Finland's Juuse Saros relishing challange of replicating 2014 world junior conquest

For Finland to thrive, it has to be far much more than the sum of its parts than the other elite hockey-playing nations.

Hence the wait-and-see tack taken by Juuse Saros, the undersized Nashville Predators goalie prospect who stopped 35-of-37 shots in the gold-medal game overtime win against host Sweden last January. The 19-year-old is quietly confident about how strongly his team will defend the world junior championship gold medal, even if it doesn't necessarily win.

"We had good team spirit and we were a very united team," says the 5-foot-10 Saros, who led the 2014 WJC with a 1.57 average and .943 save percentage, although the top goaltender award (which was voted on while a tight gold-medal game was unfolding) went to Sweden's Oscar Dansk. "That was a big part of our game. Of course, every year that is a big challenge, especially for Finland, to repeat that kind of strength as a team. That part is a big deal. We don't similar player depth as Canada and the USA so we have to stick to other things and do them well.

"This is a new challenge and great opportunity for us to come back here," Saros added. "There's also a new challenge, of course, when the ice is different in North America [where the ice surface is 15 feet narrower than it is in Europe]. It's nice to play in this kind of rink."

Saros left a strong impression in August when Finland played exhibition games as part of the USA Hockey evaluation camp in Lake Placid, N.Y.. He hasn't shown any sign of tailing off with Hameenlinna.

Only a select few goalies get a second crack at the world junior; fewer still do so after as star turn such as Saros' last winter in Malmo, Sweden. The last 18-year-old to be named top goaltender was Jack Campbell for Team USA in 2011, a year before the Americans took a plunge to seventh.

"He's an outstanding goalie, one of the best in our age group," Finland forward Kasperi Kapanen, a Pittsburgh Penguins first-rounder who plays for KalPa, says of Saros. "We feel really comfortable with him in net. He's been great this year. Last year he took big steps and this year he's taken even more. It's not fun when you're playing against him but when he's on your team, he's a big asset."

Firm conclusions should not be drawn from pre-competition games, where most teams sit their most irreplaceable players. It was notable, though, that Finland had very  few prolonged encampments in the Czech Republic zone while ekeing out a 2-1 shootout win in its pre-competition opener last Friday in Napanee, Ont., where it is holding training camp. It's believable that they might be a team one wouldn't expect to see in a lot of 5-4 games. That means added pressure on Saros and net partner Ville Husso, who had a strong showing in the Napanee game.

Saros sports a 2.30 average and .924 save percentage for Hameenlinna, which is sixth in the 14-team Finnish elite league after a slow start.

"It's been pretty good," Saros says of his league season. "It was tough in preseason but now we're in good standings."

Saros is likely a main ingredient in Finland's bid to create the chemistry that defined the '14 squad. The new iteration of the Young Lions plays Team USA and Slovakia back-to-back on days 1 and 2 of the tournament before getting an off-day before facing Canada in a rematch of the 2014 semifinal.

The European teams are holding their training camps in hockey centres across eastern Ontario and western Quebec. Finland is spending its first week in small-town Napanee, whose entire population of 15,000 would fit inside a NHL arena The commute from its hotel to the Strathcona Paper Centre merely involves a walk across the parking lot. Finland also has a good-sized rooting section of flag-bearing fans during Friday's tilt, which was played in a lively setting.

Can being lodged in a small off-the-beaten-path town help a team find its focus? Saros is not ruling out that theory, but of course he'll have to back it up with his play.

"Maybe we have spent some extra time together [because of where Finland is based]," he says. "Maybe it helps."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.