4 Nations Roster Remix: 1995 United States 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 Friday and Sunday through Feb. 9.

Today, NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen reveals what his Team USA roster would've looked like in 1995.

Forwards (13)

Keith Tkachuk -- Mike Modano -- Jeremy Roenick

Scott Young -- Doug Weight -- Brett Hull

John LeClair -- Bryan Smolinski -- Tony Amonte

Shawn McEachern -- Pat LaFontaine -- Bill Guerin

Joel Otto

Twelve of the 13 forwards here were part of the United States roster that won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. Roenick is the one who didn't participate in that seminal tournament for USA Hockey because of an injury. Guerin played on a line with Modano and Tkachuk in the '96 World Cup, but Roenick, who had 34 points (10 goals, 24 assists) in 33 games in 1994-95, would be as much or more of a scoring threat on the top line. Guerin, with his power forward game, fits on any line, and would certainly help be a driver of the fourth line with LaFontaine and Deadmarsh. The middle two lines are what they were in the 1996 World Cup. If they had chemistry in 1996, it stands to reason they would in 1995 too. Hull (11 points) and Leclair (10) were the leading scorers in the '96 tournament. Weight had seven points in seven games. Otto is listed as a 13th forward, but if the United States wanted to go bigger and put more experience in the lineup, Otto (6-foot-4, 220-pounds) could replace McEachern.

Defensemen (7)

Brian Leetch -- Derian Hatcher

Gary Suter -- Chris Chelios

Mathieu Schneider -- Phil Housley

Kevin Hatcher

All seven defensemen were part of the 1996 World Cup team. Housley played only one game in the tournament, but the Hockey Hall of Famer could easily be in the top six. So could Kevin Hatcher, who also plays a strong offensive game. In fact, the U.S. has a lot of offensive weapons at the position with Leetch, Suter, Housley, Chelios, Schneider and Kevin Hatcher. Derian Hatcher is the obvious stay-at-home, physical defenseman, but Suter and Chelios play that way too. Leetch is one of the best puck-rushing defensemen in NHL history. That's why it makes sense to play him with Derian Hatcher. Suter and Chelios give the U.S. a mix of everything, and a third pair with any combination of Schneider, Housley and Kevin Hatcher would keep the puck moving, especially out of the defensive zone and through the neutral zone.

Goalies (3)

Mike Richter

John Vanbiesbrouck

Jim Carey

Richter is the obvious choice. He was the preeminent U.S. goalie of the 1990s and a Stanley Cup champion with the New York Rangers in 1994. Vanbiesbrouck was one of the top U.S. goalies in the mid-1990s who helped groom Richter at the start of the latter's NHL career. Carey was an up-and-comer who rose to prominence with the Washington Capitals in 1994-95 and won the 1996 Vezina Trophy voted as the best goalie in the NHL. He's the No. 3 goalie looking to gain insight from Richter and Vanbiesbrouck with the hope that he could be the future of U.S. goaltending.