Hull, Janney together on top line; Suter, Chelios could form No. 1 defense pair
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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 Tom Gulitti reveals what his Team USA roster would’ve looked like in 1990.
Kevin Stevens — Craig Janney — Brett Hull
Eddie Olczyk — Pat LaFontaine — Scott Young
Tony Granato — Jeremy Roenick — Mike Modano
Doug Brown — Joel Otto — Joe Mullen
Neal Broten
By 1990, the U.S. was a budding hockey superpower with players inspired by the “Miracle on Ice” gold medal at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics making their marks in the NHL. At the 1991 Canada Cup, the precursor to the World Cup of Hockey, the U.S. reached the final before losing to Canada. So, for this exercise, I used the U.S. roster from that tournament as a guideline with some tweaks. Modano was 19 in February 1990 and Roenick was 20, but they were immediate impact players as NHL rookies during the 1989-90 season. They played well on a line with Granato at the 1991 Canada Cup, so I kept them together. And though Janney didn’t join Hull with the St. Louis Blues until a 1992 trade with the Boston Bruins, it made sense to play them together on this team. Stevens wasn’t picked for the 1991 World Cup, but he was emerging as a top-line star with the Pittsburgh Penguins by then, so I added him to the forward group along with Young and Broten, who was an alumnus of the 1980 Olympic team and still a top-six forward in the NHL.
Canada, Finland, Sweden, United States go head-to-head Feb. 12-20 in Montreal, Boston
Gary Suter — Chris Chelios
Brian Leetch — Kevin Hatcher
Phil Housley — Craig Wolanin
Al Iafrate
The defense is also similar to the 1991 Canada Cup team roster. The two significant changes were Housley and Iafrate replacing Jim Johnson and Eric Weinrich. Housley’s skating and Iafrate’s big slap shot would be significant weapons to add to a group that already has a ton of offensive skill with Suter, Chelios, Leetch and Hatcher. The group also has good size and physicality with Hatcher (6-foot-3, 230 pounds), Wolanin (6-4, 215) and Chelios (6-0, 191). Leetch, Chelios, Suter, Hatcher and Housley would go on to help the U.S. win the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.
Jon Casey
John Vanbiesbrouck
Mike Richter
Casey established himself as one of the best goalies in the NHL in 1989-90, tying for the League lead in wins (31-22-4, 3.22 goals-against average, .896 save percentage, three shutouts) with the Minnesota North Stars. Vanbiesbrouck was nearly four years removed from winning the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie in 1985-86, but he was still a solid goalie for the New York Rangers. He was also a good mentor with the Rangers for Richter, who was 23 in 1990 but on his way to becoming one of the best U.S.-born goalies in NHL history. He was voted the tournament’s most valuable player in winning the 1996 World Cup and also took home a silver medal from the 2022 Salt Lake Olympics.
