4 Nations Roster Remix: 1990 Finland team

The top NHL players from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States will go head-to-head at the 4 Nations Face-Off, a best-on-best tournament that will be held from Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston.

Though this is the first tournament of its kind to feature these four countries, NHL.com and NHL.com International have put together what the rosters and line combinations for each country would have looked like in the past, going backward in five-year intervals. The rosters will follow the same format as the current 4 Nations teams: 13 forwards, seven defensemen and three goalies.

The stories will run each Friday and Sunday through Feb. 9.

Today, NHL.com/fi writer Varpu Sihvonen reveals what her Team Finland roster would've looked like in 1990.

Forwards (13)

Esa Tikkanen -- Raimo Helminen -- Jari Kurri

Petri Skriko -- Christian Ruuttu -- Mikko Makela

Raimo Summanen -- Janne Ojanen -- Iiro Jarvi

Hannu Jarvenpaa -- Jarmo Kekalainen -- Ari Haanpaa

Anssi Melametsa

The top line would’ve included two five-time Stanley Cup winners on the wings and a six-time Olympian in the middle. Tikkanen played for the Edmonton Oilers in 1989-90 and had 63 points (30 goals, 33 assists) in 79 games. Helminen played his fourth and final NHL season for the New York Islanders in 1988-89, returned to Europe and retired 19 years later. He played for Finland six times in the Olympics and won three medals. Future Hockey Hall of Famer Kurri was Tikkanen’s teammate in Edmonton and had 93 points (33 goals, 60 assists) in 78 games during the 1989-90 season.

The second line would have been comprised of Skriko of the Vancouver Canucks (48 points; 15 goals, 33 assists in 77 games), Ruuttu of the Buffalo Sabres (60 points; 19 goals, 41 assists in 75 games) and Makela, who split the season between the Islanders and the Los Angeles Kings. He had 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in 65 games.

Summanen played his fifth and last NHL season in 1987-88 for the Canucks, then continued playing in Europe and retired in 1995. He would have been on the third line with Ojanen, who played 64 games (17 goals, 30 points) for the New Jersey Devils in 1989-90, and the Quebec Nordiques’ Jarvi, who had 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in 41 games that season.

Jarvenpaa, Kekalainen and Haanpaa would have been the fourth line. Jarvenpaa played with the Winnipeg Jets in 1988-89, returned to Europe and retired six years later. Kekalainen, who would later become the first European general manager in the NHL with the Columbus Blue Jackets, played for the Boston Bruins in 1989-90. Haanpaa played his third and last NHL season in 1987-88 for the Islanders, returned to Europe and retired in 2002.

Anssi Melametsa would have been the 13th forward. In 1985-86 he played his only NHL season for the Jets before returning to Europe. He retired after the 1993-94 season.

Defensemen (7)

Teppo Numminen -- Jyrki Lumme

Reijo Ruotsalainen -- Ville Siren

Jari Gronstrand -- Risto Siltanen

Kari Eloranta

Five Finnish defensemen played in the NHL in 1989-90: Numminen, Lumme, Ruotsalainen, Siren and Gronstrand. Of those five, the right-shot Numminen (6-foot-2, 198 pounds) and the left-shot Lumme (6-1, 210) would have been an obvious choice to be the top pair. They were smart players with lots of hockey sense and size.

A two-time Stanley Cup champion and one of the best Finnish defensemen of all time, Ruotsalainen split the 1989-90 season between the Devils and the Oilers, and he would have been partnered with the Minnesota North Stars’ Siren, the future head amateur scout for the Blue Jackets, on a solid second pair.

Gronstrand, who played for the Nordiques and the Islanders in 1989-90, and Siltanen would have made the third pair. Siltanen had 39 points (10 goals, 29 assists) for the Nordiques in 1986-87, returned to Europe after the season and retired 10 years later.

Eloranta would have been the 7th defenseman. He played his fifth and final NHL season for the Calgary Flames in 1986-87, then returned to Europe and retired after the 1996-97 season.

Goalies (3)

Kari Takko

Jarmo Myllys

Hannu Kamppuri

Takko and Myllys each played for the North Stars in 1989-90. They challenged each other between the pipes, and the more experienced Takko was ahead of Myllys on the depth chart, as he would have been for Finland. Takko played 21 games (13 starts), finishing 4-12-0 with a 4.03 goals-against average, an .858 save percentage and one assist. Myllys played four games (three starts) finishing 0-3-0 with a 6.15 GAA and .805 save percentage.

Takko and Myllys were the only two Finnish goalies in the NHL in 1989-90, so Finland would have filled the third goalie spot with Kamppuri, then playing in his home country. He played his only NHL season for the Devils in 1984-85, then returned to Finland and retired after the 1989-90 season.