Hockey world, prepare for the newest trick in the bag! Originating likely from some other sports, like lacrosse or floorball, the so called airhook is emerging in the game of hockey. The talented younger kids on the game can sometimes playfully take the puck on top of the stick blade, spin it around and sling it off towards the target. This truly puts another angle in deceiving the goaltenders.
Mostly this kind of trickery seems to be reserved for skills competitions and other moments of showing off. However, leading the pack of taking this as one of the potential weapons in the live game action, are the Granlund brothers from Finland. Mikael basically introduced this trick to the wide world in the last hockey world championships by crushing the favorite Russian team's spirit in the semifinals. Yesterday, his younger brother Markus pulled the same stunt off in Finland's top hockey league.
These brothers will soon arrive to the NHL, Mikael Granlund was drafted on the first round in 2010 by Minnesota Wild and Markus Granlund on the second round in 2011 by Calgary Flames. Judging by their success on European and world level, they'll have a great chance for an interesting NHL career.
Just like that, it seems that goalies and defensemen need to take a while to plan for counter tactics before this trick starts really picking up among the forwards. Leave this unnoticed and soon you'll be seeing this kind of goals in every game. Some might say it doesn't belong in the game. Anyway, as long as the kids get more skillful every year, you can expect these kinds of minor changes emerging every once in a while.
I'll end this short post with a tribute to one of the originators of the airhook, form the great nordic game of floorball, Janne Tähkä. Check it out, even if you wouldn't know the game.
Showing posts with label Mikael Granlund. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mikael Granlund. Show all posts
2011/11/18
2011/05/17
The new Champions
Hey hey! Finland is the new World Champion in hockey. A proud moment indeed. Good for the nation's self esteem and all. Second time is for real, no more talks about fluke win in 1995. Finnish team really rocked this time.
The games were in general pretty high profile. Several teams had really strong names on paper and were really in there for the win. In the end it was Finnish team that found the groove within and took the gold as the most tightly woven team in the group.
The Slovaks failed miserably in their own games. Indeed an end to an era of great players. Demitra, Satan & co just couldn't keep up the pace with the younger generation. Unfortunate, but big thanks to the hosts!
The USA sent the least experienced team of the big countries and hit the wall in the first elimination game. Hopefully they'll gather a bit higher profile team from NHL bubble next year.
Norway and Germany exceeded all the expectations in the group phases and played great hockey. However, neither of them could pull off a surprise and were out in the quarters.
Canada bumped to Russian team already in the quarters and ended up on the losing side of that very entertaining, but somewhat undisciplined match.
Checks and Russians went to their semifinals both as a favorite. Each of the start-filled teams were beaten in the game by solid, basic, good-old teamplay. Finns and Swedes actually controlled the games quite effortlessly. Team over individual.
The final was a long awaited Nordic classic between Finland and Sweden. Swedes used to outplay Finland every time and became a horrifying opponent. During the last years, however, the next generation of Finnish hockey players have gotten over the history and really started to play their own game. And now, at least after the final, Swedes are more afraid of Finns than vice versa.
The final was a great game to watch; pretty tentative first period, Sweden taking over in the second, Finland scoring the most important goal of the tournament in the last seconds of second period and storming away to a massive victory.
Biggest reasons behind Finland's solid teamplay are still in the individuals. There's no team without those. Mikko Koivu and Tuomo Ruutu, as appreciated and battle tested NHL players in their prime, took the lead and everyone else followed. Koivu's personal battles for each puck, pacifying puck control and endless cool gave everyone the belief. Ruutu finished his checks, run through the enemy lines without fear and provided the golden touch of luck here and there to prove that anything can be done with a healty dose of effort. These guys will keep Finland as a contender as long as their fire burns.
And well, cannot post anything these days about the Worlds without a mention of a certain young gentleman's acts. Mikael Granlund is bound to have a fantastic career in hockey, wherever he ends up playing. All the best to the boy with the biggest bag of tricks. It'll take a while to top this highlight in the field of international hockey.
The games were in general pretty high profile. Several teams had really strong names on paper and were really in there for the win. In the end it was Finnish team that found the groove within and took the gold as the most tightly woven team in the group.
The Slovaks failed miserably in their own games. Indeed an end to an era of great players. Demitra, Satan & co just couldn't keep up the pace with the younger generation. Unfortunate, but big thanks to the hosts!
The USA sent the least experienced team of the big countries and hit the wall in the first elimination game. Hopefully they'll gather a bit higher profile team from NHL bubble next year.
Norway and Germany exceeded all the expectations in the group phases and played great hockey. However, neither of them could pull off a surprise and were out in the quarters.
Canada bumped to Russian team already in the quarters and ended up on the losing side of that very entertaining, but somewhat undisciplined match.
Checks and Russians went to their semifinals both as a favorite. Each of the start-filled teams were beaten in the game by solid, basic, good-old teamplay. Finns and Swedes actually controlled the games quite effortlessly. Team over individual.
The final was a long awaited Nordic classic between Finland and Sweden. Swedes used to outplay Finland every time and became a horrifying opponent. During the last years, however, the next generation of Finnish hockey players have gotten over the history and really started to play their own game. And now, at least after the final, Swedes are more afraid of Finns than vice versa.
The final was a great game to watch; pretty tentative first period, Sweden taking over in the second, Finland scoring the most important goal of the tournament in the last seconds of second period and storming away to a massive victory.
Biggest reasons behind Finland's solid teamplay are still in the individuals. There's no team without those. Mikko Koivu and Tuomo Ruutu, as appreciated and battle tested NHL players in their prime, took the lead and everyone else followed. Koivu's personal battles for each puck, pacifying puck control and endless cool gave everyone the belief. Ruutu finished his checks, run through the enemy lines without fear and provided the golden touch of luck here and there to prove that anything can be done with a healty dose of effort. These guys will keep Finland as a contender as long as their fire burns.
And well, cannot post anything these days about the Worlds without a mention of a certain young gentleman's acts. Mikael Granlund is bound to have a fantastic career in hockey, wherever he ends up playing. All the best to the boy with the biggest bag of tricks. It'll take a while to top this highlight in the field of international hockey.
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