Livescore
To capitalize on the hype surrounding the 4 Nations Face-Off, the NHL has released quarter-century teams for each of the participating nations – Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden.
Let’s have some fun and rank the four countries’ first-team quarter-century squads from the best onward:
1. Canada
The six players picked as Canada’s best in the past 25 years are head and shoulders above the rest of the field.
With forwards Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid, defensemen Drew Doughty and Chris Pronger and goalie Martin Brodeur, the Canadians have a whopping 10 Stanley Cup championships and eight Olympic gold medals to their credit. The only reason they don’t have more is because MacKinnon and McDavid haven’t had the opportunity to play in the Olympics yet.
Regardless, the Canadian quarter-century first team has combined for 5,061 points, and Pronger and Brodeur are already Hockey Hall of Famers. It wouldn’t be surprising if the other four players followed suit.
The rest of the teams have elite talent as well, but none of them can compare to Canada’s collection of determined superstars.
2. Sweden
Sweden’s first-team quarter-century squad narrowly beat out the Americans because, from our perspective, they’ve got the best player in the two groups – Red Wings icon Nicklas Lidstrom. He’s the closest thing there is to a flawless elite competitor and was an extremely dominant defenseman, winning the Norris Trophy seven times.
The Swedes also have more accomplished players for their national team and in the NHL. Nicklas Backstrom won the Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals, and Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Lidstrom and goalie Henrik Lundqvist won Olympic gold in 2006. Erik Karlsson also has three Norris Trophy wins, while he and Backstrom have Olympic silver medals and World Championship wins.
That international prowess puts them over the top for second spot on this list.
3. Team USA
Don’t get it twisted – we’re not here to run down the United States’ quarter-century team. There’s plenty of high-end talent here, including forwards Patrick Kane, Auston Matthews and Joe Pavelski, as well as D-men Adam Fox and Quinn Hughes and goaltender Jonathan Quick. Kane and Quick have multiple Cups on their resume, but the rest of the Americans do not. But the main reason they’re in third place and not in second is because they’re a relatively young bunch.
If we revisit these teams five or 10 years from now, the U.S. may well be at or near the top of these rankings. Matthews, Fox and Hughes, in particular, are likely to be much more accomplished by then. But for now, America’s quarter-century team still has to grow and impose their will in NHL playoffs and international games before they can reasonably be the best group on this list.
4. Finland
The plucky Finns have a terrific set of forwards on their quarter-century team, including three Cup champions in Aleksander Barkov, Mikko Rantanen and Teemu Selanne.
Defensemen Sami Salo and Kimmo Timonen were solid NHLers in their day, but they’re not in the same caliber as any of the D-men on the Canadian, American and Swedish teams.
In addition, Finnish goalie Pekka Rinne was also a strong goalie, but if you put him up against Quick, Lundqvist or Brodeur, most people would choose one of those three over Rinne. Again, this isn’t about tearing down these stars, but rankings require hard lines to be drawn.
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Related: How Could The Canada And USA 4 Nations Face-Off Final Get Any Better?
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