NHL Winter Olympics all-time roster for Finland led by Selanne's skill, Lehtinen's smarts

NHL players will make a much-anticipated return at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

For the first time since 2014 in Sochi, the best hockey players in the world will be back on the biggest international stage, with 12 countries vying for the gold medal.

NHL players first went to the Winter Olympics in 1998 (Nagano), and returned in 2002 (Salt Lake City), 2006 (Turin), 2010 (Vancouver) and 2014.

Each of those Olympics featured incredible players, but what if the countries had to pare down all the NHL players from those five Olympics into one team?

That's what NHL.com has done, putting together all-time Olympic rosters of NHL players for select countries.

Today, NHL.com senior director of editorial Shawn P. Roarke, staff writer Tracey Myers and NHL.com/fi writer Sami Haapasalo present their all-time roster for Team Finland:

Explore NHL.com's Coverage of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026

FORWARDS (14)

Aleksander Barkov
Valtteri Filppula
Mikael Granlund
Niklas Hagman
Raimo Helminen
Olli Jokinen
Jussi Jokinen
Mikko Koivu
Saku Koivu
Jari Kurri
Jere Lehtinen
Ville Peltonen
Teemu Selanne
Esa Tikkanen

As is always the case with any Finnish team, the all-time NHL-era Olympic team has a mix of goal-scoring, guile and grit. The scoring is headlined by Selanne, the brilliantly gifted member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He played in each of the five Olympics in the NHL era and had 32 points (17 goals, 15 assists) in 29 games. He won a silver medal (2006) and the bronze three times (1998, 2010, 2014), and was named best forward in 2006 and tournament most valuable player in 2014. His point total doesn’t even count the 1992 Olympics in which he had 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in eight games. Saku Koivu chased Selanne neck to neck; he had 23 points (five goals, 18 assists) in 20 games across three Olympics and tied Selanne as the tournament's top scorer in 1998 and 2006. Lehtinen, the current Finland national team general manager, played in four NHL-era Olympics. He was a clutch scorer who played phenomenal defense. Filppula scored three goals in six games for the 2010 team, but missed the 2014 Games because of injury. He won gold in 2022 and is the first Finnish player to be a member of the Triple Gold club. Helminen, who played 117 NHL games, had three points (two goals, one assist) in 10 Olympic games during the NHL era, but he was the long-time glue for the Finland, playing in 331 games with the senior national team. Peltonen was the heartbeat of the team during the NHL era, winning one silver medal (2006) and two bronze (1998, 2010). He had 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in 20 games across three tournaments -- Roarke

DEFENSEMEN (7)

Lasse Kukkonen
Jyrki Lumme
Janne Niinimaa
Teppo Numminen
Sami Salo
Kimmo Timonen
Sami Vatanen

Timonen played in each of the five Olympics of the NHL era, winning silver in 2006 and bronze three times (1998, 2010, 2014). He ended his 16-season NHL career after winning the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015. Numminen, the highest-scoring Finnish defenseman in NHL history with 637 points (117 goals, 520 assists), played 1,372 NHL games and was one of the most respected Finnish players of his time. He has two Olympic medals (bronze in 1998, silver in 2006) from the NHL era. Lumme (15 seasons) and Niinimaa (10) each had lengthy NHL careers and won bronze in 1998 and represented Finland in the 2002 Olympics. Salo played nearly 900 NHL games and has three Olympic medals (silver in 2006, bronze in 2010 and 2014), as does Kukkonen, who had only a four-season stint in the NHL but was a cornerstone of the national team's defense for many years. Vatanen spent nine seasons in the NHL and won bronze in 2014. -- Haapasalo

GOALIES (2)

Miikka Kiprusoff
Tuukka Rask

Kiprusoff and Rask each led his respective Olympic team to a bronze medal. Kiprusoff did it in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, when he was 3-2 with a 2.64 goals-against average, .894 save percentage and one shutout in five games. Rask led the Finns at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, going 3-1 with a 1.73 GAA, .937 save percentage and one shutout in four games. They also had had a few things in common on the NHL front. Each spent the bulk of his career with one team (Kiprusoff with the Calgary Flames, Rask the Boston Bruins), and each won the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the League's top goaltender (Kiprusoff in 2005-06, Rask in 2013-14). Rask won the Stanley Cup in 2010-11, while Kiprusoff reached the Final in 2003-04. -- Myers