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No superstars in Finnish WJC lineup

Written by: Eetu Huisman on 12/15/2003

Finns have had the pleasure of watching such highly touted prospects as Tuomo Ruutu, Kari Lehtonen and Joni Pitkänen lead the U-20 national team to a medal in each of the last three World Junior Championships. This time the lineup doesn't include as many potential superstars.

Of the twenty-two players of Finland's 2002-03 WJC squad, five were selected in the first round of the NHL entry draft (2001 and 2002). Mikko Koivu, who was injured at the time of the tournament, would have made a sixth. This year, only one of those six will is still eligible to play. Sean Bergenheim surprised everyone this fall by grabbing a spot in the New York Islanders lineup. He returns to Finland for the WJC, and the Islanders have hinted at the option of loaning him to Jokerit of the Finnish SM-liiga for the rest of the season to get him more quality ice time.

Last year, one of the most controversial decisions for Team Finland was to leave goalie Hannu Toivonen –- another first round draft pick (Boston) –- off of the team. This year, Toivonen is expected to be one of the most important factors in Team Finland's strive to maintain the medal run. His rookie season in North America has been very promising, averaging 2.23 allowed goals per game and posting a .925 save percentage while sharing time with veteran Tim Thomas in goal for the AHL Providence Bruins.

The third player joining Team Finland from overseas is Masi Marjamäki who plays for the Moose Jaw Warriors of the Western Hockey League. Marjamäki is one of the very few young Finns to take the Canadian major junior route. He left Finland to join the Red Deer Rebels for the 2002-03 season. After a very promising start, his season turned out to be somewhat disappointing. The beginning of this season wasn't much better for him or the team. After a trade to the Warriors, the second round draft pick of the Boston Bruins from last summer has been able to find his scoring touch again, scoring five goals in six games before leaving to Finland to join the rest of Team Finland on a two-week training camp.

One of the most interesting undrafted prospects on the roster is defenseman Sami Lepistö of Jokerit Helsinki. He stayed under the radar during last year's entry draft for which he was eligible. He got a regular spot in the SM-liiga team of Jokerit partly because of an injury to a fellow blueliner and WJC team member Mikko Kalteva just before the beginning of the season. Since then, he has established himself as an offensive defenseman with great puck skills and self confidence that is rarely seen from a rookie on elite level. Reportedly he's closely watched by many NHL organizations and he made his debut in the top three Finnish players on the preliminary rankings of the NHL Central Scouting Service on November.

Lauri Tukonen has been touted as the next big thing in Finnish hockey for years. After scoring sixteen points in twelve games for the Blues Espoo in the U-20 league, he was called up to their SM-liiga team. He has played in every line from first to fourth and while his point total, two goals and one assist in 21 games, isn't exactly earthshaking, he has adjusted to the higher tempo and level of SM-liiga very well considering his age. Another 1986-born winger Petteri Nokelainen of SaiPa Lappeenranta is the other player ranked above Lepistö by the CSS. He has also spent majority of the season with the SM-liiga team of SaiPa and is expected to be drafted early in the NHL entry draft next June.

Of the prospects who have already been drafted to the NHL, Valtteri Filppula of Jokerit has been making the most noise in SM-liiga this year. He's second among rookies in scoring and has an amazing ten points in fifteen games during the past month. Filppula is going to center the first line of Team Finland in the WJC.

Team Finland is coached by Hannu Aravirta, who lead the senior national team to medals in five consecutive international tournaments in 1998–2001. While the team clearly doesn't have as much top end talent as last year's, it should be able to battle for a medal with the support of the home crowd.