The 2017 IIHF Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Yesterday was the 2017 IIHF Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, which saw six outstanding players inducted.

The IIHF Hall of Fame Class of 2017

First, was Saku Koivu, who began his international career for Finland at the 1992 European U18 Junior Championships. In 1993 he played in both the World Junior Championships as well as making his senior level World Championships debut. 1994 saw Koivu again play in the World Juniors before earning his first international medal with a bronze medal at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway at the age of 19. Later that spring, he won another medal, this time a silver at the World Championships.

Saku Koivu won an Olympic bronze medal in 2010

He was named as one of Finland's assistant captains for the 1995 World Championships, where he finished second in scoring with 5 goals and 10 points in 8 games as Finland won their first ever gold medal at the World Championship.

In 1996, Koivu played in the first World Cup of Hockey before he captained Finland to a bronze medal at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan where tied for the team lead in points with 10 in six games. He earned another silver medal at the 1999 World Championships, again as Finland's team captain.

His next international competition would come at the 2003 World Championships after missing the 2002 Olympics while overcoming cancer. This was followed by a second place finish at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, both again as team captain.

Koivu played in his third Olympics in 2006 in Torino, Italy, where he again tied for the team scoring lead with 11 points in 8 games while once again captain of Finland.

His final World Championships in 2008 saw him add another bronze to his collection before his final international appearance for Finland, this coming at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, where he captained Finland to a bronze medal.

In all, Koivu played in 20 games at the junior level in international competition, scoring 7 goals and 26 points. At the senior level, he played in 89 games, scoring 30 goals and 94 points. He played in one European U18 Championship, two World Juniors, seven World Championships, earning a bronze, two silver and a gold medal, one World Cup, with a second place finish, and four Olympics, winning three bronze and a silver. He was named Best Forward at the World Championships in 1995 and 1999, and led the 1998 and 2006 Olympics in scoring.

Today's featured Koivu jersey is a 1995 Finland National Team Saku Koivu jersey. This is the same style jersey used in the 1994 Olympic games and, while branded as a Reebok jersey, they were produced by Tackla using their mesh fabric and dye sublimation process. Visually, the only difference  between the Olympic jerseys and the World Championship version is the addition of the Warsteiner sponsorship patches to each arm.

The next player to be inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame was German Uwe Krupp, whose international career began during the days of separate teams for East and West Germany, with Krupp first suiting up for the West Germans at the 1983 U18 European Junior Championships and the U20 World Junior Championships. He played in a second U20 World Juniors in 1985.

Uwe Krupp

Krupp, a defenseman, made his World Championship debut in 1986 with his second World Championships coming in 1990, his last for the West Germans.

By the time of the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Germany had reunified and Krupp was able to make his Olympic debut thanks to the pros of the NHL now being allowed to compete.

Krupp, a defensive defenseman, scored 2 goals and 4 assists in his 21 international games. He also had a 15 year NHL career which included becoming the first German to win the Stanley Cup in 1996 followed by winning a second in 2002.

Following his playing career, Krupp returned to Germany and eventually became head coach of the German National Team from 2005 to 2011 at many levels, including the World Juniors, World Championships and Olympics, which included guiding the Germans to a semifinal appearance at the 2010 World Championships, their best result since 1976.

Today's featured Krupp jersey is a 1998 Germany National Team Uwe Krupp jersey. This style jersey was only worn at the 1998 Olympics with the heraldic eagle crest. Later in 1998 at the World Championships, the crest was changed to that of the German Ice Hockey Federation and worn through the 2000 World Championships.

 The third member of the Class of 2017 is Canadian Joe Sakic, whose international resume begins with the 1988 World Junior Championships, where Canada went 6-0-1 to win the gold medal.

Sakic making his Olympic debut in 1998

Sakic appeared at his first World Championships in 1991, leading Canada with 6 goals and 11 points in 10 games on the way to a silver medal.

His next World Championships came in 1994 where Sakic was third in team scoring with 4 goals and 7 points in 8 games as Canada would go 8-0 to win their first gold medal in 33 years following a shootout in the final.

The next time Sakic would wear the maple leaf for Canada was at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, where the Canadians would finish second.

Sakic's first Olympic Games came in 1998 followed by winning gold in his second Olympics in 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah. After going 1-1-1 in group play, the Canadians would find their game with Final Round wins over Finland, Belarus and the host United States as Sakic was named the tournament's MVP.

Sakic's gold medal at the 2002 Olympics gained him entry into the exclusive Triple Gold Club for players who have won World Championship gold, Olympic gold and the Stanley Cup, which he accomplished with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and 2001.

He would add to his already impressive resume by winning the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, where he tied for second place in scoring with 4 goals and 6 points in 6 games.

After being an assistant captain for the 1998 and 2002 Canadian Olympic teams, Sakic was chosen to captain Canada for his final international tournament, the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy.

In all, Sakic played in 48 international games at the senior level, scoring 22 goals and 41 points.

While his World Championship opportunities were limited by the successful teams he was a part of during his 20 year NHL career, 17 of which were as captain of the Quebec Nordiques and Avalanche, he is record is a stellar one, with gold medals at the World Juniors, World Championships and Olympics along with a World Cup and two Stanley Cups.

Today's featured Sakic jersey is a 1994 Canada National Team Joe Sakic jersey as worn during the 1994 World Championships during which Canada ended their 33 year World Championship drought.

The jersey is a Finnish made by Tackla, but branded as a Reebok jersey The jersey was produced using the dye sublimation process, in which all the graphics are created by injecting ink into the fabric, which is then cured with heat. This jersey also sports a pair of Warsteiner Beer sponsorship logos, giving the jersey it's unique World Championships look, as jerseys worn during the Olympics are free from advertising.

This multi-striped style was a short-lived one and used only for the 1994 and 1995 World Championships, as Nike arrived on the scene with all new designs for the 1996 World Championships.

The fourth member of this year's IIHF Hall of Fame Class Koivu's fellow Finn, Teemu Selanne. The Finnish Flash made his international debut at the 1988 European U18 Junior Championships, where he led all players in scoring with a dominating 7 goals and 16 points in just six games as Finland won the silver medal.

Selanne went out in style, winning a medal and being

named the tournament MVP at the 2014 Olympics

Selanne played in one U20 World Junior Championship in 1989, tying for the team lead with 10 points in 7 games.

He made his debut at the senior level at the 1991 World Championships, finishing one assist back of Jari Kurri for the team lead in points. Later that fall, Selanne was a member of the Finnish team at the 1991 Canada Cup.

Selanne made his Olympic debut at the 1992 Games in Albertville, France, coming in fourth in tournament scoring while leading the Finns with 7 goals and 11 points in 8 games.

In 1996, he returned to the World Championships, where he led Finland in scoring with 5 goals and 8 points in 8 games. Later that year, he played in the inaugural 1996 World Cup of Hockey as Finland's assistant captain.

He earned the second medal of his career at the 1998 Olympics, bringing back a bronze after leading all scorers with 4 goals and 10 points while playing in just 5 games compared to as many as 7 for other players.

Selanne came in second in scoring to Koivu at the 1999 World Championships with 3 goals and 11 points back of Koivu's 16, but it was Selanne who took home the tournament MVP honors while winning a silver medal.

In 2002, he played in the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, scoring 3 goals in 4 games. He led Finland in scoring at the 2003 World Championships with 8 goals and 11 points in seven games as team captain for the Finns.

Selanne then took part in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey before returning to the Olympics in 2006, leading all players in goals, with 6, and points, with 11, as Finland finished with the silver medal and Selanne was named as the Top Forward.

He came home with a bronze medal at the 2008 World Championships after coming in second in scoring with 7 points in 9 games.

After playing at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia and winning a bronze medal, Selanne participated internationally one final time, this coming at 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, where he won a bronze medal as Finland's team captain. His 4 goals and 6 points were one point back of the team leader as the Finns would win their third consecutive Olympic medal, this time a bronze, the fourth Olympic medal of Selanne's illustrious national career as he set a record as the oldest player to ever win a medal in Olympic hockey at the age of 43. Selanne was then named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

Selanne concluded his international career with 96 games played, scoring 54 goals and 102 points and holds the record for the most points in Olympic hockey competition with 24 goals and 43 points in 37 games.

Today's featured Selanne jersey is a 2014 Finland National Team Teemu Selanne jersey as worn during his final international tournament, the 2014 Olympics, his sixth Olympic Games.

This highly unusual full bleed flag style was worn only at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. It was paired with a more conventional road blue jersey. For the subsequent World Championships later that spring, the Finns wore a white version of their blue road jersey, ending the use of this style after just one outing.

The final player inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame this year was American Angela Ruggiero, who played in ten IIHF Women's World Championships, winning four gold medals and six silver medals, including scoring the winning goal in a shootout in 2005 to give the United States its first gold medal.

Ruggiero also participated in four Olympic Games, winning gold in 1998 as the youngest member of the team at 17 years of age, and winning silver in 2002 and 2010 and a bronze in 2006.

In 2004, she won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the top player in US Women's College Hockey. She became the fourth woman to ever be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015 and the only inductee ever from California. She is also the all-time leader in games played for the United States, regardless of gender, with 256.

Angela Ruggiero

Dieter Kalt, Sr. of Austria was inducted into the Builders category. A star player in the Austrian league in the 1960's, he won five championships in six seasons with Klagenfurt with a career that spanned from 1957 to 1980. He played for Austria in eight World Championships and two Olympics, in 1964 and 1968, the second time as the team captain.

From 1996 to 2016, Kalt was the President of the Austrian Ice Hockey Federation and has been a long time member of the Austrian Olympic Committee.

Dieter Kalt, Sr.

Finally, the winner of the Bibi Torriani Award for players who have had great international careers from nations outside of the top hockey nations was Tony Hand of Great Britain. Four times during his domestic career in the British Hockey League, Hand had seasons of over 200 points, with a high of 222 points from 72 goals and 150 assists in a 44 game season!

British scoring legend Tony Hand

In addition to his scoring exploits of 15 seasons of over 100 points, longevity was also a hallmark of Hand's career, as he played 32 seasons of British domestic hockey in a career that spanned from 1981-82 as a 14 year old to the 2014-15 season, when he retired at the age of 47. So impressive was Hand's abilities, that he was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in 1986, the first British-trained player ever selected in the NHL Draft.

He played for Great Britain at the World Championships 10 times, the World Juniors 3 times and the European U18 Junior Championships 4 times. At the senior level, he played in 52 games, scoring 34 goals and 105 points.

In 2004, Hand became the first ice hockey player ever honored with the Member of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.

April Fool's Day - 1994-95 Jokerit Helsinki Teemu Selanne Jersey

It only seems appropriate to feature a club on April Fool's Day named the "Jokers". 

Founded in 1967 in Helsinki, Finland when Aimo Mäkinen saw the opportunity to establish a semi-professional sports club following the demise of the Töölön Vesa sports club hockey team, Mäkinen paid half of Vesa's hockey related debts and received all the previous club's assets, including their junior players and a spot in the second highest Finnish league, the Suomi-sarja, for his new club which he named "Jokerit", which is Finnish for "Jokers" and whose name and logo were inspired by the joker from a deck of playing cards.

Two years after it's founding, Jokerit would earn promotion to the top level of Finnish hockey, the SM-sarja. Once accomplished, Mäkinen began aggressively adding star players to his roster. With rules changing allowing bodychecking in 1969, hockey in Finland underwent a change to a more physical style, which then coach Matti Lampainen felt was unsuitable for the roster he had at the time. He guided his club toward a more clever and tactical style which paid off with a championship in 1973.

The club would pass through several ownerships during the 1980's and an infusion of young talent at the end of the decade, such as defenseman Waltteri Immonen, who would captain the team from 1991-1999, Mika Strömberg, the club's all-time highest scoring defenseman, Ari Sulander, their main goaltender from 1993-1998 and Teemu Selänne, who would go on to set NHL rookie scoring records and eventually score 600 NHL goals, would return the club quickly to the top level, now called the SM-liiga, after having been relegated in 1987.

With their ownership now settled by 1991, the club became the wealthiest in Finland, which led to a dynasty that captured the Finnish championship in 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1997.

Petri Varis, Otakar Janecký and Juha Lind celebrate

Jokerit's league championship in 1997

In addition to their Finnish titles, the club has also captured the European Cup in 1995 and 1996 and moved into their new home, the Hartwall Areena in 1997.

Kurri and Selänne hoist Immomen in celebration of the 1995 European Cup

The club's sixth championship would come in 2002 behind the goaltending of Kari Lehtonen.

When the Jokerit celebrated their 40th anniversary season in 2007-08 they retired the jersey of former star Jari Kurri, who originally played for the team from 1977-80 and again during the NHL lockout of 1994.

In addition to their six Finnish championships, Jokerit have finished second in 1971, 1983, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2007 and won the Continental Cup in 2003.

Jokerit has also left it's mark on the NHL, with the only two Finns in NHL history to have scored 1,000 points, Kurri and Selänne, having started with Jokerit.

Other Jokerit players to have gone onto NHL careers include, Ossi Väänänen, Lehtonen, Sean Bergenheim, Valtteri Filppula, Erik Karlsson, Ville Leino, Tuomo Ruutu, and Esa Tikkanen.

Valtteri Filppula

With Russian investors now owning a 49% share of Jokerit, as well as now owning Hartwall Arena, Jokerit became the first club from Scandinavia to join the primarily Russian KHL for the 2014-15 season, which began not only a new era for the club, but the KHL itself.

Jokerit finished fourth in the Western Conference with a 40-20 record. They won their first KHL playoff series, defeating Dynamo Minsk 4 games to 1 before falling 4-1 to CSKA Moscow, the team which had the best overall record in the league.

Today's featured jersey is a 1994-95 Jokerit Helsinki Teemu Selänne jersey. Selänne returned to Jokerit during the NHL lockout, along with Jari Kurri, and was a part of the 1995 European Cup winning team.

This jersey has the Tackla diamond shapes on the shoulders and the usual European sponsorship logos along with the oh-so-1990's magenta and teal color scheme, not to mention the yellow numbers, which makes for a very distinctive and gaudy look - more fitting for a jester than a professional athlete. Still, the club enjoyed a terrific run of  success during the time of this color scheme, even if it did become dated very quickly.

The original jerseys were all dye-sublimated, but this replica example was expertly customized with the same and numbers in twill as well as the impressive rendition of the Karjala sponsorship on the back with heat-sealed material to match the font used on the front sublimated logo. The Carrols patch on the front was one of our custom made patches that was then also sewn on to complete the look of this most distinctive jersey.

On a personal note, we wore this jersey to a Anaheim Ducks game in the spring of 2013 and stood out enough in it's loud colors that we were given a puck by Selänne during warmups!

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 2005-06 Jokerit Helsinki Tero Konttinen jersey. While the 1990's Jokerit jerseys may have been memorable for their garish coloring, the club did themselves a great favor at the turn of the century when they adopted navy blue, red and yellow as their color palette. After using the same striping pattern as the Russian National Team, in 2003-04 the club copied the NHL's Florida Panthers 1998-2003 alternate jerseys, sans waist striping to good effect. This jersey style remained in use, albeit with an ever evolving set of sponsorship logos, through the 2007-08 season.

Our first video of today is footage of Jokerit during the 1992 SM-liiga Finals.

Our second video features rabid Jokerit supporters in footage from 2006.

The 1992-93 Winnipeg Jets Rookie Goal Scoring Records - 1992-93 Winnipeg Jets Teemu Selanne Jerseys

The Winnipeg Jets finished the 1991-92 season in fourth place in the Smythe Division with a record of 33-32-15, good for 81 points while scoring 251 goals for and allowing 244, third best in the NHL.

The team was led in scoring by defenseman Phil Housley, who had 23 goals and 63 assists for 86 points, 21 more than their highest scoring forward, Ed Olczyk, who led the team with 32 goals on his way to 65 points.

The Jets were paired with the Vancouver Canucks in the first round of the playoffs. The Jets won the opening game on the road 3-2, but then lost the next one in Vancouver by the same 3-2 score. The Jets then put the Canucks on the brink of elimination by taking Games 3 and 4 back at home, 4-2 and 3-1. Vancouver stayed alive by hammering Winnipeg 8-2 back at home and then forced a Game 7 with another thrashing of the Jets 8-2 in Game 6. Demoralized, the Jets went out with a whimper when the Canucks whitewashed them 5-0 in Game 7 in British Columbia.

One of the first moves the Jets made for the 1992-93 season was to trade their 12th and 36th overall picks in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft to the Chicago Blackhawks for Chicago's 17th and 27th overall selections. With the 17th pick, the Jets took Russian Sergei Bautin, a defenseman from Dynamo Moscow, fresh of three consecutive Soviet championships.

The Jets 1992 first round draft pick, Sergei Bautin

With their 27th pick, third in Round Two, the Jets took another Russian fellow defenseman Boris Mironov from the CSKA Red Army club. In the true spirit of a sleeper pick, with the 204th selection in Round Nine, Winnipeg found a gem in goaltender, and yet another Russian, Nikolai Khabibulin, also from CSKA Moscow. Khabibulin would be the latest selection in the 1992 draft to go on to be an NHL All-Star, 87 picks later than the next closest future All-Star. In all, the Jets took seven Russians, an American, a Canadian, a Ukrainian, a Kazakh and a Finn.

An Olympic gold medalist, Bautin would make the Jets roster out of training camp and play in 71 games during the 1992-93 season.

Also joining the Jets for the 1992-93 season was Russian forward Alexei Zhamnov, who was coming off of four seasons as Bautin's teammate at Dynamo Moscow and a fellow gold medalist at the 1992 Albertville Olympics.

Zhamnov came to the Jets from Dynamo Moscow

The one name who would go on to have easily the most impact on the Jets 1992-93 season was 1988 draft pick, Teemu Selanne of Finland's Jokerit Helsinki. Selanne had caught the eyes of the Jets scouts with a 43 goal, 66 point season in 33 games of Jokerit's Junior A program, which concluded with a championship. Winnipeg's organizational philosophy was to allow their European draft picks to develop in their native countries, and by 1991 were working to bring him to North America.

Teemu Selanne at the 1991 Canada Cup

As Selanne had not yet signed a contract with the Jets, he was considered a restricted free agent, which led to the Calgary Flames signing him to a three year, $2.7 million offer sheet, $1.5 million more than the Jets had offered the Finn. Worried about paying such a high salary to a rookie, Winnipeg nevertheless exercised their right to match Calgary's offer and Selanne made his NHL debut with a pair of assists on October 6, 1992, scoring his first goal two nights later.

In addition to Selanne, Zhamnov and Bautin, other members of the Jets eligible for the Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year were 1988 draft pick Evgeny Davydov, another Russian from CSKA Moscow and 1990 selection, American Keith Tkachuk of Boston University. Both Davydov and Tkachuk had played with the Jets the prior season, but were both under the 25 game limit which maintained their rookie status for 1992-93. Tkachuk had seen action in 17 games, while Davydov played in 12.

Evgeny Davydov was a member of the powerful Red Army club

American Keith Tkachuk while at Boston University

Selanne, coming off a 39 goal season with Jokerit in 44 games, wasted little time making his presence known in the NHL, scored his first career hat-trick in his fifth game and produced 11 goals in his first 12. Selanne hit the 20 goal mark in December 11th in style during 8-6 loss to the Washington Capitals and added his 21st goal a little over five minutes later and completed his hat trick just 40 seconds into the second period.

Selanne reached the 30 goal plateau on January 2nd when he scored his second goal of the night at the 14:50 mark of the third period against the New Jersey Devils Chris Terreri.

Davydov was the next to reach the 20 goal mark on January 22nd with an assist from Stu Barnes on when he beat Calgary's Mike Vernon at 10:52 of the third period during a 4-4 tie.

Davydov was the second Jets rookie to 20 goals

By the end of January the Finn Selanne was the talk of hockey world as he reached the 40 goal mark on January 30th in a 6-3 win over the Hartford Whalers.

On the final day of February, Selanne put on a spectacular display when he scored goals 48, 49, 50 and 51 in a four goal romp against the Minnesota North Stars and goaltender Darcy Wakuluk in a 7-6 Jets win.

During Winnipeg's next game on March 2nd, it was Tkachuk's turn to make it to the 20 goal level when he beat the Quebec Nordiques Stephane Fiset on a power play 1:26 into the third period with assists from Housely and Barnes.

Tkacuk's 20th goal was overshadowed by Selanne's record breaking hat trick

Tkachuk's accomplishment was completely overshadowed that night by the spectacular Selanne though, as the Finnish Flash recorded a second consecutive hat trick with goals 52, 53 and 54 to surpass Mike Bossy's NHL rookie goal scoring record of 53.

Selanne surpassed 60 goals on March 14th versus the Tampa Bay Lighting with two first period goals against Pat Jablonski to put him at 61. On March 23rd, the Finn netted goals 66 and 67 plus an assist of Zhamnov's 18th goal of the season to give him 110 points, breaking Peter Stastny's NHL rookie points record.

Selanne set rookie records for goals and points in 1992-93

During the Jets next game, Zhamnov scored his 19th goal against the St. Louis Blues and then, on this date in 1993, Zhamnov got his 20th goal of the season, beating the Los Angeles Kings Robb Stauber with just five seconds left in regulation from Selanne and Tkachuk to tie the game at 3-3.

Zhamnov scored his 20th goal on this date in 1993

Zhamnov's 20th goal, joining Selanne, Davydov and Tkachuk with at least 20 goals each, made the Winnipeg Jets the first team in NHL history with four 20-goal rookie scorers.

Selanne would finish with a league leading 76 goals while leading the Jets in scoring with 132 points, both rookie records which stand to this day, and was awarded a much deserved Calder Trophy as the NHL Rookie of the Year. Zhamnov was third on the team in points behind Housley's 97, scoring 25 goals and 47 assists for 72 points while Tkachuk and Davydov had 28 goals apiece, with Tkachuk finishing with 51 points and Davydov 49.

Of note, veterans Thomas Steen with 22 goals and Darrin Shannon at 20 would join the spectacular rookie quartet with 20 or more goals for Winnipeg that season.

The Jets would score 322 goals that season, 71 more than the previous season thanks in no small part to Selanne's exploits. Unfortunately, their goals against would rise by 76 and the Jets would once again be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, bowing to the Canucks again, this time in six games.

Zhamnov would play four seasons for the Jets with a high of 30 goals until being traded to Chicago. 1992-93 would be Davydov's last with Winnipeg, as he was dealt to the Florida Panthers prior to the following season.

Tkachuk would play five seasons in Winnipeg with a high of 50 goals in 1995-96 on his way to 98 points and would be named team captain in 1993. He would move with the franchise when they relocated and became the Phoenix Coyotes for the 1996-97 season during which he led the NHL in goals with a career high 52. He was again named team captain in 1996 and remained with the franchise for five seasons in Arizona. He would eventually score 500 goals, 1,000 points and play in over 1,000 games.

Selanne would play three more seasons for Winnipeg, never scoring more than 25 goals before a cost cutting trade sent him to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. After a lengthy NHL career, Selanne would finish with 684 goals and 1,457 points in 1,451 games played. He led the NHL in goal scoring again in both 1998 and 1999 and won a Stanley Cup in 2007.

Selanne's memorable trap shooting celebration after

breaking Bossy's rookie goal scoring record

Today's featured jersey is a 1992-93 Winnipeg Jets Teemu Selanne jerseys as worn the the season Selanne shattered the NHL rookie goal scoring and points record. Selanne entered the NHL wearing #13 for his first season, as Randy Carlisle was wearing his preferred #8. After Carlisle's departure after Selanne's rookie season, he subsequently changed to #8 for the remainder of his time in Winnipeg.

The Jets were formed as a founding member of the World Hockey Association in 1972-73 and made the move to the NHL for the 1979-80 season. They introduced today's feature style jersey for the 1990-91 season and wore it until the franchise moved out of Winnipeg after the 1995-96 season.

The Jets were responsible for one of the oddities concerning the Stanley Cup Centennial patch worn by all the players that season, as, for the first half of the schedule, Winnipeg wore a set of jerseys which had the white outline around their patches like the rest of the league, but for the second half of the season the white outlines vanished and they were the only team to not have the outline around their patches, which did not help them stand out from the jerseys like they did previously.

Selanne did not have the A on the first set of jerseys from the first half of the season where the white outlined patches were worn and did wear the assistant captain's "A" with the version of the patch that lacked the white outline for the season's second half, but there are photos showing Selanne with the borderless patch prior to being awarded the "A".

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1992-93 Winnipeg Jets Keith Tkachuk jersey as worn the the season Tkachuk was one of four Jets rookies to reach the 20 goal mark, making Winnipeg the first team in NHL history with four 20 goal rookies.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Extra bonus jersey: Today's extra bonus jersey is a 1994-95 Winnipeg Jets Alexei Zhamnov jersey as worn the the season Zhamnov set a career high with 30 goals. 

Extra extra bonus jersey: Today's extra extra bonus jersey is a 1990-91 CSKA Moscow Evgeny Davydov jersey as worn during Davydov's final season in the Soviet Union prior to coming to the NHL. Davydov won three Soviet championships with the Red Army club in 1987, 1988 and 1989.

Unlike many of the sometimes paper thin mesh Soviet jerseys of the era with silkscreened or heat sealed graphics, this Red Army jersey is a top of the line, Canadian-made CCM jersey produced to the same standards as one would find in the NHL and very likely produced for use in the 1989, 1990 or 1991 Super Series which then had the English nameplates removed and Cyrillic names screened on as they were converted for use back home in the Soviet League.

Extra extra extra bonus jersey: Today's extra extra extra bonus jersey is a 1992 Unified Team Evgeny Davydov jersey as worn during the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. With the upheaval of the political situation in the Soviet Union in 1991, there was little time to sort out what kind of identity the brand new team made up of six of the 15 former Soviet republics would be represented by.

The Unified Team competed under the Olympic flag, and with just five weeks before the games were to commence, the jersey supplier to all the Olympic teams, Tackla of Finland, made up a set of the current Soviet Union jerseys, only without the "CCCP" lettering across the chest. Note they did not even alter the chest stripes, which were still notched on the left hand side for the curvature of the absent "P"!

Davydov waving to the crowd during the 1992 gold medal ceremony

This was the one and only appearance for these stop-gap jerseys, as Russia wore a brand new set of jerseys at the 1992 World Championships held just two months later in April as an independent nation, separate from the other five countries of the Unified Team.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Today's video section is all about Selanne's magical rookie season in 1992-93.

St. Urho's Day

While many anticipate tomorrow's celebration of Irish and Irish-American culture, St. Patrick's Day, who is said to have driven all the snakes out of Ireland, many are unaware that today is a similar celebration of Finnish culture, St. Urho's Day.

In reality, St. Urho is a fictional saint of Finland, whose legend was the invention of Finnish-American Richard Mattson of Virginia, Minnesota in 1956. Mattson invented St. Urho when questioned by coworker Gene McCavic about the Finns lack of a saint similar to St. Patrick for the Irish.

Mattson and McCavic wrote an "Ode to St. Urho", in which he was to have supposedly cast the frogs out of Finland, similar to St. Patrick and the snakes of Ireland. The original St. Urho's Day was set to May 24th, but later changed to today, March 16th, the day before St. Patrick's Day, with credit to high school teacher Kenneth Brist and friends in an effort to have two days to celebrate, what with St. Patrick's Day being the very next day.

Not only did the date of St. Urho's Day change, but so did the legend under the influence of Dr. Sulo Havumaki, a professor at Bemidji State College in Bemidji, Minnesota, as the legend of St. Urho now credits the fictional saint with driving all the grasshoppers out of Finland, thus saving the Finnish grape crop, and therefore the country's supply of wine by chanting "Heinäsirkka, heinäsirkka, mene täältä hiiteen", which translates to "Grasshopper, grasshopper, go to hell!"

St. Urho is said to have saved the Finnish grape crop

by driving the Grasshoppers out of Finland

In addition to celebrating Finnish heritage and culture, as well as being an excuse to drink somewhat heavily, like the wearing of the green by the Irish, St. Urho's celebrants traditionally wear Royal Purple and Nile Green.

There has even been a book published on St. Urho, The Legend of St. Urho, which chronicles the origins and folklore of the man, the myth and the legend of St. Urho.

The statue of St. Urho in Menahga, Minnesota

The Finland National Team first appeared at the World Championships back in 1939. Their next appearance was not until 1949 when they became regulars at the World Championships. A perennial mid-pack team, it took them until 1992, a span of over 40 years, to earn their first medal of any kind. Once the floodgates opened, they captured silver in 1992 and 1994 before reaching the pinnacle with World Championship gold in 1995.

Finland celebrates their first World Championship after arriving back home

Two fifth places in 1996 and 1997 followed before a run of four medals in row with silver in 1998 and 1999, bronze in 2000 and silver once more in 2001. A bit of a slide saw then finish 4th, 5th, 6th then 7th from 2002 through 2005 before returning to the medal podium with bronze in 2006, silver in 2007 and bronze again in 2008. Finland won their second gold medal in 2011, captained by Mikko Koivu. Two more silver medals have since followed in 2014 and in 2016.

Finland's captain Mikko Koivu is thrilled to hoist

the World Championship trophy

Finland's hockey team first appeared at the Winter Olympics in 1952, and aside from 1956, has appeared in each Olympic hockey tournament since, becoming a regular medal contender in the mid 1970's, with a fourth places in 1978 and 1980. They won their first medal in 1988 with a silver and took bronze in both 1994 and 1998. In 2006 they again won silver followed by bronze medals in both 2010 and 2014 to give them medals in three consecutive Olympics for the first time.

Jere Lehtinen, Saku Koivu and Ville Peltonen enjoying their final success as

a trio at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver where they won bronze medals

Finland has also participated in the Canada Cup and it's successor, the World Cup of Hockey, taking home the silver medal in the 2004 World Cup in the seven times it has competed.

The Finland National Team has now retired the numbers of #14 Raimo Helminen, #17 Jarri Kurri, #8 Teemu Selanne, #11 Saku Koivu, 26 Jere Lehtinen and #16 Ville Peltonen.

Today's first featured jersey is a 1991 Finland National Team Jari Kurri jersey as worn in the 1991 World Cup. This jersey was produced by Tackla out of Finland and features a short-lived cartoonish lion's head logo, which was actually the logo of a Finnish sponsoring bank, that was quickly replaced by a new shield-style logo which remains in use today.

Today's second featured jersey is a 1996 Finland National Team Raimo Helminen jersey from the inaugural World Cup of Hockey. Note that this is a #14 jersey, not the #41 Finland retired for Helminen. This attractive "waving flag" style of jersey marked Nike's entry into being the jersey supplier for the IIHF, which continues to this day. This style was worn through the 1997 World Championships until new styles were debuted for the 1998 Olympics.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Today's third featured jersey is a 2004 Finland National Team Teemu Selanne jersey. Finland first wore this style for the 1998 Oympics in Nagano, Japan with the crest reading "Suomi". For the 2002 Olympics, the crest was altered to read "Finland" with Suomi now printed boldly across the waist. This would be the final appearance for this jersey, as Nike would introduce a new style for the 2005 World Championships.

Today's fourth featured jersey is a 1995 Finland National Team Saku Koivu jersey. This is the same style jersey used in the 1994 Olympic games and, while branded as a Reebok jersey, they were produced by Tackla using their mesh fabric and dye sublimation process. Visually, the only difference between the Olympic jerseys and the World Championship versions are the additions of the Warsteiner sponsorship patches to each arm.

Today's fifth featured jersey is a 1996 Finland National Team Jere Lehtinen jersey. One year after Finland won the World Championship in a Reebok branded Tackla produced jersey, Nike became the official supplier to the IIHF for the World Championships and the Olympic Games. Following their debut at the 1996 World Championships in the spring, Nike also outfitted all of the teams at the inaugural World Cup of Hockey in the fall of 1996.

Their "waving flag" style of jerseys took Tackla's sublimation techniques to further extremes, as they introduced gradients to the international scene. These jerseys were also worn for the 1997 World Championships until being replaced by new styles for the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Today's sixth featured jersey is a 1995 Finland National Team Ville Peltonen jersey. This is the home white version of the blue road jersey shown above as worn during the 1995 World Championships, differentiated from the 1994 Olympics by the Warsteiner beer sponsorship patches on the upper arms.

In today's video section, Finland's finest moment in hockey, winning their first World Championship in 1995 against their rivals Sweden and in Sweden.

Here are highlights of Finland winning the 2011 World Championship.

Finally, a Finnish Nike commercial featuring Mikko Koivu, Ruutu, Selanne, Filppula and Peltonen.