Ivan Hlinka U-18 Tournament: Team Finland

The Finns were a team that was blessed with a myriad of skill but lacked size and a physical edge to compete. The Finns played average hockey in their opening round wins against Czech and USA. They needed a shootout to defeat the Czech's and barely got past the Americans. A loss to the Russians took them out of gold medal contention despite having a two goal lead going into the third. In the end the Finns more than likely finished in the best possible position, 4th place as they were of little challenge to the bronze medal winning Swedes.

McKeen's Chief Correspondent David Burstyn was on hand at the Ivan Hlinka tournament and files these notes on various Finnish players.

Joni Ortio (2009), G, TPS Turku

Highly heralded goalie failed to put a stamp on this tournament and capture the starting duties .. split the duties with Suomalinen and played average allowing eight goals in two games however he did get the medal game start against the Swedes .. adopts the butterfly style of play .. he is a big body and can intimidate shooters when he goes down but also needs to be aware of his lack of coverage up top .. he moves well laterally but does not always keep his position on account of him not marking his short post .. this makes him susceptible to shots on his short side .. needs to remain square when challenging .. surrenders the puck too easily when making routine plays along the boards, stick handling must improve drastically .. he is not vulnerable to low shots on account of his active pads .. he boasts a better than average glove hand too .. his rebound control is also not an area of concerns he readily kicks out his pads to deflect pucks to the side and can also converge on loose pucks in front .. showed against the Swedes that bad goals weigh on him .. technically sound but still needs to be quicker in all areas of his game and become mentally stronger.

Mikael Aaltonen (2009), D, TPS Turku

Aaltonen played well in the Under 17 but was asked to assume more of a defensive role and curb his offensive forays this tournament, as a result he was a shadow of himself, failing to record a single point .. a grossly under sized and under developed defender who does a fair job of keeping forwards to the outside and out of the crease area .. blessed with a modest skill set, and knows what is going on around him .. he sees the play better than his peers whether it be defensively as the puck is moving towards him or offensively when the puck is away from him, he adjusts accordingly .. he makes a play and then retreats back into position .. he makes healthy plays along the glass and boards .. would rather pass the puck than carry it out of his zone .. he does not eliminate his man with checks more so a conveniently placed stick check or angling the opposition until they run out of options .. he plays his checks very tightly but can still suffer from the occasional brain cramp .. his play lacks urgency and this has come into question .. could be chalked up to a lack of confidence in the strength department.. his skating would also benefit from increased conditioning .. he does not have a separation gear and is unable to break away from the opposition .. needs to physically mature and adding a few inches would not hurt either.

Tommi Kivisto (2009), D, Red Deer

The only Finnish defenseman over 6' feet Kivisto played in all game situations .. first round talent did not always play like one as his game is littered with mistakes and mental breakdowns .. at times he just flat out gave up and refused to take a hit to retrieve the puck .. other moments he could marvel you with his brilliance to control a PP .. is a good skater who is not blessed with a lot of speed or agility .. strong on his skates and moves well forward and backward .. he has a plethora of offensive capabilities .. whether that be springing a man in the clear with a first pass or exploding out of the zone himself with the puck he is more than capable to do both .. he has a good low shot which is accurate and is not afraid to cheat into the zone to take a few extra steps to unload it .. led the Finns on the back end in scoring with 4-3-1-4 totals .. tends to be too care free when handling the puck and he was exposed on numerous occasions .. he also needs to hit at all times and not let off on his checks, rather drive thru guys and knock them out of the play .. in what was an average tournament for him the most alarming about Kvisto was his lack of consistency .. it appeared that when games were out of reach he simply stopped trying, a trait that will not sit well with Coach Wallin in Red Deer.

Nico Manelius (2009), D, Jokerit Helsinki

The Finns most trusted defensive defenseman efforts were rather trivial .. he is an average skater with no real speed so the likelihood of him jumping into the play as a fourth attacker or skating out with the puck from his zone are not even options .. his speed is maintained both going forward and backwards however he needs to work on his pivoting as they are a tad slow and he was exposed often .. he gets his work done by playing good positional hockey .. he is a thick player with a big rump and can contain guys at the line however he can not defend well against speed .. he can handle the puck acceptably but it really is not his game .. he was smart enough to locate his outlets and did not panic tremendously with the puck on his blade .. he was able to contribute on the score sheet (4-1-1-2) good for second in team defenseman scoring .. reliable in his own zone, he minimizes his mistakes but his lack of foot speed hurt him and will be a factor moving forward .. he may be carrying too much weight at 5'11, 190 and getting into better shape would help .. at this point he is very ordinary.

Sami Vatanen (2009), D, JYP

Someone forgot to tell Vatanen that he was the smallest player in the tournament 5'7, 145 because he sure did not play like it .. throwing his body around fearlessly and challenging all comers physically .. he lacked timing in his checks but the sheer fact that he attempted them earned him high praise .. at this point he does not have the strength to dislodge them off the puck .. the captain led by example in his defensive and offensive decisions .. he did not enter the offensive zone too deep and was mindful of his defensive positioning in relation to the play .. plays his angles well in order to compensate for his lack of size however he gets turned around and inside out on occasion .. sees the ice very well and plays unfold in front of him .. he is just as prone to make a rink length pass or a short one to advance the puck which makes him very unpredictable with the puck .. he is good at controlling the puck and getting the puck to the open man on the PP .. he will also pinch in to give his forwards more time in the zone and keep the forwards playing him at the line high and concentrating on him rather than their defensive assignments .. has a good shot when he elects to use it .. he can not blast shots at the point, but is crafty, often manipulating his way into the zone and shooting at the top of the circle .. thrives when trailing as he has a competitive desire that burns within him .. he added a physical element to his offensive game and does not get drawn out of position unless he looks for the big hit .. his size is still a glaring concern as he does not even tip the scales at 150 pounds.

Joni Karjalainen (2009), LW, HIFK

Karjalainen is yet another Finn whose size and finesse skills are questionable in an NHL environment .. to his credit he does his best (despite obvious size deficiencies) to compete and make plays in close .. his stick skills showcase creativity and even though he makes risky plays more than often they benefit the team .. he can slither into the offensive zone and is more of a sneaky skater than one who blazes ahead .. he is not afraid to dig out pucks along the boards and like most Finns plays bigger than the back of his hockey card suggests .. his feistiness is recognized but does not always lend itself to success .. at times he was invisible especially against the Russians and barely touched the puck .. this type of performance has many NHL scouts scared as the physical hardships will only increase.

Janne Kumpulainen (2009), LW, JYP

Kumpulainen is a good skater, equipped with good bursts of speed however he does not have a powerful stride and those bursts of speed can not be sustained .. he has good anticipation of the openings of the ice, which helps him along the boards and on the PP .. he is able to thread the needle with his passes but does not do so with consistency and that is an area of his game he will need to work on .. also needs to continue to improve his stick handling and his puck protection skills .. he fearlessly goes to the net to bang in rebounds or look for deflections as his stick is always on the ice .. he will take the rough stuff in front of the net and is not intimidated .. he lacks the power to blow a shot by a goalie but shows good polish in front to be successful .. he is able to pull the puck out of traffic and power a shot thru or feather a pass .. posted impressive 4-1-3-4 point totals good for third in team scoring .. does not have the skill set to carry a line but he can compliment others and make them better.

Erik Haula (2009), LW, Shattuck St.Mary's

A fierce competitor who plays a mature North American style of game .. able to take over games with his raw, take no prisoners approach however he went stretches where he was invisible and only showed up for periods of time .. a good skater who does not have a great deal of speed or agility although he is blessed with a low centre of gravity and is hard to knock off the puck .. he appears to only be able to do things at one speed and would benefit from slowing down the pace in which he approaches the offensive zone .. not blessed with an abundance of moves his game is more of a meat and potatoes, driving fearlessly to the net and trying to bang in pucks and shot from any angle .. he has confidence in his shot and has improved on its release .. Haula fore checks aggressively however he can be over zealous and makes it hard for his team mates to understand where to go .. a solid package of grit and offensive skill but needs to be more mature and patient in his advances .. playing at the esteemed Shattuck's program will benefit him as a player and be in the North American lime light.

Iiro Pakarinen (2009), LW, Kalpa

Fourth liner gave the Finns an honest effort in checking assignments .. limited to no hand skills he was noticeable due to his ability to stay with plays even though he was not always directly involved them .. neither fast nor elegant he is a rigid, up right skater who has difficulty with balance .. what makes him effective is when he pumps his feet in traffic, at 6'1, 195 he was one of the biggest players on the Finnish rosters and even though he could not bury his chances he was difficult to contain and a threat .. competes and shows a propensity to stay with plays .. he sacrifices himself and plays his role with considerable success .. more than likely not a name heard by NHL teams at this point he will make a good role player for a Finnish pro team.

Toni Rajala (2009), RW, IIves

Is scheduled to play for IIves Tampere of the SM-Liiga senior league this season, where the average age of his team is 23 years of age .. dominated in the junior leagues (J18, J20) where he scored over a point a game .. did not have his best tournament as he was fourth in team scoring with paltry 4-1-2-3 totals .. he is a good open ice skater and has some shifty moves .. he is mobile and can go inside/out with the puck to set up his shots .. Rajala never hesitates to shoot and is very accurate with his snap shot which he prefers to use over his slap shot .. it takes less time to get it off and it compliments what speed he has .. he is not a distance threat because his snap shot looses power and effectiveness from long range .. he can be an attentive checker but tries to take many short cuts in lieu of offensive chances .. he tries to dedicate himself to playing a solid two-way game and when called upon in PK situations he does an admirable job due to his smarts .. the problem with Rajala is that he can disappear for long periods of time however while you will not notice him for 58 minutes in that other two minutes he has scored a goal and an assist .. he is a natural goal scorer and shots just seem to go in for him .. this will be a big development year for Rajala and proving that he can hang and produce with the big boys will go a long way to erase perceptions of Rajala's overall play and concerns about his diminutive size.

Joonas Nattinen (2009), C, Blues Espoo

First line centre will also join the likes of Rajala, as he will suit up in the SM-Liiga senior league .. better put together with disposable size at 6'2, 180, Nattinen tore apart the Jr.B ranks .. he is still rather raw with his size and does not always use it to win battles .. he appears almost allergic to confrontation down low and appears to slow down when play has shifted to the corners so one of his team mates can go in and get the puck .. he has a tendency to stop moving his feet when he has the puck too .. he has a long graceful stride and has improved on the fluidity of his stride however average in terms of explosiveness and mobility ..is more of an up and down player whose game is not overly shifty .. shields the puck well and can make nice passes in close and in tight spaces along the boards .. he diligently comes back like a good centre should in his defensive zone .. Nattinen appeared to play his best hockey when he was mad .. he needs to play with that type of intensity all the time as that competitiveness is what could separate him from other prospects .. this year should be a big eye opener for him as he should understand what playing a complete game means and will need to put fourth a 100% effort all the time just to see the ice.

Mikael Granlund (2010), C, Karpat Oulu

Is slowly establishing himself as one of the top ten picks in next season's draft as he continues to flourish with the Finnish International program .. led the team in scoring (4-3-3-6) and single handily won the game against the Czechs with two glorious shootout goals .. his hand skills are unreal, able to paralyze a goalie with his vast array of stick handling moves in tight spaces .. his stick is extremely quick and he can make passes and then dart into the open ice as he instinctively knows where to go .. the offensive prowess that he has simply can not be taught .. coupled with his speed and shiftiness he literally pushes defenseman back as he can handle the puck at a high pace .. intelligent and always involved Granlund is considered more of a goal scorer than a play maker as he wants the puck all the time and has a healthy variety of shots in his arsenal .. he has good shooting mechanics and only needs to upgrade his wrist and arm strength .. he is capable of making passes in full flight on either his fore/back hand side and it is not uncommon for him to deliver a perfectly timed back hand saucer pass with a player draped all over him .. Granlund has developed leaps and bounds in the physical play .. he shied away from it in the past however in this tournament he showed more layers in terms of his competitiveness and willingness to execute a check .. the biggest area of concern would be adding additional weight and strength, the maturity and poise he has shown for years now playing ahead of his age group leaves little doubt that he is brilliant enough to play.