NHL Power Rankings: The international moments teams will remember forever

The 4 Nations Face-Off — which begins Wednesday — may not be a tournament we have any history with. And nobody is here to claim it’s going to feel the same as the Olympics.

But ask yourself this: When Canada and Team USA — with Connor McDavid wearing the Maple Leaf for the first time at a best-on-best and Auston Matthews doing the same for the stars and stripes — drop the puck in Montreal one week from Saturday, do you think every guy in that rink will be playing like it’s Game 7 of a playoff series?

Me too.

With respect to the always-fun world championship and world juniors, international competition has been a huge hole in the hockey scene the past 10 years and it’s beyond exciting to have the 4 Nations here to usher in a period where we’re going to get NHL participation in Olympics and World Cups.

The goal for any player suiting up for the national team is — in over-the-top terms — to bring honour to his country on the field of play. Of course, by extension, you’re also doing your club team proud when you go out and achieve great things on the world hockey scene.

With that in mind, we’re using this week’s power rankings to highlight moments where each NHL club could be proud of a player (or even coach) thanks to his performance at an international event.

For the record, we’re linking players to the teams they were associated with at the time of the international tournament.

1. Winnipeg Jets (38-14-3): There hasn’t been a lot of best-on-best hockey in the Jets 2.0 era. Of course, from the original Jets, Dale Hawerchuk played a significant and somewhat cheeky role in Mario Lemieux’s legendary tally that won the 1987 Canada Cup. It was Hawerchuk who won the critical defensive-zone faceoff against Vyacheslav Bykov with just over 90 seconds to go that allowed Canada to grab possession of the puck. As the boys flew up ice, Hawerchuk tugged Bykov from behind in the neutral zone — hey, it was the ’80s! — and pulled him to the ice, creating the space Wayne Gretzky and Lemieux needed to perform their magic.

2. Washington Capitals (35-11-7): Alex Ovechkin-led Russian teams just did not have the success you would have expected at the Olympics. That said, it was a true holy bleep! moment when — at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver — Ovi absolutely levelled KHLer Jaromir Jagr right at centre ice. Caps legend Peter Bondra scored seven goals in nine outings at the 2002 world championship, when Slovakia won its only gold medal at the event. John Carlson delivered just the second American gold at the world juniors with an overtime winner against Canada in 2010.

3. Dallas Stars (34-18-1): We’re saving one from the Minnesota North Stars days for the Wild, if you don’t mind. Derian Hatcher drew the assist on Tony Amonte’s tournament-winning goal at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey by firing the puck toward Canadian goalie Curtis Joseph, who was beaten by Amonte’s tip.

4. Edmonton Oilers (34-16-4): Nobody who witnessed it will ever forget the preposterous sight of seeing Wayne Gretzky team up with Mario Lemieux — both at the heigh of their powers — at the ’87 Canada Cup. That said, let’s recall the work of Paul Coffey at the 1984 Canada Cup. After Canada scraped through the round robin, they were on the verge of being knocked out of the tournament in the semifinals by a Soviet team that had yet to lose. In overtime, Coffey executed a perfect poke-check to break up a 2-on-1, headed back up ice and eventually put the shot on goal that Mike Bossy tipped home for the winner. Canada went on to beat Sweden in a best-of-three final to win the Cup.

5. Toronto Maple Leafs (32-19-2): “Henderson has scored for Canada!” Four years after Henderson’s goal that won the 1972 Summit Series versus the Soviets, Maple Leaf Darryl Sittler scored the goal that clinched the 1976 Canada Cup in overtime versus Czechoslovakia. Also at that tournament, Sweden’s Borje Salming received a standing ovation from the Canadian crowd at Maple Leaf Gardens for his trailblazing excellence. What a decade (internationally) for the Buds!

6. Carolina Hurricanes (32-18-4): Eric Staal became a member of the exclusive ‘Triple Gold Club’ when he won and Olympic title in 2010. Staal is one of just 30 players to have a Stanley Cup (2006), World Championship (2007) and Olympic gold on his resume and all that winning came when he was with the Canes.

7. Florida Panthers (32-20-3): Roberto Luongo began as Martin Brodeur’s backup at the 2004 World Cup, but was suddenly thrust into action in the semifinal when a wrist injury sidelined Brodeur for a game. Luongo — who had an all-time showing at the 1999 world juniors when he was still Islanders property — stepped in and backstopped Canada to a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory against the Czech Republic.

8. Minnesota Wild (31-19-4): Neal Broten was a North Stars third-rounder when he helped the ‘Miracle on Ice’ squad shock the world with Olympic gold in 1980. Broten, of course, is also a ‘State of Hockey’ native, hailing from Roseau, Minn. Kirill Kaprizov was still a prospect Wild fans were dreaming on when he scored the overtime winner for the Olympic Athletes from Russia at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. It was the first Olympics in 24 years that did not include NHLers.

9. New Jersey Devils (30-19-6): Martin Brodeur was the man for Canada at the 2002 Games, replacing Curtis Joseph after one game and leading the Red and White to its first Olympic gold in 50 years. Zach Parise scored the game-tying goal in the 2004 WJC final versus Canada that pushed the affair to OT, where Team USA won its first-ever world junior gold. Parise was MVP of the tournament.

10. Detroit Red Wings (28-21-5): Nick Lidstrom drilled the game-winner eight seconds into the third period to give Sweden its first-ever best-on-best win at the 2006 Olympics in Italy, where they narrowly defeated their rivals from Finland 3-2 in the final. Steve Yzerman — who’d been a final cut from previous Canadian teams — scored the Game 1 overtime winner in the best-of-three 1996 World Cup of Hockey final against Team USA.

11. Los Angeles Kings (28-17-6): Anze Kopitar, of course, is the face of Slovenian hockey, having competed for his home nation at numerous World Championships and the 2014 Olympics. Drew Doughty was barely 20 years old when he played for the Canadian squad that won 2010 Olympic gold on home ice in Vancouver and was back four years later to win gold again.

12. Vegas Golden Knights (31-17-6): Check back in two weeks. Vegas originally had seven guys going to the 4 Nations, but Canadian Alex Pietrangelo and Swede William Karlsson had to pull out. Goalie Adin Hill could be the key to the tourney for Canada. He’ll be joined by usual teammates Mark Stone and Shea Theodore, while Knights coach Bruce Cassidy is a Canadian assistant. Team USA will be leaning on Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin.

13. Ottawa Senators (29-21-4): Daniel Alfredsson was an assistant captain on the 2006 Swedish team that claimed Olympic gold. He finished with an impressive 5-5-10 line in the tournament. But the headline from that event, from a Sens perspective, was goalie Dominik Hasek sustaining an abductor injury at the event and being sidelined for the rest of the season during a year in which Ottawa had a great shot at the Cup.

14. Colorado Avalanche (31-22-2): The Mount Rushmore of international goals must include Peter Forsberg’s one-handed deke of Canada’s Corey Hirsch in the 1994 shootout that won Sweden’s first-ever Olympic gold. The technique is known to this day as ‘The Forsberg’ and the moment was captured on a stamp in Sweden. In real time, you truly had no idea what you’d just seen. It was as if a 1950s basketball player just broke out a 360-degree dunk. Joe Sakic’s goal late in the 2002 gold medal game in Salt Lake City clinched the game for Canada and gave us Bob Cole’s all-time “Jooooeeee Saaaakic!” call.

15. Tampa Bay Lightning (28-20-4): Vincent Lecavalier, fresh off winning the 2004 Stanley Cup in Tampa, scored the overtime winner in the semifinal of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey to save Canada from a potential upset at the hands of the Czech Republic.

16. New York Islanders (25-21-7): Mike Bossy scored the OT winner in the 1984 Canada Cup semifinal that helped propel Canada to a tournament win and John Tonelli was named MVP of the event, as the Islanders brought their winning pedigree from that era. Defenceman Ken Morrow joined the Islanders shortly after being part of the ‘Miracle on Ice’ squad.

Also, can you name the one and only player — of 10 guys who made attempts — to score a goal in the 1998 Olympic semifinal shootout between Canada and the Czech Republic? It was Isles centre Robert Reichel, who beat Patrick Roy on the Czech Republic’s first attempt. Roy stopped four other Czech shooters, but no Canadian player could get one over the line behind Dominik Hasek.

17. Calgary Flames (26-20-7): Jarome Iginla scored two goals in the 2002 gold medal game versus Team USA. Of course, he also answered Sidney Crosby’s “Iggy!” call and dished the puck — after it had hit the referee — to Crosby before the latter slid it past Ryan Miller for the golden goal in 2010.

18. Columbus Blue Jackets (26-21-7): Rick Nash was a monster at the 2007 world championship, leading Canada to gold with two tallies in the final game. The second of Nash’s goals — which put the game out of reach late — was deposited with defender Pekka Saravo basically looking like a Finnish backpack draped all over No. 61.

19. Vancouver Canucks (24-18-11): It wasn’t always smooth, but Roberto Luongo guided Canada to 2010 Olympic gold in the same city where he was starring for the Canucks. The leading scorer at that event was Slovakian Pavol Demitra (10 points in seven contests), who was in his final NHL season that winter with Vancouver.

20. New York Rangers (26-23-4): How about a pair of goalie performances? Henrik Lundqvist was an NHL rookie when he backstopped Sweden to Olympic gold in 2006. With respect, that showing can’t equal what Mike Richter did for Team USA in 1996. In the winner-take-all third game of the final, Richter stood on his head for 50 minutes and bought his teammates enough time to write the storybook ending authored in the game’s final handful of minutes.

21. Boston Bruins (27-23-6): Brad Marchand scored the game winner with 44 seconds remaining in the contest to help Canada down *checks notes* Team Europe at the 2016 World Cup in Toronto. Paul Henderson’s Game 8 winner in 1972 will live forever, but Phil Esposito was Canada’s offensive engine during that entire set and cued the third-period, final-game comeback with the strike to pull Canada within one. That team was also coached by Bruins GM Harry Sinden. Four years later, at the 1976 Canada Cup, Bobby Orr was MVP of the tournament in what amounted to his final hoorah being what many considered — especially at the time — the best player anybody had ever seen.

22. Anaheim Ducks (23-24-6): Eight years after he was thwarted by Swede Tommy Salo in the shootout of the 1994 Olympic final, Paul Kariya got his redemption and got Canada rolling with his first-period marker in the 2002 gold-medal game against Team USA. The Americans were up 1-0 when Mario Lemieux let Brendan Shanahan’s feed pass through his legs to Kariya’s stick.

Ron Wilson was the coach who brought it all together for the group of Americans that won a generation-defining victory over Canada at the 1996 World Cup. Teemu Selanne tied teammate Saku Koivu for the scoring lead at the 2006 Olympics (11 points in eight games), but the pair couldn’t lead the lovable Finns to an upset win over Sweden in the final. (Believe it or not, Selanne and Koivu also tied for the scoring lead at the 1998 Olympics, too). 

23. Montreal Canadiens (25-24-5): Yvan Cournoyer was one of Canada’s best players in the ’72 series and scored the goal that tied Game 8 halfway through the third and set the stage for Henderson’s heroics. Ken Dryden was in goal for Canada in that contest, though to be fair, he did allow five goals. Carey Price didn’t surrender a single tally in Canada’s 3-0 gold medal-game win over Sweden at the 2014 Olympics and backstopped Canada to a World Cup victory two years later in ’16. Juraj Slafkovsky became a Slovakian legend by leading the 2022 Olympics with seven tallies, including two in the bronze medal-game.

24. Utah Hockey Club (22-22-9): Shane Doan — the forever face of the Arizona Coyotes — scored the game-winner 34 seconds into the third period as Canada edged Finland 3-2 in the one-game final of the 2004 World Cup.

25. Pittsburgh Penguins (22-24-9): Talk about an embarrassment of riches. Lemieux’s 1987 showing at the Canada Cup was outrageous, scoring the double-overtime winner in Game 2 of the final — considered the best game ever played by some — to keep Canada alive in the best-of-three set versus the Soviets. Next time out, we got his signature game-winner over the glove of Sergei Mylnikov in the dying minutes. All three games in that set ended 6-5, the same score as Game 8 in Moscow in 1972. Just as Henderson’s goal defined a generation that year, so too did Sidney Crosby’s golden goal in 2010.

26. St. Louis Blues (24-25-5): Brett Hull tied the decisive game of the 1996 World Cup 2-2 with just 3:18 to go. Hull also led the tourney in goals (seven) and points (11).

27. Philadelphia Flyers (23-25-7): Mike Keenan oversaw the 1987 Canadian team that won the three-game thriller over the Soviets. Bobby Clarke brought a 1970s Prairie hockey mentality to the Summit Series, where he cracked his oak tree of a hockey stick over the ankle of Russian whiz Valeri Kharlamov in Game 6 of what, hilariously, was technically an exhibition series. Clarke was a force for Canada in that eight-game set, as was John LeClair 24 years later for Team USA at the 1996 World Cup.

Rasmus Ristolainen became a hero in his home country with an OT winner for Finland against the Tre Kronor in Sweden at the 2014 WJC. Another Finn, goalie Antero Niittymaki, nearly led Finland to glory at the 2006 Olympics before falling to Sweden in the final. Niittymaki was brilliant in the tourney, earning MVP honours.

28. Buffalo Sabres (22-26-5): There may not be a more event-defining performance at an international tournament than what Dominik Hasek did at the 1998 Games, leading the Czech Republic to gold in the first Olympics to feature NHLers. Hasek left Nagano with a 0.97 goals-against average and .961 save percentage in six games. He didn’t allow a goal to Canada in the semifinal until Trevor Linden buried from in close with 63 seconds left in the game. After shutting the door in overtime and the shootout, Hasek blanked Russia in the final as the Czechs won the gold medal game 1-0. The party in Prague, it’s safe to say, was something else.

Somewhat lost to history is the fact another Sabres goalie, Ryan Miller, was MVP of the 2010 Games in a silver-medal showing.

29. Seattle Kraken (23-28-4): It’s a cheat, but remember how crazy clutch Jordan Eberle was at the WJC as an Oilers prospect? In 2009, he tied the gold-medal game with six ticks left in regulation and scored in the shootout as Canada downed Russia. A year later, Eberle scored two third-period goals in the decisive contest to pull Canada even with Team USA. The Canucks lost in OT, but Eberle’s heroics were undeniable.

30. Nashville Predators (18-27-7): Canada was going mad against Latvian goalie Kristers Gudlevskis in the quarterfinals of the 2014 Sochi Olympics. With the score somehow tied 1-1 and fewer than seven minutes to go in the third, Shea Weber bombed one past Gudlevskis and Canada escaped with a 2-1 victory over the pesky Latvians. Another Preds D-man, Roman Josi, is the face of Swiss hockey. Josi netted 12 points in 10 games at last spring’s worlds as Switzerland — which has never won gold at the worlds — claimed its third silver medal of the past 11 years.

31. Chicago Blackhawks (16-31-6): Tony Amonte was Captain America after he tipped home the shot that gave Team USA the late lead in the final game of the 1996 World Cup. The Americans trailed 2-1 with under four minutes to go but would not be denied and wound up scoring four times for a stunner of a 5-2 win.

Jonathan Toews — facing future Hawks teammate Patrick Kane — went three-for-three in a 2007 semifinal shootout versus Team USA at the world juniors (remember, international rules allowed the same player to attempt multiple times) and won gold with Canada one game later. Toews was also named best forward at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, where he played alongside teammates Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook on Canada. 

32. San Jose Sharks (15-34-6): The Sharks had two players — Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau — on the 2010 Canadian team that won Olympic gold and once again sent two — Marleau and Marc-Edouard Vlasic — in 2014, when Canada successfully defended its title.

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