Talented Finns too tough for M.V.

The game was the first of two exhibitions involving Northern European teams.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- Janis Purins knows exactly how good Team Finland is.
A native of Riga, the capital city of Latvia, he is the only player on the Mahoning Valley Phantoms roster this season to represent a Northern European nation, thus becoming the designated expert to comment on the play of Thursday's opponent, a 4-1 winner over Mahoning at the Ice Zone.
Having played against teams comprised of Finnish players on their home ice several years ago, Purins appreciates their fast, aggressive style of play.
"They are located about two hours away from me, across the Baltic Sea. I knew exactly what to expect from them tonight, having played in several hockey tournaments on their home ice a few years back," he said.
"They are well-known for their work ethic and attitude about the game. They have a unique perspective as to how the game should be played and that really showed tonight."
Team Finland is the first of two international exhibition opponents for the Phantoms, with Sweden on tap next Wednesday. Both countries will play in the Four Nations Cup in Ann Arbor, Mich., today through Jan. 2.
Eric Ringel of the Phantoms was selected to represent Team USA at the five-day event.
Good team
"We faced a pretty good team; one that while young still boasts plenty of talent. Playing a game like this gives us, as well as the fans, an opportunity to get a good look at that talent," Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt said.
"I think that we took them a little for granted. We gave up two early goals then had to play catch up. We were our own worst enemy."
Of Team Finland's 22-player roster, no player is over 16 years of age while two players will not celebrate their 16th birthday until January and March.
Early lead
It took just 29 seconds for Finland to flex its muscles and strike first. Martin Tuominen, with an assist from Toni Rajala and Matias Myttynen, gave the Fins the early 1-0 lead. Joonas Rask made it 2-0 at 6:37 of the first period.
Rajala added his second assist of the game at 7:20 of the second period when he found Juha Korkeamaki to give Finland a 3-0 lead.
Rajala, who won't turn 16 until March, is already considered a top prospect by an independent scouting service for the 2009 NHL draft.
Mahoning Valley's Nathan Longpre, with assists from Dustin Cloutier and Zack Barbis, made it 3-1 at 4:25 of the third period, but Finland's Joonas Nattinen answered at 8:44.
"We got off to a slow start and that really hurt us. We had to find our feet but bad passes were also costly," Longpre said.
"As for my goal, they were changing lines and the puck was on the boards so I just took it straight to the net. They used two excellent goalies tonight but we must improve on taking quality shots. That just wasn't the case for us tonight."
Mahoning Valley better
Team Finland coach Jukka-Pekka Annala was happy with the win but felt he didn't see the Phantom team that had just won 19 straight games.
"To win 19 games in a row is quite impressive, I don't care what league you play in. I haven't seen them play before tonight, but I am willing to bet that they didn't play their best game of the season against us tonight," he said.
"Our guys were nervous because we really didn't know how we stacked up against Mahoning Valley. We made some mistakes, yet I was proud of our play in the third period. That is when we needed the effort most and we got it from every line."
Each team had 39 shots on goal.