After Rasmus Ristolainen, leader of the Finnish defense corps, slid the puck underneath the right pad of Oscar Dansk on a great individual effort, it was all over. The thrilling Gold medal game: over. The cheering chants and screams of the hometown Swedish fans: over. The 2014 World Junior Tournament: over, and the nation of Finland reigned supreme.
Now that the competition is complete, it's time for the Hart of Hockey's annual "what we learned" from the World Junior championship. Plenty during the past two weeks was exciting, but some things stuck out more than others. If you noticed it, too, you'll read it here. If you missed it, you'll get the chance to hear about it here. 10 teams and 31 games leave us with five major takeaways from this year's World Junior Championship.
NASHVILLE HAS FINLAND FIGURED OUT
The Nashville Predators have had a knack for finding gems late in the NHL Entry Draft. The most notable nugget they dug up is probably Pekka Rinne. The Preds snagged Rinne in the eighth round (which doesn't even exist anymore,) and now the Finnish netminder is one of the best goalies in the world.
Nashville's scouts have flown across the pond into Finland and apparently stumbled upon more treasures in Juuse Saros and Saku Mäenalanen. Though not named the best goalie by the tournament's directorate, Saros was the media's selection as goaltender of the tournament, and was the best player on Team Finland every time they put him between the pipes. He came up with big saves at big times, he didn't surrender a single goal in regulation or overtime when he came in cold and his team was in need of a comeback against Switzerland, and, of course, he earned a gold medal with his performance.
In a world that has become seemingly obsessed with a goalie's measurements instead of his talents, five foot nine inches Saros has the Preds looking like geniuses for drafting him. Oh yeah, and they got him in the fourth round. Eight different goalies were chosen ahead of Saros at the 2013 Draft, and none of them have had anything close to the success Saros has had since then.
Mäenalanen was taken one round after Saros in 2013, and went undrafted the year before. Mäenalanen demonstrated a complete game at the World Juniors, using his speed, effective forechecking, and smarts to score an incredible amount for the Finns. He led the entire tournament in goals with seven, and had a knack for finding the back of the net in big moments, as well.
Saros and Mäenalanen still haven't proven anything at the NHL level like Rinne has, but still, to even think those Finnish players tumbled down the draft as far as they did is surprising. The fact that Nashville was the team to take them all in is more than coincidence. The Predators have that country figured out.
Now that the competition is complete, it's time for the Hart of Hockey's annual "what we learned" from the World Junior championship. Plenty during the past two weeks was exciting, but some things stuck out more than others. If you noticed it, too, you'll read it here. If you missed it, you'll get the chance to hear about it here. 10 teams and 31 games leave us with five major takeaways from this year's World Junior Championship.
NASHVILLE HAS FINLAND FIGURED OUT
The Nashville Predators have had a knack for finding gems late in the NHL Entry Draft. The most notable nugget they dug up is probably Pekka Rinne. The Preds snagged Rinne in the eighth round (which doesn't even exist anymore,) and now the Finnish netminder is one of the best goalies in the world.
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| Juuse Saros was a fourth round pick of the Predators in 2013. (Associated Press/Ludvig Thunman) |
In a world that has become seemingly obsessed with a goalie's measurements instead of his talents, five foot nine inches Saros has the Preds looking like geniuses for drafting him. Oh yeah, and they got him in the fourth round. Eight different goalies were chosen ahead of Saros at the 2013 Draft, and none of them have had anything close to the success Saros has had since then.
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| Mäenalanen celebrates his goal in the Gold medal game. (IIHF Images/Francois LaPlante) |
Saros and Mäenalanen still haven't proven anything at the NHL level like Rinne has, but still, to even think those Finnish players tumbled down the draft as far as they did is surprising. The fact that Nashville was the team to take them all in is more than coincidence. The Predators have that country figured out.
