Jonathan Lekkerimäki | RW

[MikeyD]

What a frustrating game to watch to pay attention to Lek.

 

Put him with brutally low IQ linemates, didn't give him any shifts and then switched his lines and still didn't give him any shifts. Not to mention the plethora of dumb penalties by his linemates preventing him even more from getting out on the ice. 

Edited August 11, 2022 by MikeyD

[Boudrias]

51 minutes ago, MikeyD said:

What a frustrating game to watch to pay attention to Lek.

 

Put him with brutally low IQ linemates, didn't give him any shifts and then switched his lines and still didn't give him any shifts. Not to mention the plethora of dumb penalties by his linemates preventing him even more from getting out on the ice. 

He doesn't PK  so lost a lot of TOI. Made some nice passes. Young guy so he drops down. He can build off this. 

[R3aL]

21 hours ago, HighOnHockey said:

This is interesting. Hard to call that the 2nd line to be honest. Not the most stacked forward group so they're trying to spread things out, but whatever line your best forward and number one center is on (Niederbach) should be considered your top line, no?

Ya actually I don’t know when Petey was in world juniors is final year he got slotted on the second line for some reason too didn’t he?

 

think they had lias and Alex Nylander on top line and Petey on 2nd?

[HighOnHockey]

2 minutes ago, R3aL said:

Ya actually I don’t know when Petey was in world juniors is final year he got slotted on the second line for some reason too didn’t he?

 

think they had lias and Alex Nylander on top line and Petey on 2nd?

I was thinking about this after your last comment and it's kind of an interesting ploy to create confusion on line matchups. You have the Rosen line as the supposed number one line, and then some pretty good 3 line depth with JL on the 2nd line and Torgersson on the third, but then when you switch out JL for Torgersson suddenly that becomes a very clear top line (no slight to JL but it's a two year age difference and Torgersson is a 2nd round pick in his own right). And you can still role with JL there for offensive zone faceoffs and easier matchups to provide that serious quick-strike threat.

[R3aL]

41 minutes ago, HighOnHockey said:

I was thinking about this after your last comment and it's kind of an interesting ploy to create confusion on line matchups. You have the Rosen line as the supposed number one line, and then some pretty good 3 line depth with JL on the 2nd line and Torgersson on the third, but then when you switch out JL for Torgersson suddenly that becomes a very clear top line (no slight to JL but it's a two year age difference and Torgersson is a 2nd round pick in his own right). And you can still role with JL there for offensive zone faceoffs and easier matchups to provide that serious quick-strike threat.

Ya this is how I see it. Hoping it works out that way!! 

[Fred65]

1 hour ago, R3aL said:

Ya this is how I see it. Hoping it works out that way!! 

A few years back I used to get a kick out of starting line ups when team would often start with a total mix of forwards maybe 2 Left Wingers and a 4th line centre. Just to screw up the opposing coach, see how he reacted. Remember Roger Neilson starting Harold Snepts as centre on the starting line up. I'm not sure who watches line matching but i enjoy it. 

[R3aL]

5 hours ago, Fred65 said:

A few years back I used to get a kick out of starting line ups when team would often start with a total mix of forwards maybe 2 Left Wingers and a 4th line centre. Just to screw up the opposing coach, see how he reacted. Remember Roger Neilson starting Harold Snepts as centre on the starting line up. I'm not sure who watches line matching but i enjoy it. 

Ya funny how some coaches will do things like that and others set their lines and won’t change them at all

[Locke Lamora]

Ok, Truscott and Jurmo have displayed some nice upward trajectories in their respective performances.

 

Your turn Jonny. 

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[smithers joe]

i've been impressed with lysell, not so much with letterimakki.  edvinsson has been dominate.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[LTC123]

Has he even been on the ice in the 3rd?  

[Pure961089]

I know he’s an early birthday but boy does he look lost in the sauce without Ostlund as his centre.  Even on the PP he was bobbling the puck a lot.  Hope he plays better in the Winter.  

[winthecup]

1 hour ago, smithers joe said:

i've been impressed with lysell, not so much with letterimakki.  edvinsson has been dominate.

he is going to be compared with Kemell who has been lighting it up on Finland's first line. 

[Pure961089]

24 minutes ago, winthecup said:

he is going to be compared with Kemell who has been lighting it up on Finland's first line. 

Finland isn’t nearly as deep as Sweden.  Lekkerimaki is only getting 3rd line mins.  Also it looks very evident he misses Ostlund as his centre.  Whoever was the genius to bring over 2 thirds of a dominant line needs to have their head examined.  And because it’s August it’s a wash anyways because most of the team is made up of 20 year olds.  Finland is no different. Joni Jurmo a 20 year old isn’t playing if this tourney is held last winter.   Finland is thin up front so they’re bringing in all the talent they can get.   Could be way off but that’s my hot take. 

Edited August 12, 2022 by Pure961089

[Herberts Vasiljevs]

I wouldn't put too much stock into a quiet WJC tournament. I've watched enough WJC tournaments (including the Hodgson and Schroeder ones) to... yeah, I already said it.

 

If he was able to play 26 games against men in the SHL and still score goals, that means a whole lot more to me. 

Edited August 12, 2022 by Herberts Vasiljevs

[HighOnHockey]

1 hour ago, Pure961089 said:

Finland isn’t nearly as deep as Sweden.  Lekkerimaki is only getting 3rd line mins.  Also it looks very evident he misses Ostlund as his centre.  Whoever was the genius to bring over 2 thirds of a dominant line needs to have their head examined.  And because it’s August it’s a wash anyways because most of the team is made up of 20 year olds.  Finland is no different. Joni Jurmo a 20 year old isn’t playing if this tourney is held last winter.   Finland is thin up front so they’re bringing in all the talent they can get.   Could be way off but that’s my hot take. 

 

Other way around. Finland is far deeper at forward than Sweden is this tournament. 20 year olds Hirvonen, Simontaival, Jarventie, Raty. 19 year olds Koivunen, Lambert. Absolutely stacked forward group. Arguably the best in the tournament. Sweden lost their entire top line of Raymond-Eklund-Holtz, all wanting to focus on preparing for the NHL season, and leaving Sweden pretty thin up front.

 

That said, I prefer Lekkerimaki to Kemell by quite a bit. I don't think there is any denying Kemell is the better player right now, but Lekkerimaki is the much better NHL prospect in my opinion.

[Pure961089]

3 hours ago, HighOnHockey said:

 

Other way around. Finland is far deeper at forward than Sweden is this tournament. 20 year olds Hirvonen, Simontaival, Jarventie, Raty. 19 year olds Koivunen, Lambert. Absolutely stacked forward group. Arguably the best in the tournament. Sweden lost their entire top line of Raymond-Eklund-Holtz, all wanting to focus on preparing for the NHL season, and leaving Sweden pretty thin up front.

 

That said, I prefer Lekkerimaki to Kemell by quite a bit. I don't think there is any denying Kemell is the better player right now, but Lekkerimaki is the much better NHL prospect in my opinion.

Then why didn’t they bring in Ostlund and unite the big line?  What do they have to lose?  Whoever was in charge of assembling this team dropped the ball big time.  There’s value in chemistry, it’s not all about finding as many 20 year olds as you can get.  It’s about winning gold.  Small brains in charge. 

[HighOnHockey]

2 hours ago, Pure961089 said:

Then why didn’t they bring in Ostlund and unite the big line?  What do they have to lose?  Whoever was in charge of assembling this team dropped the ball big time.  There’s value in chemistry, it’s not all about finding as many 20 year olds as you can get.  It’s about winning gold.  Small brains in charge. 

 

I have no idea what connection you're making or what Ostlund has to do with anything I said. It's not "about" finding as many 20 year olds as you can, whatever that means, but it just happens that players with two further years of development at higher levels tend to be better players...

 

A line of Ohgren - Ostlun - Lekkerimaki would have chemistry sure, and they were dominant at the last U18 tournament, but it would not be a very strong line at this level. Perhaps you will recall the 2013 tournament when Canada brought 17 year olds Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin and neither was overly effective. Or to take a more recent example, Holtz and Raymond in their 17 year old seasons, they were the 3rd line, playing 10-14 minutes a game, and they were clearly better player and prospects than any of this Djurgardens line.

 

Even just keep it simple and look at the top Swedish-born p/g forward in the Swedish junior league this past season, Ostlund ranked 13th (min 10 GP). https://www.eliteprospects.com/league/j20-nationell/stats/2021-2022?position=f&sort=ppg And that's excluding Ljungman, Torgersson, Niederbach and the handful of other players who played the majority of the season in other leagues. No matter which way you cut it, there was no place for Ostlund on this team this year. Hell of a prospect and I'm sure he'll be dominant at this tournament in future years, but it is and always has been a 19 year old's tournament (well, 20 year old's this year). Even a far more physically mature Liam Ohgren was a late addition only after Eklund dropped out.

 

I still have no idea why we're talking about this.

Edited August 13, 2022 by HighOnHockey