World Junior 2015 Preview: Finland's prepped for title defence with Saros

GROUP A: FINLAND
2014 finish: Gold medal
2014 round-robin record: 2-0-1-1, 14 GF/10 GA

Yahoo! Canada Sports has asked North American-based players, some of whom are playing in the world junior championship, to break down their national teams.

The Young Lions are going to have a tough time repeating their golden performance from the 2014 world juniors in Malmo, Sweden.

There are seven returning players to the squad, but gone are defensive stalwart Rasmus Ristolainen (who scored the game winner a year ago), and top scorers Teuvo Teravainen (15 pts.) and Saku Maenalanen. Also new this year is head coach Hannu Jortikka, who takes over from Karri Kivi.

Jortikka has coached Finland at the world juniors several times and was behind the bench for their first gold medal win in 1987 - the year of the punch-up in Piestany. As a result, he's is one of the more well-known coaches in Finland, where he stars in commercials.

Goaltenders Juuse Saros and Ville Husso return after backstopping the Finns to gold. Saros, who was named an all-star at the 2014 tournament, is once again expected to be the go-to-guy for Finland. The 19-year-old is having a good year (2.30 GAA and .924 SV%) in the Liiga with HPK in Hameenlinna who are a middling team.

If teams think they'll be able to get to Saros easier on a smaller ice surface, think again. He says he prefers it to the big European ice.

"I think it's more fun," said Saros, of the faster game on North American ice. "I actually like it more because there's more speed. Some games in Finland you're just waiting there because the rink is so big. I like this."

Both Saros and Husso spent a lot of time together in the summer as part of their mandatory Finnish military service. Jortikka hasn't committed yet to which one will start for Finland against the U.S., on Boxing Day when they open the tournament at Bell Centre in Montreal.

"You know even if you make a little mistake it might not cost you because you have Husso or Saros in the net," said defenceman Mika Ilvonen. "They're both awesome goalies."

Saros and Husso will have to be on the top of their game this year with a largely inexperienced defence corps. The graduation of a number of players - namely Ristolainen, Ville Pokka and Esa Lindell - means the bulk of the experience falls to defenceman Julius Honka, who is the only returnee on the blueline from last year.

"He must be the leader of our defencemen," said Jortikka of Honka. "We also lost Joni Tuulola (to injury), it's sad because he was very good in the Finnish league."

Three of Finland's seven defencemen are playing in North America - Honka (AHL), Ilvonen (NCAA), and Alex Lintuniemi (OHL) - so the adjustment to the smaller ice surface won't be very difficult for them.

"The game is a lot faster (on smaller ice)," said Ilvonen who plays at St. Cloud State. "You have to play faster, you have keep your game more simple because you don't have so much space and time. We're trying to tell the guys how they should play and how they have to play if we want to win something.

"I don't think anyone is going to be a Bobby Orr out there, but we are playing as a team and that's going to be our biggest strength."

Offensively captain Artturi Lehkonen, Kasperi Kapanen and Alexsi Mustonen will have to lead the charge for the FInns. Kapanen missed out on the gold last season as a shoulder injury in pre-tournament practice sidelined him for championship.

"Offensively we have scorers," said Jortikka. "But we'll have a little bit of a problem with centremen because we don't have a top centre like last year with Teravainen."

Forward Mikko Rantanen and Jesse Puljuarvi are top up-and-coming Finnish prospects. Rantanen, 6-foot-4 and 209-pounds, is eligible for this year's NHL draft and is ranked by the Central Scouting Bureau as an A-skater. Puljujarvi, 16, is expected by many to be one of the top picks at the 2016 NHL draft and could surpass even Alexander Barkov - the second-overall pick in 2013 in terms of promise.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Juuse Saros (G, HPK - Liiga)

A fourth-round pick of the Nashville Predators, Saros is one of the top goaltenders in the world at his age. Last year he was voted as a tournament all-star by the media and was also the top goalie at the world under-18 tournament in 2013. He undersized, by goaltending standards, at 5-foot-11 and 180-pounds. However, what Saros lacks in size he more than makes up for with his speed and agility.

"He's not a big guy but he's lightning fast," said Ilvonen. "He reads the game so well."

Kasperi Kapanen (F, KalPa - Liiga)

Kapanen had the misfortune of missing out on the world junior experience a year ago when a shoulder injury forced him out of the tournament. A slick-skating forward with good hands, Kapanen is expected to put up  numbers for Finland at the tournament. A first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in June, the 18-year-old was impressive in his stint in the NHL to start the season. He's continued his solid play with his hometown team KalPa with nine goals and seven assists in 19 games.

Jesse Puljujarvi (F, Karpat - Liiga)

At 16, Puljujarvi doesn't look out of place playing with older players. He's already 6-foot-2 and 180-pounds and can play with an edge. He spent time moving between the top tier with Karpat, and the lower level club Hokki on loan. With Hokki he was averaging a point per game, while scoring three goals and adding an assist in 12 Liiga games.

"He's just started high school," said Ilvonen. "And he's basically playing with grown up men. He's going to be a very important piece of this team."

Julius Honka (D, Texas Stars - AHL)

The former Swift Current Bronco is expected to be the backbone of the Finnish defence. He's the only player on their roster with any real pro experience playing in North America and the only returning defenceman from last year's team. In Texas this season he's recorded two goals and seven assists in 27 AHL games. A first-round pick of the Dallas Stars (14th overall) in 2014, Honka is an offensive defenceman with good speed and skill.

MUST WIN GAME: Slovakia (Dec. 27)

The new tournament formatting with four teams moving on to the quarter-finals and the elimination of the bye, means that Finland should be in good position to advance with a win over Slovkia (barring any kind of miracle victory by Germany). Prior to their game against the Slovaks, they'll be tested throughly by the U.S. (in the opener) and by Canada (on Dec. 29) an upset against one could potentially be huge in terms of seeding.