4 Nations Roster Remix: 2000 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 staff writer Tracey Myers reveals what her Team USA roster would've looked like in 2000.

Forwards (13)

John LeClair -- Mike Modano -- Brett Hull

Keith Tkachuk -- Jeremy Roenick -- Bill Guerin

Doug Weight -- Chris Drury -- Tony Amonte

Brian Rolston -- Scott Young -- Jamie Langenbrunner

Adam Deadmarsh

For my guidelines I consulted the U.S. rosters for the 1998 Nagano Olympics and 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, as well as how players were doing with their respective teams within that window. This was tough, given that some of the United States' greatest players (in my opinion) were thriving during these years. Modano and Hull on the same line was a given, considering they just came off winning the Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999. That second line brings just the right amount of nasty and production. The third line features an up-and-coming Drury, who had won the Calder Trophy in 1999 with the Colorado Avalanche. Rounding out the fourth line is a mix that includes the "Swiss Army knife,” which is how U.S. defenseman Brian Leetch described Young. Deadmarsh as the 13th forward supplies championship experience from his Stanley Cup win with the Avalanche in 1996, and he also played on 1998 Olympic team (and would be there again in 2002).

Defensemen (7)

Derian Hatcher -- Brian Rafalski

Brian Leetch -- Chris Chelios

Gary Suter -- Mathieu Schneider

Phil Housley

Hatcher and Rafalski were in their prime so that’s my top pair; Hatcher had won the Cup and was Dallas' captain in 1999, and Rafalski would win it with the New Jersey Devils in 2000. Leetch and Chelios make up my steady, sturdy second pair. I’m guessing Schneider would have been on the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic team if not for a groin/abdominal injury that kept him out of consideration. Since he would have been healthy for this tournament in 2000, he’s here. Housley was nearing the end of his NHL career (he announced his retirement Jan. 16, 2004) but still was playing strong hockey around this time, so he’s included. Same with Suter, who played 76 games with the San Jose Sharks in 1999-2000.

Goalies (3)

Mike Richter

Tom Barrasso

Mike Dunham

Richter's spot is self-explanatory, but in case some justification is needed: he spent his 14-season NHL career with the New York Rangers, led them to the Stanley Cup in 1994 and led the 2002 U.S. Olympic team to silver. Barrasso, inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2023, was coming off a good season with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1998-99 (also a two-time Cup winner with them). I know he was nearing the end of his 19-season NHL career (he retired in 2003) but still was playing well. Dunham was on the 2002 Olympic team (as was Barrasso), and was putting in solid work for the Nashville Predators this season. I left John Vanbiesbrouck off my roster because, while he was on the 1998 Olympic team, he played one minute of one game.