4 Nations Roster Remix: 1985 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 backwards 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 Sunday through Feb. 9.

Today, NHL.com/fi writer Varpu Sihvonen reveals what her Team Finland roster would've looked like in 1985.

Forwards (13)

Petri Skriko -- Matti Hagman -- Jari Kurri

Mikko Leinonen -- Kari Jalonen -- Ilkka Sinisalo

Jukka Porvari -- Raimo Helminen -- Arto Javanainen

Esa Tikkanen -- Risto Jalo -- Raimo Summanen

Mikko Makela

No question that Kurri would have been the MVP of Team Finland. He played for the Edmonton Oilers, finishing with NHL career highs of 71 goals, 64 assists, 135 points and a plus-78 rating. Skriko, a rookie with the Vancouver Canucks, had 35 points (21 goals, 14 assists) in 72 games. The NHL had no Finland-born centers in 1984-85. Hagman played his last NHL season for the Oilers in 1981-82, when he had 21 goals and 59 points in 72 games. He then played in Europe and retired in 1992.

Leinonen played his last NHL season for the Washington Capitals and had one assist in three games. He continued his career in Finland before retiring in 1987. Sinisalo, then with the Philadelphia Flyers, had one of his best NHL seasons in 1984-85 (36 goals, 73 points, plus-31 in 70 games). Jalonen split his last NHL season (1983-84) between the Calgary Flames and Oilers. He returned to Europe and retired after the 1995-96 season.

Javanainen played 14 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1984-85 and Porvari eight for the New Jersey Devils in 1982-83. The other Finnish center in the NHL before 1984-85 was one of the country's pioneers, Veli-Pekka Ketola. His career in North America started with the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association in 1974-75. Ketola played his only NHL season for the Colorado Rockies in 1981-82. He retired in Finland the next season and wouldn't have been available, so the third-line center would have been Helminen, who didn't debut in the NHL until 1985-86, when he had 40 points in 66 games for the New York Rangers.

Jalo didn't reach the NHL until 1985-86 and played only three games for the Oilers. Summanen played for Edmonton from 1983-87 before skating two seasons with Vancouver. Tikkanen made his NHL debut with the Oilers during the 1985 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He went on to have 630 points (244 goals, 386 assists) in 877 games. Makela would've been the 13th forward. He was a rookie with the New York Islanders in 1985-86.

Defensemen (7)

Reijo Ruotsalainen -- Risto Siltanen

Hannu Virta -- Timo Jutila

Kari Eloranta -- Timo Blomqvist

Petteri Lehto

Ruotsalainen enjoyed his best NHL season for the Rangers in 1984-85. He had 73 points (28 goals, 45 assists) and 30 points on the power play in 80 games. Siltanen played for the Hartford Whalers and had 45 points (12 goals, 33 assists) in 76 games, 32 on the man-advantage.

Virta (24 points in 51 games) and Jutila (six points in 10 games) played for the Buffalo Sabres in 1984-85. It was Jutila's only NHL season. He continued playing in Europe and retired after the 1998-99 season. Eloranta (13 points in 65 games with the Calgary Flames) and Blomqvist (five points in 53 games for the Capitals) would have made up the third pair. Lehto played his only NHL season for the Penguins.

Goalies (3)

Hannu Kamppuri

Markus Mattsson

Jari Kaarela

Kamppuri was the only Finnish goalie who played in the NHL in 1984-85, going 1-10-1 with a 5.11 goals-against average and .845 save percentage in 13 games (11 starts) for the Devils.

Mattson, a pioneer for his country at the position, played his last NHL season for the Los Angeles Kings in 1983-84, going 7-8-2 with a 4.32 GAA and .851 save percentage in 19 games before returning to Finland and playing two seasons for Tappara in SM-liiga. He allowed Wayne Gretzky's first goal in his first WHA game as a member of the Oilers when Edmonton defeated Winnipeg 4-3 at Northlands Coliseum on Nov. 3, 1978. Mattsson was also in goal when Gretzky's 51-point scoring streak ended in Edmonton's 4-2 loss to Los Angeles on Jan. 28, 1984.

Kaarela played his first and only NHL season for the Rockies in 1980-81. He was 2-2-0 with a 6.00 GAA and .809 save percentage in five games (four starts).