|
|
Post by pihinalle on Feb 25, 2004 12:11:54 GMT -5
I haven't started any SM-liiga threads like last year, but playoffs are quite close. Current standings: O +/- P Kärpät 52 69 75 TPS 51 56 74 HIFK 52 32 66 HPK 52 34 62 Lukko 51 28 61 Ilves 51 17 61 --------------------------- Jokerit 52 9 60 Tappara 52 6 53 Blues 52 -9 50 JYP 51 -25 47 --------------------------- Ässät 52 -44 46 SaiPa 52 -65 32 Pelicans 52 -108 25 There will be 56 rounds played. Top six teams go directly to playoffs and next four teams play for the last two spots. This playoff system is for the first time in use in Finland. Saipa and Pelicans are already without chances. Above them nothing is clear yet. Hottest line in the league with no doubt has been HIFK's Kimmo Kuhta - Brett Harkins - Timo Pärssinen. They have scored 44% of their team's goals. If we add goals from their defense pairing Jere Karalahti - Toni Söderholm they have scored 55% of HIFK's goals. Top 10 Points 1. Pärssinen Timo, HIFK 52 32 30 62 52 -38 14 18 2. Kuhta Kimmo, HIFK 52 31 25 56 49 -35 14 14 3. Harkins Brett, HIFK 48 9 44 53 49 -36 13 53 4. Viuhkola Jari, Kärpät 49 24 28 52 54 -20 34 30 5. Metropolit Glen, Jokerit 51 14 33 47 35 -24 11 75 6. Aalto Antti, TPS 48 16 28 44 43 -21 22 46 7. Nurminen Kai, TPS 47 23 20 43 40 -18 22 14 8. Immonen Jarkko, JYP 47 20 23 43 38 -30 8 28 9. Murphy Cory, Ilves 51 17 26 43 46 -48 -2 20 10. Virtanen Antti, JYP 51 18 24 42 35 -34 1 6 ...... 15. Helminen Raimo, Ilves 51 8 32 40 39 -25 14 46  Players who I wish to get a trip to Czech: Timo Pärssinen - He's been the biggest offensive thread in the league. Kimmo Kuhta - Don't separate him from Pärssinen when he's hot. Jari Viuhkola - He's been the best Finnish center in SM-liiga so why not play him between Pärssinen and Kuhta. Jere Karalahti - He has his past but he is the kind of player team Finland needs. Mikko Eloranta - He could play in any line. Very valuable player for any team. Poor man's Jere Lehtinen. |
|
|
|
Post by pihinalle on Mar 6, 2004 13:31:25 GMT -5
Regular season is over. Here are the final standings
O +/- P
TPS 56 57 80
Kärpät 56 65 78
HIFK 56 39 72
HPK 56 40 69
Lukko 56 27 65
Ilves 56 11 65
---------------------------
Jokerit 56 11 64
Tappara 56 13 59
Blues 56 -5 56
JYP 56 -28 52
---------------------------
Ässät 56 -46 50
SaiPa 56 -67 36
Pelicans 56 -117 27
Jokerit play JYP and Tappara play Blues for the last two playoff spots.
Points
1. Pärssinen Timo, HIFK 56 32 30 62 55 -40 15 22
2. Kuhta Kimmo, HIFK 56 31 28 59 52 -37 15 18
3. Harkins Brett, HIFK 52 10 49 59 53 -38 15 65
4. Viuhkola Jari, Kärpät 53 25 31 56 58 -22 36 34
5. Metropolit Glen, Jokerit 55 15 35 50 40 -24 16 77
6. Immonen Jarkko, JYP 52 23 26 49 44 -36 8 28
7. Virtanen Antti, JYP 56 18 29 47 41 -39 2 6
8. Nurminen Kai, TPS 52 23 22 45 41 -19 22 18
9. Murphy Cory, Ilves 56 18 26 44 49 -52 -3 22
10. Aalto Antti, TPS 50 16 28 44 43 -21 22 46
11. Hancock Quinn, Lukko 56 10 34 44 32 -33 -1 98
12. Saarela Pasi, Lukko 56 18 25 43 36 -27 9 14
13. Helminen Raimo, Ilves 56 9 34 43 42 -32 10 46
14. Eloranta Mikko, TPS 54 23 19 42 46 -19 27 87
15. Kivenmäki Marko, Ässät 53 14 28 42 36 -50 -14 68
16. Jantunen Marko, Jokerit 51 19 21 40 36 -19 17 18
17. Vahalahti Ville, TPS 50 18 22 40 31 -23 8 10
18. Tähtinen Markku, Lukko 53 8 32 40 32 -21 11 30
19. Caloun Jan, Blues 44 16 23 39 33 -26 7 34
20. Smyth Brad, Kärpät 48 20 18 38 45 -19 26 85
21. Kohn Ladislav, Blues 54 20 18 38 31 -27 4 60
22. Virta Tony, HPK 55 18 20 38 29 -30 -1 81
23. Bergeron Martin, Ässät 55 17 21 38 36 -58 -22 64
24. Jokinen Jussi, Kärpät 55 15 23 38 31 -21 10 20
25. Tenkrat Petr, Kärpät 35 22 15 37 46 -14 32 30
Some facts about this regular season
-Kärpät were the only team to score in every game
-Kärpät's Janne Pesonen was the highest scoring rookie with 17+13=30 points in 56 games
-Saipa got highest penalty minutes, Blues lowest
-TPS had most efficient power play, Pelicans were most inefficient
-Tappara were the best team when playing short handed, Pelicans worst
|
|
|
|
Post by Wide Asleep on Mar 7, 2004 5:47:59 GMT -5
Hey Pihinalle,
I was wonderingabout what happened to the Czechs? They traditionally had quite a good showing in the Finnish League, I think one actually won the points race last year...
Do you know what happened? Did the best ones leave? Did they just not have good seasons? Were they injured?
|
|
|
|
Post by pihinalle on Mar 7, 2004 11:57:06 GMT -5
Number of important Czech players really has decreased in Finland. I see a new trend coming. Teams are looking more and more players from North America. Certain teams still count on Czechs too. Kärpät have three Czechs now and I think it's the highest number in the league.
Petr Tenkrat returned to Kärpät before Christmas from Russia and has been excellent. 37 points in 35 games. Kärpät also acquired Vladimir Machulda from Saipa before deadline and made a contract with him for the next season. Martin Stepanek on defence has been solid but not as offensive as expected.
Other important Czechs that come to mind are Jiri Vykoukal of TPS, Ladislav Kohn of Blues and Jan Caloun but he won't play this spring anymore. There have been only rumours about his reasons not to play. Officially he has some kind of vacation for illness. I read another rumour that said his relationship is in crisis.
In general I would say that teams get less Czechs than before because they are too expensive and some say they are too artistic. North Americans are wanted because they play simple and physical game. SM-liiga has become more physical and that could be one reason not to buy Czechs. Czechs have reputation of being "not so physical".
|
|
|
|
Post by DanCan on Mar 7, 2004 12:49:28 GMT -5
Interesting and informative thread, Pihinalle!  So I guess that the Finnish league is much more physical than the Swedish elitserie considering that there are almost no Canadian players in the Swedish league? Keep us updated on the playoffs! |
|
|
|
Post by pihinalle on Mar 8, 2004 11:08:19 GMT -5
Finnish league could be a bit more physical than other leagues in Europe. It's the most North American league and that's a really good thing for all those kids who want to play in NHL in the future. NHL-teams are always worried about young players' adjusting to NHL style of playing.
In the race for the last two playoff spots Jokerit beat JYP 5-2 in the first game. Tappara lost their home game against Blues 1-2 in OT. Jokerit and Blues can take their playoff spots tomorrow by winning second games.
|
|
|
|
Post by pihinalle on Mar 11, 2004 10:20:48 GMT -5
Jokerit surprised me and beat JYP in two games. In the second game Jokerit won 2-3 in Jyväskylä.
Tappara and Blues needed to play all three games. Tappara won their away game easily beating Blues 1-4 but lost at home 0-2.
Playoffs begin next saturday with these pairings
TPS-Blues
Kärpät-Jokerit
HIFK-Ilves
HPK-Lukko
|
|
|
|
Post by pihinalle on Mar 13, 2004 13:02:00 GMT -5
Quarterfinals 1st games
TPS-Blues 3-2
Kärpät-Jokerit 3-2
HIFK-Ilves 3-1
HPK-Lukko 3-2
Home teams were good as expected.
Jokerit's Glen Metropolit is suspended for the next game.
|
|
|
|
Post by pihinalle on Mar 16, 2004 11:10:51 GMT -5
2nd quarterfinals, wins
Blues-TPS 4-2, 1-1
Jokerit-Kärpät 2-3, 0-2
Ilves-HIFK 3-2, 1-1
Lukko-HPK 0-5, 0-2
|
|
|
|
Post by pihinalle on Mar 18, 2004 10:48:50 GMT -5
3rd quarterfinals, wins
TPS-Blues 4-0, 2-1
Kärpät-Jokerit 2-5, 2-1
HIFK-Ilves 0-3, 1-2
HPK-Lukko 4-0, 3-0
|
|
|
|
Post by pihinalle on Mar 22, 2004 10:51:55 GMT -5
4th quarterfinals, wins
Blues-TPS 3-2, 2-2
Jokerit-Kärpät 1-2, 1-3
Ilves-HIFK 4-2, 3-1
Lukko-HPK 1-3, 0-4
|
|
|
|
Post by pihinalle on Mar 22, 2004 10:53:43 GMT -5
5th quarterfinals
TPS-Blues 4-2, 3-2
Kärpät-Jokerit 1-2, 3-2
HIFK-Ilves 3-0, 2-3
|
|
|
|
Post by pihinalle on Mar 24, 2004 11:22:15 GMT -5
6th quarterfinals, wins
Blues-TPS 0-2, 2-4
Jokerit-Kärpät 1-2, 2-4
Ilves-HIFK 0-1, 3-3
So, Ilves and HIFK still battling for the last spot. Should be an interesting game on thursday.
|
|
|
|
Post by mlaa on Mar 26, 2004 0:53:20 GMT -5
HIFK dropped Ilves!
4-3 yesterday in Helsinki.
GO IFK !!!!
Next bye bye for Kärpät!
|
|
|
|
Post by pihinalle on Mar 26, 2004 12:27:32 GMT -5
Hahhah! Mlaa, you're so funny ;D
Semifinals
TPS-HPK
Kärpät-HIFK
And this time it's best of five.
|
|
