Lauri Markkanen to begin military service next April?

[Sofia]

While we’re talking Finnish military, check out this hacker.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simo_Häyhä

Some of Häyhä's figures are from a Finnish Army document, counted from the beginning of the war, 30 November 1939:

22 December 1939: 138 sniper kills in 22 days
26 January 1940: 199 sniper kills (61 in 35 days)
17 February 1940: 219 sniper kills (20 in 22 days)
7 March 1940 (one day after he was wounded): total of 259 sniper kills (40 in 18 days)

Using iron sights to snipe for hundreds of confirmed kills… soviets got lucky you can’t stack kill streaks.

[ADMVP]

7-foot soldiers are easy game at any battle field. I hope that Finnish generals understand that Lauri is useless.

He's Finnish... he's not going to be on a battle field lol.

Russia has entered the chat.

Sent from my SM-N960U1 using Tapatalk

[Swuul]

He will probably end up go through his service in two ~2.5 month stints (in summers of 2022 and 2023). By law it is possible to interrupt service once for up to a year for a solemn reason, and that is what pro-athletes usually do. Unless they are "Olli Jokinen", in which case they get a doctor in USA to prove their knee is in such bad shape he can never serve in the military (but somehow he still could play NHL icehockey for a decade and a half). Or they get a statement from a shrink in USA which states they are mentally so unstable they can not be given a gun (a favourite amongst finnish pro-athletes not wanting to do the service; when their pro-sport careers are over, they then have to go through a lengthy process to prove they have become mentally stable enough to get a licence for a gun (Finland has 2nd most legal guns per capita in the world (USA being 1st), and hunting is a very popular hobby (not only amongst previous pro-athletes))).

[HollowEarth]

Finland is not a part of NATO and its border with Russia. They were able to hold off the Soviets during WW2 called the Winter war. Finland had 70,000 casualties while the Soviets had a loss of 321,000–381,000 total casualties.
They take a lot of pride in their military and ability to defend themself.

Fun Finn Fact:

This is where the Molotov Cocktail got its name:

In the winter of 1939, after seizing eastern Poland and leaving the country’s west to the Third Reich, the Soviets invaded Finland. Molotov (“Hammer” in Russian) then said in a speech, “Tomorrow we will dine in Helsinki!” After Soviet bombs began to fall on Finnish troops, Molotov insisted that the Soviets were dropping food and drink instead. Exhibiting a keen wit, the Finns thus dubbed Soviet cluster bombs “Molotov bread baskets” (the food) and named the improvised weapons that they were using against Soviet armor “Molotov cocktails" (the drink).
The Finnish Alko corporation, a liquor conglomerate, mass-produced 450,000 Molotov cocktails during the war. The weapon proved instrumental in halting the Soviet advance toward the Finnish capital.

https://newrepublic.com/article/119127/history-molotov-cocktail-nazi-germany-ferguson

[JN61]

There is no may. It is mandatory. Sooner or later he needs to do it.

[JN61]

Good for him. A true patriot!

Nothing to do with patriotism. He has 3 choices. Military service, civil service or jail as a healthy individual with no health exceptions. Because he chooses athletes program of military service he gets long ''training/competition'' breaks because his athletic career so he probably won't be visiting Finland too many times before the off-season. This is how it works for most mandatory western conscript armies.

[Pantsman]

Does Slovenian have the same thing? Maybe that’s why luka is getting fat. Trying to eat his way into an exemption.

[HeartBreakKid]

Good for him. A true patriot!

It's required...

[Ryoga Hibiki]

I just want to throw there the name of Wang ZhiZhi, quite a funny story.

[Froob]

Well..least he can get that USAA Gronk keeps reminding us about?

[Swuul]

Does Slovenian have the same thing? Maybe that’s why luka is getting fat. Trying to eat his way into an exemption.

No, Slovenia isn't sitting next to Russia, so they have no need for a big reserve of military trained people. Slovenia abolished conscription in 2004, and these days they have a minimal "professional" army.

[JujitsuFlip]

Well..least he can get that USAA Gronk keeps reminding us about?

He's not serving in the United States Armed Forces, so no lol

[Maxthirty]

Well..least he can get that USAA Gronk keeps reminding us about?

Those commercials are cringe.

[ItsDanger]

There are way more Finnish players in NHL. I don't recall this ever being an issue there.

[Sgt Major]

Imagine thinking Russia is a threat to anyone who's not threatening Russia and Russians.

[Collymore]

Heung-Min Son got an exception, is the most receng i can remember. He was gonna do it, but got promised to not have to if they won the asian championship that year. Otherwise he wojld have had to do it.

And yeah, i think its bigger chance finland go to war with russia again then US go to war vs.... canada? mexico? whatever lives in the ocean?

The finns have been slapped silly by the swedes and russians through history.

[CaPiTanAK]

Time in the service might be beneficial for him in order to toughen up that dough boy softness.