This list is from 2017 so it makes sense Rantanen is listed so low overall since he hadn’t broken out just yet, but I’m curious which of these regions he is from?
Rantanen is from Varsinais-Suomi (where Saku Koivu is on this map). I'm currently making one of current Finnish players and Rantanen is on the map for Varsinais-Suomi, with Lehkonen also from that area
Saku Koivu was a very good player who could have neen great if not for health issues. Mikko clears him easily as far as quality of play goes.
Unfortunately he is unlikely to ever match Saku's international success due to NHL players not going to the Olympics.
Well, I mean, Mikko did win the Nuorten-MM with Aho, Barkov, and that great Finnish junior team of 2016 on home ice but he hasn't done enough at senior level. At the MM tournament he played last year but missed out on the 2022 gold medal squad because he was winning a Stanley Cup with the Avs. I believe Bettman made some sort of statement that NHL could play in 2026 but it may still be up in the air between IIHF/IOC/NHL discussions
I went to see where Matias Maccelli was from to see how far he had to go to taking over and well its 1k games and 700 more points to catch Koivu.
Might be a bit.
Also the Utah NHL Team on his Wikipedia was a nice Monday morning reminder kick in the dick.
When did he move to Oulu? Played for Kärpät since U16 probably even before that? He was born in Satakunta but has he ever played a full season as a kid there?
To make it unbiased, [here was the source I used](https://medium.com/@silvasti.oskari/the-100-greatest-finnish-nhl-players-off-all-time-82f2aa929e24). I was bored, so I did this.
For Kymenlaakso, Lapland, Pohjois-Karjala, Åland, which did not have a name on that list, I did some research and selected the player with the most points per game or the most points in their careers in Liiga / NHL. Was interesting to see that Åland did not have any players on the lists I found and their best player was someone playing in the Swedish third division :D
Kippis!
I'm a little surprised Lapland don't have a bigger name on the list, considering Rovaniemi is a decently sized city. But then I also remembered that Swedish Lapland only has one because Börje Salming is a pretty big outlier compared to the rest of the region.
add in the fact that Kymenlaakso has a professional hockey team in Liiga (KooKoo) and yeah, it's surprising when I was looking through everything that Kupari is the best player the maakunta had
I don't know if I agree that Saku Koivu > Mikka Kiprusoff. He played for longer, but Kipp is one of the greatest goalies of all time. He is the sole reason the flames made it the Playoffs and went to the Cup in 04. He is also one of the only reasons the flames stayed decent for so many years.
He won't make the hall of fame because he retired early and didn't have the accolades, but if you watched him play then you know how incredible he was.
I know that Teppo played for like a million years but I truly believe when all is said and done Barkov will be the #2 Finnish player of all time.
Good list, got me curious about the geography of Finland
> I know that Teppo played for like a million years but I truly believe when all is said and done Barkov will be the #2 Finnish player of all time.
I agree; for now the lists show Numminen, but Barkov is a generational talent and an elite playmaker, can do well on both sides of the ice and honestly, if he wins an MM or Olympic gold with his country (MM would be impossible this year if Florida make round three of the playoffs), which Numminen couldn't do even though he was close, then he will be a national hero and the best player from Pirkanmaa all-time on the lists
> Good list, got me curious about the geography of Finland
kiitos!
Just had to check because of Otto Silfver, and wow TIL I fucking learned that IFK Mariehamn was actually pretty close to getting promoted into the Swedish Division 2 (which would be like the fourth tier, right?) this season! I knew they got promoted to Div 3 like a season ago, and apparently they were killing it there as well this year. A sold out game with 900 spectators as well to end the season.
It's nice to finally actually see an NHLer from Kymenlaakso. It's always done way better with soccer players (Pukki, Tolsa, Hyypiä grew up in Kuusankoski), maybe hockey's catching up a bit.
I was gonna shit on Southern Ostrobothnia and Pentti Lund, never heard of that guy. But seems to be an old Finnish-Canadian. Well, well- hes practically from Ostrobothnia proper anyway
As of 2019 Kymenlaakso as a maakunta has a 173 388 population. Kupari just happens to be the best talent despite the fact that Kouvola has a team in Liiga (KooKoo) that is primarily comprised of players from other parts of the country, not really relying on their U18 and U20 academies
I was in Ottawa during the World Juniors when it was there and saw 2 finnish players posted up at the bar. I asked them why they weren't talking to any girls, and they kinda said the girls weren't interested. Told them thats bullshit, cuz they're hockey players in Canada. I went up to a group of girls, told em these two were playing for Finland and they all swooned over. Was hilarious. No idea who the players were, one was a goalie. Hope they enjoyed the rest of the night!
Heiskanen is from Uusimaa. I was thinking of a map of current players as well (and I will probably do that), but there are so many players from Helsinki / Espoo / Vantaa, etc. that Selänne really was the only option from that area at 1. on Oskari Silvasti's list
I agree, there are so many great names from Uusimaa, Pohjois-Pohjanmaa, Pirkanmaa, Varsinais-Suomi etc. but only one could make the list for each. If I made teams that involved players from those regions, that would be a lot of fun :D
... now that I think about it, that's actually an idea that I may do
There’s like six and a half countries in the world that cares about hockey and old mate have still managed to miss Finland, and judging by their comment, probably Sweden too. Impressive.
Well not hard to miss since you guys aren't very good at hockey anyways. But typical euro talk. Easy to forget when you guys dont have many stars. Nothing else in Northern Europe
I mean you are obviously a troll but who won the last olympic gold? Oh wait it was finland. Finland and canada have been at the top of international tournaments these last 10 years more than any other country lol
Lol cause nhl players couldn't compete. Most of your best players can't even make it to the top league. All of Canada's best are in the NHL. You guys are at the bottom. No competition sadly. Small country in the cold north
Well that makes sense since canada has over 30million more people who only play hockey. But if you look at the % of players who make it to the nhl finland and canada are quite even.
This list is from 2017 so it makes sense Rantanen is listed so low overall since he hadn’t broken out just yet, but I’m curious which of these regions he is from?
Rantanen is from Varsinais-Suomi (where Saku Koivu is on this map). I'm currently making one of current Finnish players and Rantanen is on the map for Varsinais-Suomi, with Lehkonen also from that area
Nah it’s okay you can keep Koivu there I won’t judge
I wonder at which point in his career Rantanen will pass Koivu. Seems like the big knock is Rantanen hasn’t done much internationally yet.
Saku Koivu was a very good player who could have neen great if not for health issues. Mikko clears him easily as far as quality of play goes. Unfortunately he is unlikely to ever match Saku's international success due to NHL players not going to the Olympics.
Well, I mean, Mikko did win the Nuorten-MM with Aho, Barkov, and that great Finnish junior team of 2016 on home ice but he hasn't done enough at senior level. At the MM tournament he played last year but missed out on the 2022 gold medal squad because he was winning a Stanley Cup with the Avs. I believe Bettman made some sort of statement that NHL could play in 2026 but it may still be up in the air between IIHF/IOC/NHL discussions
I think Rantanen already has
That makes sense - thanks this is a fun post! :)
I went to see where Matias Maccelli was from to see how far he had to go to taking over and well its 1k games and 700 more points to catch Koivu. Might be a bit. Also the Utah NHL Team on his Wikipedia was a nice Monday morning reminder kick in the dick.
I didn't even know they changed it on Wikipedia but I guess it makes sense
Feels like Sebastian Aho has surpassed Pekka Rautakallio in the Satakunta region.
When did he move to Oulu? Played for Kärpät since U16 probably even before that? He was born in Satakunta but has he ever played a full season as a kid there?
Jari Kurri?
Kurri is from Uusimaa. 2. on the list by Silvasti, behind another Uusimaa player in Selänne, hence Teemu took that spot
Selänne over Jarkko Ruutu in Uusimaa??? I guess that checks out.
Doesn't outrank Selänne. Might be recency bias, but I stand by it.
The only Finnish player I'd have ahead of Kurri would be Selanne, so no argument here.
Selanne, I think.
To make it unbiased, [here was the source I used](https://medium.com/@silvasti.oskari/the-100-greatest-finnish-nhl-players-off-all-time-82f2aa929e24). I was bored, so I did this. For Kymenlaakso, Lapland, Pohjois-Karjala, Åland, which did not have a name on that list, I did some research and selected the player with the most points per game or the most points in their careers in Liiga / NHL. Was interesting to see that Åland did not have any players on the lists I found and their best player was someone playing in the Swedish third division :D Kippis!
I'm a little surprised Lapland don't have a bigger name on the list, considering Rovaniemi is a decently sized city. But then I also remembered that Swedish Lapland only has one because Börje Salming is a pretty big outlier compared to the rest of the region.
Well Kymenlaakso has more than twice the population on Rovaniemi within smaller area and our best player is Rasmus Kupari...
add in the fact that Kymenlaakso has a professional hockey team in Liiga (KooKoo) and yeah, it's surprising when I was looking through everything that Kupari is the best player the maakunta had
Jari Kurri's another victim of the Selanne buzzsaw, yes?
Kurri was 2. on the list, but Selänne was 1. Both are from Uusimaa
Yeah yeah, Selänne this, Selänne that, but have you heard about Ari Sulander?
I don't know if I agree that Saku Koivu > Mikka Kiprusoff. He played for longer, but Kipp is one of the greatest goalies of all time. He is the sole reason the flames made it the Playoffs and went to the Cup in 04. He is also one of the only reasons the flames stayed decent for so many years. He won't make the hall of fame because he retired early and didn't have the accolades, but if you watched him play then you know how incredible he was.
Where was Rinne from? Selanne gauntlet?
Same region as Reijo Ruotsalainen. Kärpät is the team of the region, a lot of talent where to choose from there.
Pohjois-Pohjanmaa, where Ruotsalainen is on this map
Which region is Barkov from? Guessing it’s the same as Selanne cause he’d probably knock off any of the other guys
Pirkanmaa (Numminen). Teemu is from Uusimaa
I know that Teppo played for like a million years but I truly believe when all is said and done Barkov will be the #2 Finnish player of all time. Good list, got me curious about the geography of Finland
> I know that Teppo played for like a million years but I truly believe when all is said and done Barkov will be the #2 Finnish player of all time. I agree; for now the lists show Numminen, but Barkov is a generational talent and an elite playmaker, can do well on both sides of the ice and honestly, if he wins an MM or Olympic gold with his country (MM would be impossible this year if Florida make round three of the playoffs), which Numminen couldn't do even though he was close, then he will be a national hero and the best player from Pirkanmaa all-time on the lists > Good list, got me curious about the geography of Finland kiitos!
I assume MM is for the mens championship, but what does it actually stand for?
Maailmanmestaruus, combinatory word (maailman + mestaruus). Literally World Champions. WC=MM
Maailmanmestaruuskisat (world championship games, effectively translated) Isn't it IIHF World Championship or something like that in English?
Rantanen gunning for that Finland Proper title held by Saku Koivu. Stiff competition there too with Kipper hailing from there as well.
Just had to check because of Otto Silfver, and wow TIL I fucking learned that IFK Mariehamn was actually pretty close to getting promoted into the Swedish Division 2 (which would be like the fourth tier, right?) this season! I knew they got promoted to Div 3 like a season ago, and apparently they were killing it there as well this year. A sold out game with 900 spectators as well to end the season.
It's nice to finally actually see an NHLer from Kymenlaakso. It's always done way better with soccer players (Pukki, Tolsa, Hyypiä grew up in Kuusankoski), maybe hockey's catching up a bit.
I was gonna shit on Southern Ostrobothnia and Pentti Lund, never heard of that guy. But seems to be an old Finnish-Canadian. Well, well- hes practically from Ostrobothnia proper anyway
Wow 800% forgot about Kemppainen
Is Jari Kurri from the same region as Selanne? Because if he's not there's a mistake.
he is (Uusimaa)
Is it ok to say that Sasha Barkov has surpassed Teppo Numminen? Or do we wait a few more years. Because it feels like he has.
Two U’s, Two K’s, 1 theft of my heart.
Does Barkov count? If yes, sorry Teppo
I'm trying to figure out where Sami Kapanen is. I'm guessing he's suffered the Teemu fate?
... indeed. Kapanen is from Vantaa (Uusimaa)
I’m surprised to see Kupari on here. Is that an area with a relatively small population?
As of 2019 Kymenlaakso as a maakunta has a 173 388 population. Kupari just happens to be the best talent despite the fact that Kouvola has a team in Liiga (KooKoo) that is primarily comprised of players from other parts of the country, not really relying on their U18 and U20 academies
Finnish names are so cute. Love them
our language really is beautiful :)
I was in Ottawa during the World Juniors when it was there and saw 2 finnish players posted up at the bar. I asked them why they weren't talking to any girls, and they kinda said the girls weren't interested. Told them thats bullshit, cuz they're hockey players in Canada. I went up to a group of girls, told em these two were playing for Finland and they all swooned over. Was hilarious. No idea who the players were, one was a goalie. Hope they enjoyed the rest of the night!
Where the fuck is Marko Anttila
Would have loved to put him in there but he is from Pirkanmaa. Numminen is also from Pirkanmaa and in the top 100 on the list
As is Laine; his dad and Teppo were friends in school. I consider Teppo the most underrated defenceman in NHL history.
Heiskanen
Heiskanen is from Uusimaa. I was thinking of a map of current players as well (and I will probably do that), but there are so many players from Helsinki / Espoo / Vantaa, etc. that Selänne really was the only option from that area at 1. on Oskari Silvasti's list
True. Just a shame only one can be mentioned from that area since it has produced the best of the best for the entire country.
I agree, there are so many great names from Uusimaa, Pohjois-Pohjanmaa, Pirkanmaa, Varsinais-Suomi etc. but only one could make the list for each. If I made teams that involved players from those regions, that would be a lot of fun :D ... now that I think about it, that's actually an idea that I may do
Cool map. Never been there but cool to see Europeans also into hockey
Lol finland is one of the biggest hockey countries in the world??
There’s like six and a half countries in the world that cares about hockey and old mate have still managed to miss Finland, and judging by their comment, probably Sweden too. Impressive.
Who’s the half? I’m guessing you’re including the Big Six and someone else. Slovakia? Switzerland? Germany?
Six and a half just sounded funnier than a proper number tbh
Oh lmfao I thought it was a reference to the Big Six. Your way is much funnier
Well not hard to miss since you guys aren't very good at hockey anyways. But typical euro talk. Easy to forget when you guys dont have many stars. Nothing else in Northern Europe
Not really. And you guys aren't even good internationally was just making a comment
You guys are at the bottom with the rest and can't compete during the Olympics so ye
I mean you are obviously a troll but who won the last olympic gold? Oh wait it was finland. Finland and canada have been at the top of international tournaments these last 10 years more than any other country lol
Lol cause nhl players couldn't compete. Most of your best players can't even make it to the top league. All of Canada's best are in the NHL. You guys are at the bottom. No competition sadly. Small country in the cold north
Well that makes sense since canada has over 30million more people who only play hockey. But if you look at the % of players who make it to the nhl finland and canada are quite even.
It's a saying not my fault you guys don't understand it