Finland Quarter-Century Teams selected by NHL.com during 4 Nations Face-Off

The 4 Nations Face-Off will take place in Montreal and Boston from Feb. 12-20. It is a best-on-best tournament with teams from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States featuring NHL players only.

To get fans ready for the 4 Nations Face-Off and to help celebrate the past quarter-century, NHL.com will be naming Quarter-Century Teams for each of the four nations.

Today, we present the First and Second Quarter-Century Teams for Finland, as selected by the NHL.com/fi writers. The players, listed in alphabetical order, were judged based on their NHL stats and international contributions from Jan. 1, 2000, to Dec. 31, 2024.

FIRST TEAM

Forwards

Aleksander Barkov

Mikko Rantanen

Teemu Selanne

Defensemen

Sami Salo

Kimmo Timonen

Goalie

Pekka Rinne

Forwards: Barkov became the first Finland-born captain in the NHL to hoist the Stanley Cup last season with the Florida Panthers. He's won the Selke Trophy, given to the best defensive forward in the NHL, twice (2021, 2024), and the 2019 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, presented to the player that exhibited the best sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability. He led his country in the quarter century in plus/minus (plus-126) and was second in points (745). Rantanen is in a league of his own with his regular season points-per-game average of 1.10, with Barkov (0.97) a distant second. He was better in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with an average of 1.25 points per game, and he won the Cup with the 2021-22 Colorado Avalanche.

Selanne was first among Finland-born players in regular-season points (780) and scored the most goals (356) and game-winning goals (65). He won the Stanley Cup with the 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks and became the second Finland-born player after Jari Kurri to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame (Class of 2017). Selanne was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in 2006, given to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. In the past quarter century he won one Olympic silver medal (2006), two bronze (2010, 2014), and a bronze medal at the 2008 IIHF World Championship.

Defensemen: Timonen was first among defensemen in games played (1,024), goals (107), assists (428) and power-play points (314). He also played 105 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (35 points; four goals, 31 assists), most among his countrymen. The reliable and excellent puck-moving defenseman retired after 16 seasons when he lifted the Stanley Cup as a member of the 2014-15 Chicago Blackhawks. Salo was second in goals (90) and had the second-best plus/minus rating (plus-108) after Esa Lindell (plus-114). He was first in game-winning goals (23) and played 98 postseason games.

Goalie: Rinne was selected by the Nashville Predators in the eighth round (No. 258) of the 2004 NHL Draft and became a diamond in the rough. He was first during the quarter century in games played (683), starts (667), wins (369) and shutouts (60), and he scored into an empty net against the Blackhawks on Jan. 9, 2020. Rinne was named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the NHL four times, and won it in 2018. He helped Nashville to its first Stanley Cup Final in 2017, a six-game loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and retired after the 2020-21 season, when he was awarded the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, presented to a player for leading on the ice and off it with humanitarian work.

SECOND TEAM

Forwards

Valtteri Filppula

Olli Jokinen

Mikko Koivu

Defensemen

Miro Heiskanen

Olli Maatta

Goalie

Tuukka Rask

Forwards: Among Finland-born forwards in the past quarter-century, Jokinen was first in regular-season games (1,122), second in goals (310), third in points (723) and power-play goals (93), and scored the most goals at even strength (205). Koivu was third at his position in games (1,035), first in assists (505) and fourth in points (711). Filppula was second in games (1,056), first among all Finland-born skaters in playoff games (166) and second to Rantanen (101) in playoff points (86). He won the Stanley Cup with the 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings and gold at the 2022 World Championship and the 2022 Beijing Olympics, which made him the first (and so far, only) Finland-born member of the Triple Gold Club.

Defensemen: Heiskanen outshined his countrymen at his position with an average of 0.60 points per game. Joni Pitkanen (0.53) and Timonen (0.52) were second and third, and Heiskanen only has been in the League since 2018-19. Among Finland-born defensemen, Heiskanen is fourth in goals (57) and fifth in assists (218) and points (275), and won gold at the 2022 Worlds. Maatta played the fifth-most regular season games (718) and has the third-best plus/minus rating (plus-80). He is a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Penguins (2016, 2017).

Goalie: Rask won the Stanley Cup with the 2010-11 Boston Bruins and was voted winner of the 2014 Vezina Trophy. He was first in save percentage (.921) and goals-against average (2.28) among Finland goalies who played a minimum 200 games.