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4 Nations Face-Off Shows How Much NHL Has Changed

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4 nations face-off
Sasha Barkov is one of four Finnish Florida Panthers playing at the NHL’s 4 Nations ace-Off which starts tonight in Montreal. // Photo @GeorgeRichards

The NHL’s new 4 Nations Face-Off opens tonight in Montreal and shows just how international the game has become.

Four countries are represented — Canada, the United States, Finland, and Sweden — all with NHL players.

This hockey junkie began following the game some 65 years ago when the NHL was basically an all-Canadian league.

The thought of American or European players achieving stardom in the NHL was almost as preposterous as the prospect of professional hockey in Florida.

Who would have thought?

In 1959-60, the year the United States surprised the world by winning gold in Squaw Valley, a total of 153 players played at least one game in the six-team NHL, according to nhl.com.

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Of that total, 149 were born in Canada; two were born in Europe but raised in Canada (Stan Mikita and Jack Evans);and two (Charlie Burns and Jack McCarten) were American born.

McCarten was the USA Olympic goalie who had a four-game NHL career.

Over the next several pre-expansion years, a few Americans made token NHL appearances, but only Burns and American Olympian Tommy Williams were non-Canadian NHL regulars.

According to soundofhockey.com, 41.1 percent of the NHL’s players are Canadian-born, and 29 percent are from the U.S.

The remainder are Europeans, except for the Blues’ Nathan Walker who is Australian.

The Rangers were pioneers in 1964-65 when they brought Ulf Sterner, born and raised in Sweden. 

He was a star player in Europe but couldn’t hack the physical play in the NHL and lasted only four games. He returned to Europe, where he played for another fourteen seasons.

Swedes had to overcome a prejudice of not being physical enough for the NHL. Borje Salming was the first Swedish superstar. He also proved he could handle the physical side of the game.

Salming and Inge Hammarström entered the NHL with Toronto in 1973-74. While Salming had a Hall of Fame career, Hammarström didn’t last nearly as long.

So disenchanted was then Leafs’ owner Harold Ballard about Hammarström’s lack of physical play that he once remarked, “Hammarström can go into the corner with a dozen eggs in his pocket and not break one of them.”

Times have changed. According to quanthockey.com there are now 93 Swedish players in the NHL — including top Florida defenseman Gus Forsling, who is part of Sweden’s team at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

The first Finnish NHL player was Albert Pudas, who played four games for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1926-27. He was raised in Canada.

The first NHL regular was Pentti Lund, who played 259 games for the Rangers and Bruins in the late 40s and early 50s.

Lund, too, was born in Finland but came to Canada at a young age.

Lund won the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year in 1948-49. He ended his NHL career with 44 goals and 99 points in 259 games.

The first Finnish-born and trained player was Matti Hagman, who made his debut with the Boston Bruins during the 1976-77 season. Hagman also played with the Quebec Nordiques of the WHA and the Edmonton Oilers where he helped mentor Jari Kurri early in his career.

Two Finnish-born players are in the NHL Hall of Fame,  Kurri and Teemu Selanne.

Still, there have been many star players from Finland: Saku Koivu, Kimmo Timonen, Teppo Numminen, Pekka Rinne, ex-Panther Olli Jokinen, just to name a few.

Sasha Barkov is the first Finnish-born captain to hoist the Stanley Cup. He will also captain Finland in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

According to quanthockey.com there are currently 51 Finnish-born players in the NHL.

For the record, Florida has eight players in the tournament, most of any NHL team.

The Panthers are the only team to have a player on each squad.

4 NATIONS FACE-OFF SCHEDULE

At Bell Center, Montreal

  • Tonight: Canada vs. Sweden, 8 p.m. (MAX, truTV, TNT)
  • Thursday: United States vs. Finland, 8 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN+)
  • Saturday: Finland vs. Sweden, 1 p.m. (ABC, ESPN+); United States vs. Canada, 8 p.m. (ABC, ESPN+)

At TD Garden, Boston

  • Monday: Canada vs. Finland, 1 p.m. (MAX, truTV, TNT); Sweden vs. United States, 8 p.m. (MAX, truTV, TNT)
  • Thursday, Feb. 20: Championship game, 8 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN+)
ON DECK: GAME No. 58
SEATTLE KRAKEN at FLORIDA PANTHERS

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