Roope Hintz led the scoring league after the first round, Sebastian Aho led Carolina wide, Mikko Rantanen and Artturi Lehkonen scored over half of Colorado’s goals. När få de spela i Lejonen sammlans?
I NHL-podden den här week Talas det om playoff, playoff och playoff. Then, of course, the snack was also given to Roope Hintz, Sebastian Ahos and Mikko Rantanen’s performances.
Here are the keys, the Finns and the deciding factors to watch for the second round of the NHL playoffs
With a week left until the start of the World Cup, you could next feel Hockey Finland’s pulse beating through the roof when Mikko Rantanen gave the Lions the thumbs up. A little earlier, it was announced that the golden boy from 2019, Kaapo Kakko, will line up – and Patrik Laine will join if health permits.
It may be the month of May, which starts with freezing temperatures at night and icy winds around the clock, but for many the May sun began to smile warmly and broadly the second Mikko “The Moose” Rantanen promised to come on a mission to Tampere.
We love our NHL stars and nothing is more popular in Finland than the Hockey Lions. Love is the greatest when the boys from the “mythical” three-letter league put on the shirt with the sword-wielding king of predators on the chest.
No one who experienced it can forget the vibrating excitement when the NHL players were in the Olympics for the first time in the winter of 1998. The best possible Lions team began an unlikely success story led by the all-time chain: Jere Lehtinen–Saku Koivu–Teemu Selänne.
Right now, the Lions could have one, two, or even three chains with the potential to reach the same heights. If only they could play together.
While Rantanen’s, Kakko’s and (possibly) Laine’s World Cup game makes a hockey friend as happy as the bird in the morning, it tugs at the heart. We are served only a taste of Finland’s best generation of all time. Do we ever get to experience the whole setting?
Best in their teams
A look at what the blue and white NHL players have accomplished so far in this year’s playoffs is like twisting the knife in the Lion’s friend’s heart.
Roope Hintz was Dallas’ scoring machine as the Stars beat the Minnesota Wild, averaging two points per game. Five goals and seven assists in six games against a team with strong defensive play and top goalkeepers meant that “Hine” led the playoff scoring after round one.
Dallas’ puck-carrying leader, defenseman Miro Heiskanen, averages one assist and over 29 minutes of playing time (the most of anyone in the playoffs) until further notice. Finland’s best back of all time already as a 23-year-old.
Mikko Rantanen scored seven goals in seven games against Seattle – leading the playoff scoring league in round one. In addition, he accounted for three assists and the plus/minus balance stayed at +4. It’s not the Nousis giant’s fault that Colorado went out against the Kraken.
Nor should an accusing finger be pointed at the “Avs” Stanley Cup hero from last year, Artturi Lehkonen. The incredibly strong-willed Lehkonen delivered his best self: 3+3 in seven games and +3. The two Finns thus accounted for 10 of Colorado’s total of 19 goals in the 2023 playoffs.
Speaking of willpower: Sebastian Aho’s efforts in the playoffs are extremely impressive. Carolina, missing three key forwards in the playoffs, must really rely on its first center — and every time it’s needed, he steps up. 4+4 in seven games and great leadership in every change.
Core player in important matches
In Florida’s unexpected turnaround against the superior regular season one Boston Bruins, Matthew Tkachuk was the best among the “panthers”. But Florida’s feat also had a clear blue and white stamp.
Best – in terms of expected level – of Florida’s Finns was the versatile Eetu Luostarinen. In addition to playing the second most box plays and blocking the most shots of the Florida forwards, Luostarinen scored the game-winning goal in game six. The rough worker accounted for 2+3 against the Bruins.
Anton Lundell fought his way into the series and the 21-year-old was on the bite when it mattered. Two assists in game six and two more in game seven. And not just any assists: the lead-up to Florida’s first two goals in the final game and assists on the 4-4 and 5-5 shutouts in game six.
Aleksander Barkov received a lot of criticism during the series against Boston. The captain had apparently been really ill before the playoffs, which explained a lot. He got better toward the end and contributed as Florida went on. At the time of writing, Barkov has accounted for 8 points in 8 games. The engine gets hot.
Hats off also to Kings goalie Joonas Korpisalo, peppered by a rain of pucks against Edmonton and Seattle forward Eeli Tolvanen, who forms a successful chain with Oliver Björkstrand and Yanni Gourde. Winning performances by Tolvanen in match after match.
Imagine seeing all the mentioned players at the same time in the best possible Lions team. Think, or almost dream.
The 2026 Olympics will probably be the super generation’s only chance
Exactly one week before the party at home ice gets under way, WC fever starts to set in – just like every spring. May be the “poor man’s version” of a legitimate championship tournament, but the World Cup is always just as fun, and of course there are many real stars involved. Like, for example, Rantanen.
Still, it is impossible to avoid the mixture of sadness and anger at the state of international ice hockey. Where the NHL stars got to play in the Olympics a total of five times between 1998 and 2014, the current elite generation is disappointed time and time again.
Aleksander Barkov and Olli Määttä were in the 2014 Olympics as teenagers, but since then the NHL has denied the players and fans a top tournament twice in a row. The years when a player is at his best pass quickly and in a few years Finland’s super generation will be past their “prime”.
In ice hockey, the NHL has no competition when it comes to attracting the world’s best players. The opportunities to measure oneself as and get rich from it are in a different universe in the NHL compared to the rest of the hockey world.
Since the fans in North America are also enough for the league’s revenue to grow, the NHL does not need to take the IIHF or the IOC into account in any way. This has led to the NHL snubbing two Olympics in a row and also showing no greater interest in creating a long-term World Cup concept.
For Finland’s “golden generation”, it is almost tragic that the last real top tournament was played in the 2014 Olympics – a few weeks after the almost astonishing series of junior successes in the U20 and U18 championships began with the JVM gold in Malmö.
Now the leading players of the Malmö cohort are approaching 30 years old, and the super gang that won the JVM on home ice in 2016 is already closer to 30 than 20. Even the JVM gold heroes from 2019 are dry behind the ears. Still, they have not been allowed to try to achieve success together as a national team.
In fact, the 2026 Milan Olympics appear to be the only chance for Barkov, Lehkonen, Aho, Rantanen, Kakko, Heiskanen and more to play together when everyone is still at their best. And it doesn’t take much for the NHL to opt out of that tournament as well.
The dream team – right now
Härligt with Mikko Rantanen (captain 2016), Patrik Laine (målkung 2016), Kaapo Kakko (gold medal 2019, U18-gold 2018), Kasperi Kapanen (gold medal 2016) and Olli Määttä (Pittsburgh didn’t release him until JVM 2014) in Lejonlaget and Tammerfors .
But they only represent glimpses of the national team we all hunger to see.
This is what my dream Lions team looks like right now:
Artturi Lehkonen – Roope Hintz – Mikko Rantanen
Patrik Laine – Sebastian Aho – Kaapo Kakko
Anton Lundell – Aleksander Barkov – Eetu Luostarinen
Erik Haula – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Eeli Tolvanen
Trettonde forward: Teuvo Teräväinen
Miro Heiskanen – Juuso Välimäki
Esa Lindell – Jani Hakanpää
Olli Määttä – Henri Jokiharju
Niko Mikkola – Rasmus Ristolainen
Hair in Saros
Ville Husso
Joonas Korpisalo
Thank you for reading.
Sources: nhl.com, quanthockey.com, hockey-reference.com
