Unproven goalkeepers, out-of-form stars but a habit of winning – here are the talking heads for the ice hockey JVM

Can the Junior Lions repeat the feat from August and come inches away from taking JVM gold again? This time there are several question marks – Yle Sporten goes through the initial situation before the tournament.

It’s that time again. After a postponed August WC, it is time for a regular junior WC in ice hockey, which will be played over the turn of the year. And as usual in Canada.

If you ask the betting agencies, Finland should definitely be classified as a strong medal candidate this time as well. When the JVM was last played in August, Finland went almost all the way, as you know, but only a handful of the players from that squad are in the current squad.

But how likely is it that the Junior Lions will win a medal again?

Yle Sporten goes through the topics of conversation before the upcoming tournament!

Scandalous hosts

Firstly, we can state that Finland’s medal chances increase significantly as Russia is still removed from international contexts. In practice, at least on paper, there are only four teams competing for the medals: Canada, Finland, USA and Sweden.

A big topic of conversation this tournament will also be the rape scandals in Canadian junior hockey. The tournament is being played in Halifax – the same city where six Canadian junior national team players are accused of gang-raping an unconscious woman in 2003.

The Canadian Ice Hockey Association has been in serious trouble due to several similar cases. The reason for the criticism is that it was discovered that the union paid for the silence of the victims with money that came from membership fees. In practice, therefore, juniors’ license money.

The entire union leadership has been replaced, but the tangle is still unraveling. It will be a topic of conversation in the coming weeks as well.

Can anyone challenge Canada?

Looking at the player material, there is absolutely no talk of the matter. Canada are absolute gold favorites this time as well.

Shane Wright (who was supposed to go first but fell to fourth in the last NHL draft) is in, but the big poster name is this coming summer’s big draft prize Connor Bedard.

Bedard has been called one of the greatest talents of his generation and will have all the spotlight on him in this tournament. The expectation, however, is that he solidifies his status as the completely unthreatened No. 1 in the draft rankings in a way that Wright was never able to do.

The question is probably which of the other three top nations can seriously challenge them. According to, for example, TSN’s veteran reporter Craig Button it is Finland that is expected to come closest.

Who will be in goal for the Junior Lions?

But why does it feel like the JVM fever isn’t quite at the level it should be given such quibbles?

In fact, there are simply huge question marks in the Finnish squad that will not be answered until it gets serious. First of all: there is not a clear goalkeeper set in the squad.

Niklas Kokko plays in Hermes in Mestis. Jani Lampinen in Kiekko-Espoo in the same division.

Aku Koskenvuo is an incredibly interesting name from a human interest perspective, but the start of his Ivy League career at Harvard has certainly not been a cakewalk. He has been in two games and saved 87.5 percent of the shots.

When Finland lost to the USA 2-5 in a training match earlier this week, it was Koskenvuo who stood between the posts.

– We have three good goalkeepers. After the preparatory camp and our two practice matches, we are wiser, then we also make decisions about how to proceed together with goalkeeping coach Pekka Rinne, coach Tomi Lämsä told Yle Urheilu before the team left for Canada.

– I really don’t see it as a weakness in our team.

Who will be responsible for the goals?

On paper, the Finnish attacking arsenal looks much more stable. Joakim Kemell, Brad Lambert and Oliver Kapanen are all names that will come to the fore if the Junior Lions are to go far in the tournament.

Kemell was Finland’s top scorer in JVM in August, but has only been recorded for 8+2 in 24 games in JYP this fall. Since October 8, the balance is 3+0.

Lambert was successful at the Winnipeg Jets training camp in late summer, but has three points in the AHL where he is reported to look “uncomfortable” by those who follow the Manitoba Moose closely. He was also promisingly sharp a year ago before the JVM was blown off – in August he was invisible.

It was indeed Oliver Kapanen as well, who nevertheless now enters the tournament as team captain. Noted for 7+7 in 32 games for KalPa this season, does he really get the engines going against peer opposition?

And who steps up if the stars don’t deliver?

The question of eternity. Here are some names to keep an eye on in attack:

Ville Koivunen, who managed to secure a place in Kärpät’s renowned attack squad and was also noted for 7+3 during the autumn. Scored zero on a personal level in August, now he has all the conditions to take a much bigger role in the team. Played in the first chain with Oliver Kapanen against the USA.

So did Niko Huuhtanen, who returned to the league after a season in the WHL in the summer. Nine goals for Jukurit this autumn – last season it was a total of 37+40 in 65 games against opposition of a relatively similar age.

Topi Rönni has not impressed at all in Tappara, but has averaged over a point per game in the U20 national team this fall. Calgary’s second-round pick in the most recent draft could very well become an important center for the Junior Lions in the lower chains.

Jere Lassila, the JYP striker who snagged a spot in the squad via the challenger team at the camp before the World Cup squad was selected, was the second best scorer in the U18 World Cup last spring with a C on his chest.

Kasper Halttunen and Lenni Hämeenaho are the two Finnish names to keep an eye on for the 2023 NHL Draft. Both could go in the first round at best.

At least the back team doesn’t give up

… but isn’t exactly blindingly good either. The fact is, however, that basically all backs are established at the league level and most know what they are doing with the puck on their own blade.

Aleksi Heimosalmi is already under contract with the Carolina Hurricanes and is expected to move to their organization after the current season with the Aces. On paper, he is Finland’s strongest name in the back squad.

HIFK’s Otto Salin, TPS Jimi Suomi and Pelican’s Topias Vilén are also names that should hold international comparison in this tournament.

The most interesting name is undoubtedly Aron Kiviharju. The TPS talent belongs to the really big names in the 2024 draft – now he becomes the seventh 16-year-old of all time to play a JVM for Finland.

The previous slopes to do it? Reijo Ruotsalainen, Janne Niinimaa and Olli Määttä.

Tomi Lämsä’s comeback in Finnish hockey?

It is also impossible to avoid mentioning the coach. After several successful years with Antti Pennanen, the ice hockey association chose to go ahead with a name that, on the contrary, does not have much experience in national team hockey (with the exception of a youth Olympics in 2012) – Tomi Lämsä.

Lämsä was the hot name of the Finnish hockey coaching scene when he took over Jokerit 10 years ago, then only 33 years old, but was fired the very next season. The stay in the Pelicans in the 2014/15 season was also only one season long.

After that, Lämsä moved to the KHL, where after four years as an assistant he had to take over as head coach of Salavat Julajev Ufa in the summer of 2020. The two seasons in the Russian league resulted in as many exits in the second playoff round.

– This is an excellent coach with experience in elite hockey at the international level. He has wide experience and is well trained as a trainer, stated Kimmo Oikarinen from the association for Yle when the contract was completed in June.

USA and Sweden then?

Based on the first practice match, the USA is a team to be taken seriously in this year’s JVM. Yes, it was a practice match, but a 5-2 victory is not something to joke about.

Experts like TSN’s Craig Button like to point out that the team is far from as strong as it could be at best – but there are still top talents like Luke Hughes in the squad.

Sweden’s JVM upload has in turn been overshadowed by a strange selection scandal. According to Aftonbladet, the association has poked the goalkeeper coach Peter Andersson after one of the outfield players refused to play for the Junior crowns if Andersson, or “Trötter” as he is also called, was on the staff.

All said and done, the federation poked the coach. And the first training match for them ended in a 1-5 loss against the USA.

But there are also several players to keep an eye on in the blue-yellow squad. Axel Sandin-Pellikka, current draft back from Skellefteå, is a name many expect to be able to raise their shares even more with a successful JVM. Among the strikers, Örebro’s Leo Carlsson is the hot name for the future.