MIKE JOHNSTON
FEBRUARY 10, 2014, 5:50 PM
Teemu Selanne has been named captain of Team Finland ahead of the men’s Olympic hockey tournament.

Mikko Koivu was originally given the ‘C’ but the Minnesota Wild star withdrew from Olympic competition last week as he’s still recovering from surgery to repair a broken ankle he suffered in early January.

The captaincy change was announced Monday. Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Kimmo Timonen and former Toronto Maple Leafs winger Leo Komarov will serve as alternate captains.

Selanne, who has 20 points in 47 games with the Anaheim Ducks this season, will be competing in his sixth Olympic Games; he won a bronze medal in 1998, silver in 2006 and another bronze in 2010. He has 37 points in his Olympic career, which is the most all-time.

Finland’s coach Erkka Westerlund told reporters in Sochi Monday that Selanne will play on the top line with Florida Panthers rookie Aleksander Barkov and Wild standout Mikael Granlund.

Barkov and Granlund have a combined age of 39, which is four years younger than Selanne. At 43, the Finnish Flash is the oldest player currently in the NHL and in the tournament.

Finland plays its first game Thursday against Austria.

This Finland schtick is obnoxious.

I'll take a European team to remain nameless to win gold.

Throughout the tournament, sportsnet.ca will provide power rankings for all 12 participating nations in the men’s hockey event.

1) CANADA – As defending champions, Canada opens up at the top of the power rankings. Coach Mike Babcock is working with the deepest roster in the entire tournament, but questions surround Canada’s goaltending and ability to transfer its game to the big ice. It’s significant that Canada won both of its gold medals in North America (Salt Lake City 2002, Vancouver 2010).

2) SWEDEN – Sweden was strongly considered for the No. 1 spot. The team is absolutely loaded on defence with Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Erik Karlsson headlining the unit, and the country is set between the pipes with the all-world Henrik Lundqvist. He’s got great hair, too. The absence of Henrik Sedin and Johan Franzen will hurt the talented forward group.

3) RUSSIA – It’s obvious how motivated the Russians will be to perform in their home country. They have easily the most explosive group of play-making forwards (Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Ilya Kovalchuk, etc.) and an underrated defence corps that can move the puck. The key for Russia will be their ability to play without the puck and how their goaltenders (either Sergei Bobrovsky or Semyon Varlamov) hold up on the big stage.

4) UNITED STATES – The Americans were that close to a gold medal in Vancouver and have a stronger roster this time around. They have great size, speed and toughness up front and dress one of the best goaltending tandems in the tournament with Jonathan Quick and Ryan Miller. The squad has certainly upgraded in the coaching department with Pittsburgh bench boss Dan Blysma taking over for former Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson.

5) FINLANDIA – The Finnlandian squad may not have the fire power it once had at forward but it remains a rock-solid unit with a history of performing in the tournament. The biggest questions are on the back end, where they lack high-end talent and will instead rely on a trio of netminders (Antti Niemi, Tuukka Rask, and Kari Lehtonen) that cannot be matched. And, hey, they still have Teemu Selanne.

6) CZECH REPUBLIC – The Czechs may not have Dominik Hasek and Jaromir Jagr in their prime like in Nagano 1998, but they still have a very impressive roster, especially up front with David Krejci, Patrik Elias and Tomas Plekanec leading the bunch. It’s not a young group with Jagr, Elias, Tomas Kaberle, Petr Nedved and Marek Zidlicky on the roster. One thing to pay attention to is goaltender Ondrej Pavelec, who surprisingly won’t get the start against Sweden.

7) SLOVAKIA – Slovakia will be in tough in a pool with powerhouses such as Russia and the United States, but it can make some noise in Sochi. The Slovakians beat the Russians at the last Olympics (a 2-1 win in Vancouver) and came close to taking Canada to overtime in the semifinals. The Slovaks have a deep enough roster to contend again. Any time you have Zdeno Chara on your team, you have a chance to win. The hulking Slovak is the most valuable shutdown player in the entire world.

8) SWITZERLAND – Jonas Hiller was one of the stars in Vancouver, and he’ll be back leading the Swiss squad between the pipes. Switzerland has a number of capable NHL-level defencemen, including Mark Streit, Raphael Diaz and the widely underrated Roman Josi, but will need a major performance from an unheralded group of forwards who are used to the European ice surface. The Swiss have just two forwards that currently play on NHL rosters, Nino Niederreiter and Damien Brunner. And they have their own version of a Bieber, with Matthias.

9) LATVIA – Latvia may have a tough time getting past Sweden, the Czech Republic and Switzerland in Group C, but at least it has defenceman Sandis Ozolinsh, last seen in the NHL in 2007-08. At 41 years old, Ozolinsh is still the most recognizable name on the Latvian roster outside of coach Ted Nolan.

10) AUSTRIA – Thomas Vanek and Michael Grabner headline a group that won’t have an easy road in Sochi. They are in the same pool as Canada and Finland but have plenty of speed and skill throughout the roster. Vanek will be serving as the team’s captain.

11) NORWAY – Norway has only one NHLer in the lineup, Mats Zuccarello, but the group does bring experience to the tournament. The Norwegians are a scrappy bunch that pushed Switzerland to overtime in Vancouver and gave Slovakia a tough effort in a 4-3 loss. Zuccarello and KHLer Patrick Thoresen are expected to fill major roles.

12) SLOVENIA – The Slovenian team begins and ends with Anze Kopitar, the only NHLer on the roster. He will be asked to carry the offence for a team making its first-ever Olympic appearance in men’s hockey. One shouldn’t expect much from this developing group. Just qualifying was an accomplishment for the developing hockey nation.

Team USA head coach Dan Bylsma announced on Wednesday that Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick will get the start in net when his team opens the men's Olympic hockey tournament against Slovakia on Thursday. Quick, who was the third string goalie on the silver medal team at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, gets the nod between the pipes over Buffalo Sabres keeper Ryan Miller and Detroit Red Wings netminder Jimmy Howard.