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Posts Tagged Finland

Finnish Hockey Brawl Reaches New Heights

Nov 28

Posted by Eddie in Media | No Comments

When something-hockey related is on the Yahoo homepage, it must be worth clicking.

 

When something related to hockey makes the front page of Yahoo!, it must be worth clicking to investigate what is being written. As I went to see the video being shown via our friends at Puck Daddy, I had no idea I would see one of the wildest brawls I had ever seen.

In the Finnish SM Liiga match between HIFK and Pelicans, penalty minute records that you’d never want to see were set. The game combined for a SM Liiga-record 465 penalty minutes for the game, with 439 coming in the final 30 seconds. Where they got 439 from I don’t know considering it should have been a divisible number as majors are usually five minutes, minors two and misconducts 10.

The first 1:10+ of the video features a run of the mill fight between Siim Liivik of HIFK and Arttu Luttinen of the Pelicans. After that is done, watch what happens at the face-off at the right end zone. Pretty much all hell broke loose with a line bawl. I don’t think the puck hit the ice before sticks, gloves, and helmets were flying in the air. I’m sure the referee keeping track of who was participating in the fight must needed multiple pages of his riot note pad. In all, seven players from each team as well as both bench bosses were ejected from the game. In the 14-team league, Pelicans sit third while HIFK are in eighth place.

To see the box score, check it out here. Hope you have Google Translate as it is in Finnish.

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Finnish scoring leader Lahti may be free agent target

Jun 14

Posted by Chris in Rumors | No Comments

With a lack of quality scorers in this year’s free agent pool, some NHL teams may choose to look outside the box for sleeper players ready to contribute to their team. That’s what Finnish scoring leader Janne Lahti is hoping anyway.

Lahti is gaining attention as a possible sleeper in this year’s free agency pool after having played in the Finnish hockey league the past three seasons. Last year, Lahti racked up 37 goals and 59 points in 59 games with Jokerit Helsinky.

This wouldn’t be Lahti’s first go-around with North American hockey, however. Lahti spent a season with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League in 2007-08, but struggled at times and only managed a meager nine goals and nine assists in 65 games.

Rumors are swirling that Lahti is weighing offers from several NHL clubs right now with the New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings being the frontrunners for his services, but a decision will need to be made soon as June 15 is the deadline to sign European players for NHL teams. New Jersey probably holds an advantage over Detroit as Lahti could immediately step in and claim a roster spot with the Devils where the Red Wings would possibly choose to put Lahti back in the AHL to see what he is capable of  and allow him to acclimate to the North American style if he doesn’t earn a roster spot out of training camp – something that is highly unlikely as Detroit has an abundance of players right now both waiting to crack their lineup and hoping to return instead of being forced into retirement.

Several other teams are looking for quality scoring and could get in on the hunt today or tomorrow before Lahti makes a decision. The Kings, Rangers and Maple Leafs have all expressed interest in beefing up their offense this offseason.

Landing a highly coveted European free agent comes with its risks. Several years ago, Fabian Brunnstrom was a relative nobody garnering a lot of attention from NHL clubs. After being courted by several teams, Brunnstrom decided to sign with the Dallas Stars where he was offered an immediate roster spot. Brunnstrom struggled and has spent most of his career in the minors since signing in 2008-09.

Ville Leino was another highly coveted European free agent when he signed with the Detroit Red Wings in 2008 after posting 77 points in the Finnish league. Leino came in with high promise but never fully panned out with the Wings but found himself a home with the Philadelphia Flyers where he was a key component in their Stanley Cup playoffs run last season. Leino followed up that performance with 19 goals and 53 points this past season and could still have more potential in the future.

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World Championships to Award Medals Sunday

May 14

Posted by Eddie in News | No Comments

Tomorrow afternoon, two Nordic nations will play for the right to be called World Champions. Sweden and Finland will play each other in the championship game for the third time since 1992. They are currently ranked third (Sweden) and fourth (Finland) in the most recent IIHF World Rankings.

The Finns have not won the annual international tournament since 1995, when they defeated the same nation on Swedish soil in Stockholm. They will have the weight of an entire country on their shoulders, as most of the players were anywhere between toddler and teenage years when Saku Koivu led his country to the championship as a young Montreal Canadiens prospect.

Playing the underdog role in the broad landscape of European hockey due to the dominance of Sweden and Russia, Finland has played for gold four times since 1995; falling to Sweden (1998), Czech Republic twice (1999 and 2001) and Canada (2007).

The Finns are led by Jarkko Immonen, who is the leading scorer in the tournament. His 11 points in eight games have come via eight goals and three assists. Yesterday we profiled Mikael Granlund, and the young forward is the teams second-leading scorer and could play a role in setting up other players as he is second in the tournament with six assists.

Since losing to the Finns in 1995, Sweden has earned a medal 10 times. In that span, it has consisted of two golds (1998 and 2006), three silvers (all losses to Canada) and five bronze. If the Swedes wish to add another gold to their collection, they have to find a way to figure out how to get pucks past goalie Petri Vehanen, who has allowed seven goals in 328 minutes. For those keeping score at home, he has a 1.28 GAA and a .950 save percentage. Just like Finland, the Swedes have firepower both in goal and at the forward position.

Patrik Berglund is second in points with 10. Berglund is tied with Immonen with eight goals, but Berglundhas a +6 rating compared to Immonens +1 rating. Sweden goalie Viktor Fasth leads the tournament in save percentage (.968), goals against-average (1.00), and shutouts (3). His three clean sheets are 1/3of the entire shutouts recorded in the entire tournament. Of goalies that have played 40 or more percentage of their teams games, Fasth is tied with Jonathan Bernier of Canada with least goals allowed with six. The difference is that Bernier played 42 percent of his teams minutes compared to 74 percent of Fasth.

The bronze medal game will take place prior to the gold medal game between Czech Republic and Russia. Both games will take place in Bratislavia, Slovakia. The co-host city (along with Kosice) is located in the west end of the nation, and borders Austria and Hungary. The bronze medal game will take place at 10:00 a.m. EDT, while the goal medal game will start at 2:30 p.m. EDT.

Another fact dealing with tomorrow’s games: In the two times Sweden has defeated Finland in the championship game, Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic has won the bronze medal. When Finland won in 1995, Czech Republic lost the bronze medal game to Canada.

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Mikael Granlund Lacrosse-Style Goal at World Championships

May 13

Posted by Eddie in Media | No Comments

For those who haven’t been following, the IIHF World Championships have been played the last couple weeks in Slovakia. Games featuring the US and Canada have been seen on Versus along with solid studio commentary by Zach Parise of the New Jersey Devils (the guy might have a future in broadcasting someday). The United States got punked by Jaromir Jagr and the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals while the red Maple Leafs fell to the Russians in their quarterfinal matchup. On the other hand, this is a must-see goal by Mikael Grandlund of Finland in todays semifinals against Russia.

For those who are unfamiliar with Granlund, he is 19 years old and was a first round (ninth overall) pick of the Minnesota Wild. His regular season team is Helsingin IFK in Helsinki, Finland. They are known to produce many NHL players including Tim Thomas, Brian Rafalski, Olli Jokinen, Christian and Jarkko Ruutu. Last season, he scored 13 goals and had 27 assists in 43 games during the regular season. He was injured with a concussion for two months this season, missing the 2011 World Juniors and a chunk of the regular season. His stat line this season was eight goals and 28 assists in 39 games. They play 60 regular season games in the SM-Liiga. He is in his first international tournament with the Senior National Team in Finland, and he is tied for sixth in points with eight in the World Championships.

This goal doesn’t need much explaining, other than he scoops the puck and scores from behind the net. It was the first goal of the game early in the second period as the Fins went on to defeat the Russians 3-0. They will take on Sweden in Sundays Gold Medal game, as Sweden defeated the Czech Republic this afternoon.

This link of the video is not in English, but has many slow motion replays.

And if you want to hear the commentary in English, NHL.com posted the video below to their website.

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NHL will open 2010-2011 Season Overseas

Sep 7

Posted by EB in News | 5 Comments

The Phoenix Coyotes and Boston Bruins will travel oversees for the beginning of the 2010-2011 season playing at O2 Arena Prague, Czech Republic. Phoenix and Boston will play their two first games against each other on Saturday, October 9th and Sunday, October 10th.

The Carolina Hurricanes and the Minnesota Wild will face off at Hartwell Areena in Helsinki, Finland on Thursday, October 7th and Friday, October 8th.

The Columbus Blue Jackets and the San Jose Sharks compete in a conference square off in Stockholm, Sweden. The two teams will play both Friday, October 8th and Saturday, October 9th at Ericsson Globe Arena.

The oversees games are a continuing business move to increase fans across the globe. Last season, the Chicago Blackhawks and the Florida Panthers opened in Helsinki. Sales on Friday and Saturday broke the Hartwall Areena record for highest merchandise sales ever for a hockey game at that venue. Merchandise sales also saw and increase of 52% from the 2008 numbers.

Be it that you are for or oppose the NHL’s move to attract more fans, it seems it is here to say and for the right reason. The move increases global audience as some competitors such as the NFL already have.

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