Like forward Adrian Kempe, forward Joel Armia got his first experience in a best-on-best international tournament last February, when he represented Team Finland at the 4 Nations Faceoff. Though he was not with the Kings at that point, playing in Montreal, Armia got that chance and played in two of his team’s three games, in a depth role.
Still, what an experience it was.
“Last year’s 4 Nations was a special experience, to get to play against all the best players in the world," he said. "It was a goal of mine to be on the Olympic team too and that’s going to be a great tournament too. There haven’t been many tournaments where the best play against each other. Looking forward to that.”
Also like Kempe, Armia has a gold medal at the IIHF World Championships, when he was a part of the Finland side that won the tournament in 2022. He was in more of an offensive role at that tournament, as he scored five goals in 10 games, including the goal that sent Finland to the gold-medal game, the game-winning goal in the semifinals against the United States.
Next week, Armia will likely play a bit of a different role, but it’s a role that will be even harder. Armia is one of the best penalty-killing forwards in the NHL. He had already proven that in Montreal and has only continued to prove that this season in Los Angeles. While there are certainly some dynamic and difficult to play against power plays in the NHL, the competition could get even stiffer when the best teams meet internationally. Armia has always embraced that part of the game and he’s been able to create some offense the other way as well.
Now, he’ll likely be tasked with doing so on the best-on-best international stage as well. With Finland down one of its top forwards in all situations in Florida's Aleksander Barkov, arguably their best player overall, it’s probably a bit of a Moneyball situation. You’ve got to recreate him in the aggregate. The part of the game where Armia can help is while shorthanded, and you figure he’ll play a large role there.
5-on-5, Armia is likely to play a depth role in the Olympics. In looking at Finland’s roster, the depth isn’t quite that of a Canada, United States or Sweden, but there are still some very high-end forwards in the mix. Finland has probably 7-8 forwards who you’d say are likely to make up the spots in the Top-6 and then Armia is in that next group of guys who should be in the lineup each game, just dependent on role and who compliments who stylistically. It’s a short tournament, play and chemistry will be rewarded. If Armia can start hot, he could play higher in the lineup, especially with his ability to compliment just about anyone with the way he plays the game.
Finland should be a medal favorite at the Olympics. Especially if they can earn a bye, the should have a decent chance at advancing to the semifinals, which guarantees the chance to at least play for a medal. In the five tournaments that have included NHL players, Finland is the only country with four medals (one silver, three bronze). Armia understands those expectations and plans to go to compete, not just to take part.
"It's great and I'm honored to represent my country," Armia said. "It's going to be a great tournament and to be a part of that, I feel like it's a big accomplishment, for sure. I think we have a great team too, so it's not like we're just going to participate, we're going there to win games."
Armia and Team Finland begin their tournament on Wednesday, February 11 against Team Slovakia, an early test but a winnable game. The biggest challenge of the opening stage comes two days later against Adrian Kempe and Team Sweden, before Armia and Team Finland conclude the first round the following day against Team Italy, the host nation. A bye is certainly on the table for Team Finland, as one of the two favorites to advance from their group.
Armia/Finland Olympic Schedule
February 11 – Finland vs. Slovakia, 7:40 PM Pacific
February 13 – Finland vs. Sweden, 3:10 AM Pacific
February 14 – Finland vs. Italy, 7:40 AM Pacific
After those three games, all 12 participating teams will be seeded based on their point totals in group play. The group winners and the second-placed team with the most points advance directly to the quarterfinals. The teams ranked 5 – 12 will compete in the playoff round, with the winners also advancing to the quarterfinals. Participation for all Kings players will be determined by the performance of their teams in the preliminary round.
The playoff round begins on February 17, followed by the quarterfinals on February 18. The semifinals are all on February 20, followed by the bronze-medal game on February 21 and the gold-medal game on February 22.
