Finland’s structure a key to their success at Olympics

One of the top hockey nations in the world has the group that can be a threat to make a run in this year’s men’s hockey tournament at the Winter Olympics.

Finland was involved in the first game in Milan on Wednesday, and while they were involved in a tight battle with Slovakia, Suomi looked far the better team. They have a talented forward group, headlined by Mikko Rantanen and Sebastian Aho, along with exceptional defensemen in Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell.

Not to mention the fact that Finland has Juuse Saros, who always seems to come up clutch in big moments.

On Monday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton explain what makes Finland one of the more organized rosters heading into Milan, and what the team’s strengths are.

Carter Hutton: I think for the Finns, it’s going to be their struture. … It looks like [Finland’s] getting to their game. It is a big stage, right? There’s a lot of pressure. There’s always that argument, ‘Is it better to start against a stronger team or to have an easier game?’ Where you’re at, I think at times you can overlook it. I think, for the Finns…their depth and their compete as a team is going to make them a difference, because they have a lot of game-breaking players. I think at the end of the day, if we’re sitting here come the medal rounds, and Finland is still around, it’s going to be because of Juuse Saros and their goaltending.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I agree with the goaltending take, 100%. The other thing I think with Finland, when you look at this depth chart and you look at the style of defensemen that they have, I think the middle of the ice is where they’ll thrive. I really like that group of centremen that they have all good, kind of defensive-minded, defensive-conscious forwards. The D pairings…it’s a lot of really big bodies, and I think that can be good when it comes to protecting the middle of the ice.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…