U17 WHC: Puustinen The Limits

It was a very disappointing finish for Team Finland in Lethbridge, as they were pounded 9-2 by Team USA to end up in 6th place at the Under-17 World Hockey Challenge. We have scouting notes on Juuso Puustinen, Jan-Mikael Juutilainen and some of their teammates that caught our eye during the tournament.

Erik Lamberg (2006), D

Dishes out terrific saucer passes .. heavy wrist shot and dangerously effective slap shot .. very mobile and uses this ability to elude the forecheck .. stays alert in front of the net .. led the rush fairly well, although his mediocre stickhandling tended to slow him down .. looked a bit lost in his own zone .. was caught in no man's land between his goalie and the open man, who was a few feet out of the crease and was able to sneak it home .. beat a few checkers carrying with the puck .. played on the powerplay .. U-17 totals (5-0-1-1-6).

Juha-Petteri Purolinna (2006), D

Wears an A and partnered with Mikko Kukkonen .. needs to work on his backwards skating as he seems to be a bit awkward .. delivered a nice breakout pass .. supports the puck carrier .. displays a fair amount of aggression in removing loiterers in the crease area .. positionnally sound and is pretty effective at keeping his man to the outside on a one-on-one .. nice size, but lacks mobility and his acceleration is only average .. crisply head manned the puck to a teammate to gain the offensive side of the ice .. threw the puck blindly away in his own zone on more than a few occasions .. did well keeping a speedy forward to the outside .. played on both special teams .. U-17 totals (5-0-1-1-0).

Juuso Puustinen (2006), C

Very good overall speed, mobility and is very solid on his skates .. centered a line Ikka Heikkila and Jani Savolainen .. contains his man off the draw .. passed the puck behind his linemate .. defensively aware .. displayed some nice stickhandling in traffic .. has to work on his faceoff technique as he lost more than his fair share .. was caught flatfooted trying to poke check .. showed excellent anticipation jumping into the slot and blasting home a one-timer .. later on in the same game was able to pick the corner with a laser wrist shot .. takes the pass at top speed .. stickhandles at full speed and keeps his head up to be able to read the play .. moves the puck crisply and on target .. keeps his feet moving on contact .. saw time on the penalty-killing unit .. player of the game versus Team Czech Republic .. U-17 totals (5-5-1-6-6).

Jan-Mikael Juutilainen (2006), C

Slick skater with good vision… centered a line of Juho Pohjoismaki and Timo Rinne .. picks up his man, especially in his own zone .. needs to get stronger on the puck .. must also show more commitment to taking the body, as well as paying the price himself .. dished out a solid hipcheck in open ice .. makes crisp passes .. his skating doesn't stand out negatively or positively .. displayed some strength pinning his man along the wall .. has good zip to his wrist shot .. has nimble hands in traffic .. played on both special teams .. got bodied off the puck rather easily .. covered up for a pinching defenseman at the point .. player of the game versus Team Quebec .. U-17 totals (5-2-4-6-0).

Jiri Veistola (2006), RW

Has a rocket slap shot that really surprises some goalies on how quickly it gets in on them .. played on a line with Tomi Stahlhammar and Antti Reivonen .. stays with his man .. displays solid puck pursuit .. very good mobility and acceleration and can close the gap on the puckcarrier .. above the average overall speed .. drew a penalty by working hard along the boards .. scored Finland's opening goal by driving to the net .. couldn't quite beat a defender wide .. got a long shorthanded breakaway and made no mistake popping it home .. pressured the puck carrier behind the net .. player of the game versus Team Pacific .. U-17 totals (5-2-0-2-2).

Antti Reivonen (2006), F

Blazing speed with matching mobility and acceleration .. played on a line with Tomi Stahlhammar and Jiri Veistola .. terrific puck pursuit and gets in extremely quick on the forecheck .. needs to work on protecting the puck better by shielding it with his body .. has some problems with the physical aspect of the game .. tends to react to the play instead of initiating .. jumped on a loose puck near the crease and perfectly placed a backhand shot top corner .. U-17 totals (5-1-1-2-0).

Eetu Heikkinen (2006), D

At times has some trouble making the transition to skating backwards .. doesn't get much behind his slap shot .. must work on moving the puck quicker as his indecision can lead to turnovers .. communicates with his defensive partner .. sometimes loses position on the puck carrier .. at times will over compensate going towards the puck carrier, which leaves the opportunity to get beaten or for another player to slip in behind .. lacks any imagination with the puck .. U-17 totals (5-0-1-1-6).

Henri Molin (2006), D

The captain of Team Finland works hard behind the net .. partnered with Joonas Lehtivuori .. took a solid hit poking loose the puck .. stays on the puck carrier well, although he possesses a very awkward skating style .. made a nice play intercepting the puck along the wall while killing a penalty, but inexplicably turned it right over by backhanded it up the boards and getting it easily stolen .. communicates with his defensive partner .. acceleration is decent, but very ugly .. he was the last man back when he misplayed the pass to him and then compounded it by falling down in to the boards and allowing a clear cut breakaway that resulted in a goal .. U-17 totals (5-0-0-0-2).

Timo Rinne (2006), F

His slap shot can be tough to gage for goalies .. played on a line with Jan-Mikael Juutilainen and Juho Pohjoismaki .. put the shot directly into the goalie's midsection .. moves the puck well and does possess good vision .. not hesitant to go in front, but is far from a physical force when he is there .. very good mobility and acceleration .. worked real hard to pick up the loose man, unfortunately he grabbed on and dragged him down taking a needless PIM .. player of the game versus Team Atlantic .. U-17 totals (5-3-2-5-2).

Juuso Antonen (2006), F

Takes and receives the pass well .. his mobility is fine, but he appears to lack that extra gear that would back off the defenders .. received a near breakaway pass and wasn't able to create enough of a gap and therefore wasn't able to make it to the net .. tipped home a shot upstairs and past the goalie .. let loose a superb slap shot off a one-timer .. was pressured into a turn over in his own zone, although he did recover and tied up the man before any real harm was done .. made a quick transition to the offense once he grabbed a loose puck in his own zone .. U-17 totals (5-2-4-6-0).

Niko Hovinen (2006), G

Obviously larger than what they've got him listed at (6'0) in the program .. stays square to the shooter and is good at maintaining his angles.. didn't get across the net quickly enough to stop the second shot off of the rebound .. his agility is a bit stiff and therefore it isn't a surprise that he is at best when staying upright in the net .. was pulled after allowing 3 goals on ten shots, however, his replacement didn't fair any better as Mika Jarvinen gave up six more goals in the final two periods .. U-17 totals (2-1-1-0).