Project Finland's Lines

I was trying to put together projected lines for Finland, but I came up with nothing. Anyone care to give it a shot? So far I've got this:

Kipprusoff
Lehtonen
Toskala

in all honesty, i don't know enough about all the Finnish players to do this very well, but here goes


Lehtinen Koivu Selanne
Hagman Jokinen T. Ruutu
Nieminen Hahl Eloranta
Pirnes N. Kapanen Hentunen
Peltonen J. Ruutu

Pitkanen Salo
Berg Numminen
Lydman Niinimaa
Timonen Vaananen

Kiprusoff
Toskala
Lehtonen


did i miss anyone?

Doing this makes you realize how much they'll miss Sami Kapanen. :cry:

For the forwards at least:

Selanne – Koivu – Hagman
T. Ruutu – Jokinen – Peltonen
Lehtinen – Laaksonen – N. Kapanen
Nieminen – Hahl – J. Ruutu

I doubt Hagman gets out of the pressbox, as he's deffinetly not one of coach Summanen's favorites. Here goes:

Selänne-Koivu-Lehtinen
(This line has been dominating in int. competition.Koivu and Selanne have always had great chemistry and Lehts fits perfectly with this line.)

T. Ruutu-Jokinen-Peltonen
(This line has great potentional with Jokinen and Ruutu crashing the net and Peltonen setting up scoring chances.)

Nieminen-N. Kapanen-Hentunen
(Kapanen and Hentunen (who was probably Finlands best player at the WC's last season) will create havoc in the offensive zone with Nemo annoying the hell out of opponents and making room in front of the net.Sami Kapanen would probably have been on this line had he chosen to play.

Eloranta-Hahl/Pirnes-J. Ruutu
This line will be there purely to play psycically and keeps the opponents off the scoresheet.

Hagman (Whouldn't even have been selected if Tomi Kallio hadn't broken his ankle playing in a charity football match.)


Timonen-Salo
Numminen-Niinimaa/Väänänen (Numminen there to cover up Janne's boneheaded mistakes)
Pitkänen-Lydman
Berg stays in the pressbox for the entire tournament (please don't let him on the ice!!)

Kipper (can steal some games for Finland)
Lehtonen (the future)
Toskala (along for the ride and ready to play in case of injury.)

All in all I think Finland has a decent chance of beating the Czech's or Sweden and advancing to the playoff-stage. Germany shouldn't be a problem.

I would still try if the "Huey-Dewey-Louie" ("Tupu-Hupu-Lupu") line works as previously did. Selänne's last season was not so good so he earns a spot with OJ and Tuomo. I think OJ would even be better fitting center for Teemu.

Lehtinen - S Koivu - Peltonen
T Ruutu - Jokinen - Selänne
Nieminen - N Kapanen - J Ruutu
Eloranta - Hahl - Hentunen

M Koivu / Hagman

Timonen - Salo
Numminen - Niinimaa
Pitkänen - Lydman
Väänänen - Berg

Pirnes has a sore ankle so Mikko Koivu will replace him.

I would still try if the "Huey-Dewey-Louie" ("Tupu-Hupu-Lupu") line works as previously did. Selänne's last season was not so good so he earns a spot with OJ and Tuomo. I think OJ would even be better fitting center for Teemu.

Lehtinen - S Koivu - Peltonen
T Ruutu - Jokinen - Selänne
Nieminen - N Kapanen - J Ruutu
Eloranta - Hahl - Hentunen

M Koivu / Hagman

Timonen - Salo
Numminen - Niinimaa
Pitkänen - Lydman
Väänänen - Berg

Not enough wheels on the 3rd-line and not enough size on the 4th imo. The small tweak you made compared to my top 2-lines could deffinetly work, although I feel Koivu is the guy to help Selanne rediscover his scoring touch. I think Teemu will suprise some people in the tournament.

Koivu and Peltonen are by far the best playmakers, so I wouldn't put them on the same line.

Lehtinen - S Koivu - Selänne
Peltonen - Jokinen - T Ruutu
Nieminen - Kapanen - Laaksonen
Eloranta - Hahl - J Ruutu
Hentunen, bench
Hagman, press box
M Koivu, press box

Timonen - Salo
Niinimaa - Lydman
Väänänen - Pitkänen
Numminen, alternating mostly with Pitkänen
Berg, press box

Summanen has said that Lehtonen is set for backup over Toskala for now.

Summanen has said that Lehtonen is set for backup over Toskala for now.

Finally! Some good news!!

Just to cover my back, let me specify that he didn't say it word to word, he talked about Kari's role as #2 behind Kiprusoff in World Cup -tähdet, not mentioning Toskala in that light.

Koivu and Peltonen are by far the best playmakers, so I wouldn't put them on the same line.

Lehtinen - S Koivu - Selänne
Peltonen - Jokinen - T Ruutu
Nieminen - Kapanen - Laaksonen
Eloranta - Hahl - J Ruutu
Hentunen, bench
Hagman, press box
M Koivu, press box

Timonen - Salo
Niinimaa - Lydman
Väänänen - Pitkänen
Numminen, alternating mostly with Pitkänen
Berg, press box

Summanen has said that Lehtonen is set for backup over Toskala for now.

Actually, they can only dress 18 skaters (NHL rules apply for this tournament), so you will have two demote two more to the pressbox.

Lehtinen - S. Koivu - Selänne
Peltonen - Jokinen - T. Ruutu
Nieminen - N. Kapanen - Hentunen
Laaksonen - Hahl - J. Ruutu

Timonen - Lydman/Niinimaa (depending on how Janne plays)
Pitkänen - Salo
Numminen - Väänänen

Hmm, let's try another twist on the 1a and 1b theme..

Ruutu-S.Koivu-Selänne
Peltonen-Jokinen-Lehtinen (Lehtinen covers up for Peltonen not being NHL qulity?)
Nieminen-Kapanen-Hentunen
Laaksonen-Hahl-Ruutu

Hagman, M Koivu, Eloranta sitting

Timonen-Väänänen
Numminen-Pitkänen
Salo-Lydman

Berg,Niinimaa in box (Niinimaa most likely to sit as he was only replacment for Karalahti?)

Kiprusoff
Lehtonen

Toskala in stands.

I think Summanen will investigate a 1-2 like this in training, it'd add a whole new depth of agression into line 1. And then Lehtinen-Peltonen work, and Peltonen-Jokinen works, so trying all 3 on one line.. Lehtinen to dig the puck out, Peltonen to set up, and OJ to score? Sounds like it could work to me.

Väänänen in first pairing because Summanen might consider adding a bit more physical side to the top pairings.. unlikely to be like that, but this is my idea.. Salo-Lydman have iirc been a pair before. Numminen's defensive smarts to give Pitkänen a very free role, almost like Libero in soccer.
Plus, if his pairing is on ice same time as Peltonen-Jokinen-Lehtinen, then Pitkänen would add offense to that while Lehtinen would cover up defensively..

Any thoughts?