Would Finland be better than Canada if the Selänne generation where in their prime right now?

[Eye of Ra]

Jere Lehtinen - Saku Koivu - Teemu Selänne
Teuvo Teräväinen - Sebastian Aho - Mikko Rantanen
Roope Hintz - Sasha Barkov - Patrik Laine
Olli Jokinen - Mikko Koivu - Mikael Granlund

Kimmo Timonen - Sami Salo
Miro Heiskanen - Teppo Numminen
Joni Pitkänen - Esa Lindell

Miika Kiprusoff
Pekka Rinne
Tuuka Rask

Would this be enough to overtake Canada as the gold favorites?

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[ORRFForever]

Canada has 2 generational talents on their roster so I'd say no.

 

[Mathieukferland]

No

 

[McRpro]

ei todellakaan

 

[Czechboy]

I think the current generation has as good a chance as this dream team.

 

[ORRFForever]

I think the current generation has as good a chance as this dream team.

 

[Stephen]

Jere Lehtinen - Saku Koivu - Teemu Selänne
Teuvo Teräväinen - Sebastian Aho - Mikko Rantanen
Roope Hintz - Sasha Barkov - Patrik Laine
Olli Jokinen - Mikko Koivu - Mikael Granlund

Kimmo Timonen - Sami Salo
Miro Heiskanen - Teppo Numminen
Joni Pitkänen - Esa Lindell

Miika Kiprusoff
Pekka Rinne
Tuuka Rask

Would this be enough to overtake Canada as the gold favorites?

Something about starting Saku Koivu at number one center when you have Sebastian Aho and Aleksander Barkov seems off to me.

Also, that goaltending depth is absolutely going to waste. That's 3x national team quality goalies.

 

[centipede2233]

It possible they could definitely beat Canada in a one game elimination, but out of 10 games, I’d expect Canada to win 8

 

[Lartsaman]

Finland would be 7th best nation no matter who plays. And in best-of-best tournaments the bronze is the maximum achievement for a little stubborn Finland, the everlasting underdogs.

 

[FiLe]

Something about starting Saku Koivu at number one center when you have Sebastian Aho and Aleksander Barkov seems off to me.

That's because you're comparing them as individuals. It's not just Koivu - it's that entire line. From 1998 to 2006 Lehtinen-Koivu-Selänne was perhaps the best line in all of international hockey. It was the biggest factor, along with stellar goaltending, for Finland capturing three best-on-best medals (olympic bronze, World Cup silver, olympic silver) in that timeframe. (The only time Finland didn't medal in best-on-best in that timeframe was SLC 2002, when Koivu was sidelined due to his battle with cancer.) Also, that line was together one last time in Vancouver 2010 when Finland won another bronze, but then they didn't have such an impact anymore.

While there were definitely better individuals in the game back then, and have been since, somehow Finland stumbled upon a line that was far more than the sum of its parts. In their prime, Lehtinen-Koivu-Selänne was basically the Finnish equivalent for Krutov-Larionov-Makarov, so their spot as the first line in a fantasy roster like this is well deserved.

As for the question presented in the topic, I have a hard time saying if that lineup would otherwise be better than present Canada. What we can say is that that one line in its prime was good enough to challenge anybody, no speculations required, but the rest of the units are more randomly strung together, so there's no telling if they would click as well. Perhaps we'll see the beginnings of another international Finnish superline in Beijing, but as of this moment I'm not going to predict who might be on it.

 

[IceHockeyDude]

No. Combine Finland's and Sweden's current rosters we would make it a competition on best out of 10.

 

[JackSlater]

It's not really better on paper. Who knows if the team would play better than its names suggest as often happened for Finland.

 

[heksagon]

Finland would be 7th best nation no matter who plays. And in best-of-best tournaments the bronze is the maximum achievement for a little stubborn Finland, the everlasting underdogs.

Good effort, but the bait was a bit too obvious. Need to take notes from mulletman.

 

[mattihp]

Jyrki Lumme would be there ahead of Pitkänen and Lindell.

 

[Erikfromfin]

Something like this...

Jere Lehtinen - Saku Koivu - Teemu Selänne
Esa Tikkanen - Aleksander Barkov - Jari Kurri
Sebastian Aho - Olli Jokinen - Mikko Rantanen
Christian Ruuttu - Mikko Koivu - Sami Kapanen
Matti Hagman
Patrik Laine

Kimmo Timonen - Teppo Numminen
Jyrki Lumme - Reijo Ruotsalainen
Miro Heiskanen - Sami Salo
Pekka Rautakallio - Lasse Kukkonen

Miikka Kiprusoff
Pekka Rinne
Tuukka Rask

 

[Eye of Ra]

Jyrki Lumme would be there ahead of Pitkänen and Lindell.

peter forsberg said pitkänen is the best defender he ever played with

 

[FiLe]

Jyrki Lumme would be there ahead of Pitkänen and Lindell.

Lumme was born in 1966, so it's a bit questionable if he can be considered a part of that generation that was prominent in Finnish hockey roughly from the mid-90s to the late 2000s. Of course, he's not that much older than Selänne...

Something like this...

Somebody didn't read (or understand) the topic. It's not about the all-time best Team Finland with every player ever in their hypothetical prime, but the "Selänne generation" (a.k.a. the 70- and the early 80-borns) plus the present 90-born generation. Some of those players like Kurri, Hagman and Rautakallio are definitely too old to be counted amongst that.

Also, where's Raipe?

 

[Erikfromfin]

Lumme was born in 1966, so it's a bit questionable if he can be considered a part of that generation that was prominent in Finnish hockey roughly from the mid-90s to the late 2000s. Of course, he's not that much older than Selänne...

Somebody didn't read (or understand) the topic. It's not about the all-time best Team Finland with every player ever in their hypothetical prime, but the "Selänne generation" (a.k.a. the 70- and the early 80-borns) plus the present 90-born generation. Some of those players like Kurri, Hagman and Rautakallio are definitely too old to be counted amongst that.

Also, where's Raipe?

I read the title, didnt care and did my own thing. Guys like Helminen, Nummelin, Peltonen etc would be in if only national team achievements counted

 

[FiLe]

I read the title, didnt care and did my own thing.

'K. Dunno how that is supposed to contribute to the conversation, but whatever.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Would Russia be better, than Canada, if you add Krutov - Larionov - Makarov line to its roster... Yeah, cool game but useless...

 

[ijuka]

Obviously not.

 

[jfc64]

This is Finlands second team give or take...

Eeli Tolvanen - Anton Lundell - Jesse Puljujärvi
Artturi Lehkonen - Erik Haula - Rasmus Kupari
Joel Kiviranta - Valtteri Filppula - Janne Kuokkanen
Kristian Vesalainen - Eetu Luostarinen - Arttu Ruotsalainen

Markus Nutivaara - Jani Hakanpää
Juuso Välimäki - Mikko Lehtonen
Olli Juolevi - Ville Heinola

Mikko Koskinen
Kaapo Kähkönen

 

[jfc64]

Something like this...

Jere Lehtinen - Saku Koivu - Teemu Selänne
Esa Tikkanen - Aleksander Barkov - Jari Kurri
Sebastian Aho - Olli Jokinen - Mikko Rantanen
Christian Ruuttu - Mikko Koivu - Sami Kapanen
Matti Hagman
Patrik Laine

Kimmo Timonen - Teppo Numminen
Jyrki Lumme - Reijo Ruotsalainen
Miro Heiskanen - Sami Salo
Pekka Rautakallio - Lasse Kukkonen

Miikka Kiprusoff
Pekka Rinne
Tuukka Rask

not bad

 

[MMANumminen]

Pretty easily. Finns take it 8 out of 10

 

[Czechboy]

Would Russia be better, than Canada, if you add Krutov - Larionov - Makarov line to its roster... Yeah, cool game but useless...

Only if I get to add late 90s Jagr, Hamrlik, Slegr and Hasek to the Czech team.lol