Nashville will lose in 1st round so Rinne could save the situation.

Defense:
Jaakola Topi, Luleå (Sweden)
Kukkonen Lasse, Magnitogorsk (KHL)
Lepistö Sami, Columbus Blue Jackets
Niskala Janne, Magnitogorsk (KHL)
Puistola Pasi, HV-71 (Sweden)
Salmela Anssi, New Jersey Devils
Välivaara Jyrki, JYP (Finland)
Väänänen Ossi, Jokerit (Finland)

• With defense we were bit more luckier as Lepistö and Salmela were able to come.
• Niskala was having a great season in KHL but his end of the season was not as strong as the beginning, so it will remain to see if he can turn it back.
• Overall Finland's defense is nowhere near what it used to be with Nummelin and Numminen but without further help from NHL (Timonen, Salo, Lydman) that's just something we have to live with. Personaly I would've liked to see Karalahti in the team but that's not my call)

Forwards:
Aaltonen Juhamatti, Magnitogorsk (KHL)
Granlund Mikael, HIFK (Finland, BEST TEAM EVER!)
Immonen Jarkko, Ak Bars Kazan (KHL)
Kapanen Niko, Ak Bars Kazan (KHL)
Koivu Mikko, Minnesota Wild
Komarov Leo, OHK Dynamo (KHL)
Lahti Janne, Jokerit (Finland)
Lajunen Jani, Blues (Finland)
Nokelainen Petteri, Jokerit (Finland)
Peltonen Ville, HIFK (Finland, BEST TEAM EVER!)
Pesonen Janne, Ak Bars Kazan (KHL)
Pihlström Antti, JYP (Finland)
Pyörälä Mika, Frölunda (Sweden)
Ruutu Tuomo, Carolina Hurricanes

• Komarov will likely be great asset to the team. He works hard, does the dirty work in front of the net and will guarantee that even if they don't win, they will piss off the opponent.
• Peltonen and Granlund are both from the Finnish champion and played excellent playoffs: Peltonen even scored hat trick in the last game and Granlund played extremely mature during the playoffs, which is rather impressive achievement for such a young player having to deal with the pressure of 1st line.
• Kapanen is also great add to the team - I suspect the man has computer in his head instead of normal brain. His passes will be great help, if only there's someone to take an advantage of those sweet passes and scoring from them...
• Koivu & Ruutu pairing has generally meant good things for Finland, hopefully it will continue. Koivu is likely the captain and brings calmness to the team along with his goal scoring abilities. Ruutu isn't exactly helpless with scoring either and will hopefully help the team with his hard (and clean) hits.
• Aaltonen could be the wild-card

I'd say this team is not entirely hopeless but unless Vehanen doesn't improve, the goaltending alone will guarantee Finland's tournament doesn't last too long. The defense needs to be rock-solid if they dream of getting into quarterfinals and they ought to give some help to the offense too. My guess is the goal scoring will be in the hands of NHL and KHL players, with possible addition of Granlund and Peltonen, so they have to manage to score.