Finnish Wing

Datsyuk says: "Give puck me I scores!"

I mean this series of course. He's not a better player than Franzen, at least not yet. Franzen's had that injury and it's definitely still affecting his game.I just kinda replied to ZDC who said he was better than Datsyuk this series.

I love that triangle-face!

So I guess those SHUTOUT spells worked for us this time.

Best forward after the EuroTwins I'd say.

The play went from Filppula to Lidstrom to Zetterberg to Lidstrom, so Filppula gets an assist even though Lidstrom touches it and eventually scores too.

"Mastodonic pad stop!" LOL @ these VS commentators.

I rather take the penalty than Helm with a penalty shot.

RUSSIAN HOUDINI STRIKES FROM NOWHERE!

Duh, it's part of this team's identity!

I dunno, he's been playing so SHUTOUTingly good so far...

I was just gonna say that this seems exactly like game 6. Great chanches on the PP but Bryzgalov making amazing saves.

SHUTOUT!

It's 4 AM here and I'm ready for some game 7 action!

I'd say it's at least partly because of that.

Watch out for Leino being a big factor.

Better than Rafalski and Zidlicky for example?US didn't win the gold as far as I'm concerned. Then again Finland has the most Olympic medals since -88. Sami Kapanen is the most recent MVP of this league. He could still be a 3rd liner in many NHL teams. And Leino was worth a 4th round pick and an other player.

That wasn't quite my point either. I wasn't saying we should go after Clutterbuck or Bergenheim etc. They were just examples of players that I'd put on the 3rd line instead of Asham if I ALREADY HAD Asham and one of them in the team.I think we either need a very good 3rd liner or a tough guy for the 4th line. I wouldn't be happy if some 34 year old +20 point scorer comes and takes the 3rd line spot over promising guys like Helm and Abdelkader.

You misunderstood the point obviously. Those players were just examples that there can be players who are better fit for the 3rd line even tough they score less points than some other player who would fit on the 4th line.It's isn't about taking a gamble as we ALREADY HAVE Eaves, Abdelkader, Miller, Helm. We already have these promising players and I wouldn't put Asham on the 3rd line over anyone of them except maybe Miller. Asham isn't in the team, these guys are. Those guys are all more offensive guys than Asham. It would be a different thing if we were talking about Colby Armstrong etc. here. Helm, Abdelkader and Eaves at least can all be good 3rd liners in the future. Everyone has already seen what a guy like Asham can do and he won't improve much. It's hardly taking a gamble when you're talking about some 5-10 point difference between 3rd and 4th line. And putting some of those younger guys there is also building for the future. The chances of anyone of those three guys outscoring Asham in the next season are pretty big.

He was 17th.

I'd like to add to what micah said. NA players playing in the NHL are generally tougher than European players playing in the NHL. But I think a big part of it is that the league is in North America. Just like here in FNL, if a team's is going to get a foreign guy, he usually has to have something special to offer or has to be one of the best players in them, because if there's that 4th line spot to fill you rather give it to a Finnish player. There are less skilled, tougher NHL players who usually get the lower roster spots. The usual way for European players to get in the NHL is to provide something different - usually be skilled - or be very good overall like Chara. This is also why more and more European players take the "skill road", because if there are two gritty guys to choose from - one NA and one European - NA coach or NA GM usually chooses the NA guy. There are tougher European players outside NHL too, but they don't have anything special to offer to make GM's and coaches choose them over that NA guy. It's just easier way to make success in the NHL being more skilled when you're European. There are more tougher players in the NHL than there are skilled players. That's why most players coming to NHL outside NA are usually skilled and it may seem that every player outside NA is like that. But of course as I said. When young European player knows that the way to NHL is easier when you're skilled the amount of those kinda players increase. All in all, NA players are tougher than European players, but the difference may seem bigger than it is, because most of you have only seen European who play in the NHL.

All those guys listed have more offensive upside than Asham or are more offensive players than him already. They've got potential to be better players offensively than Asham even though they had less points this year. I'm not gonna put Asham over any one of those guys on the 3rd line because those guys can still improve their game much more and they fit better on a 3rd line role which demands more offense and less toughness than 4th line. Asham has less offense and more toughness so he's a better fit on the 4th line even if he might be a better overall player than some of those guys currently. It's kinda like when Flyers put Leino on the top6 while Laperriere was on the 4th line. Lappy is a better player but it's still a better fit when Lappy is on the defensive role and Leino on the offensive role.

Here's another example how you have an image of Europeans. Finns are totally different hockey players than Czechs. They're both Europeans. Finnish national team has always been hard-working and pretty tough too, playing with never give up -attitude. We are worried here in Finland that our system doesn't produce enough skilled players. Guys like Leino are not typical Finnish players. He has almost exact opposite strenghts and weaknesses compared to a normal Finnish player, and that's one reason why I like to watch his game.Who wouldn't think like that? But if you have two tough teams playing each other the skilled one always comes out on top too. The fact is though, the game is going towards a more skilled game. Puck posession is becoming a bigger factor and it isn't like it was in the 80's and 90's. The game is more tactical. One of the major reasons for this was the rule to prevent hooking and holding and stuff like that. I'm glad the game is becoming more offensive and they're removing the anti-hockey qualities from it. He also had more points than Taylor Pyatt, Sean Bergenheim, Cal Clutterbuck, John Mitchell and Daniel Paille. All those guys have more offensive potential and fit on the 3rd line better than Aaron Asham. The fact is that Helm, Eaves, Miller and Abdelkader all have more potential and better offensive upside than him. Asham isn't likely going to improve anymore. I've said a numerous times already that this team needs an enforcer so it has nothing to do with that either. All those four player just fit better on 3rd line role, which is more offensive than 4th line. Those 100PIMs are one reason why he's more a 4th line player than a 3rd line player. He's primary a tough guy anyway. It's very likely that everyone of those four guys may have more points already next season than him. I'd rather get a younger enforcer who could be a part of this team for more years.

Of course you need to work hard and you can improve certain aspects by doing that. I'd also like to know how much it is about talent and how much it is about hard work, too bad neither of those things can be measured.But I though you meant hard work on the ice.