International Play
Peltonen has represented Finland in international play on several occasions, since 1994 Winter Olympics. After this, Finland has played 25 international tournaments, with Peltonen playing in the team for 19 times, being tied with Finnish hockey legend Raimo Helminen. He has also played as the captain of his team in IIHF World Championships for six times. Peltonen is by far the most successful Finnish hockey player with 13 medals from his 19 tournaments. The next best medalrecord is nine.
Peltonen debuted the national team in November 1993 in a game against Czech Republic. He was chosen to the Finnish olympic team to play for 1994 Winter Olympics held in Lillehammer. He played on the same line with Jere Lehtinen and Saku Koivu, and they formed team's best line of the tournament. The Finns achieved a bronze medal and Peltonen, who scored 7 points in 8 games, was also chosen to the IIHF World Championships 1994, where the team gained a silver medal after a 3-2 loss to Canada in a shootout competition. However, the following year Peltonen established his place in the history of Finnish hockey; Peltonen scored a hat trick in the final game against Sweden, leading his team to 4-1 victory and taking their first World Championship victory. Peltonen once again formed a great line with Lehtinen and Koivu, and all three were named tournament All-Stars line.
In the 1998 Winter Olympics Peltonen was replaced with Finnish NHL-star Teemu Selänne on the first line of Finland. However, Selänne was injured before the bronze medal game, and Peltonen once again showed his skills with Koivu and Lehtinen, scoring the game-winning goal against Canada. The same year in the World Championships, Peltonen tied the game against Canada in second consolation round only ten seconds before the end of the game. The Finns once again played in the finals, but were defeated by Sweden.
Played for Finland in 19 tournaments (4 Olympics, 13 World Championships, 2 World Cup):
- 1994 Winter Olympics (bronze medal)
- 1994 World Championships (silver medal)
- 1995 World Championships (gold medal)
- 1996 World Championships
- 1996 World Cup of Hockey
- 1997 World Championships
- 1998 Winter Olympics (bronze medal)
- 1998 World Championships (silver medal)
- 1999 World Championships (silver medal)
- 2000 World Championships (bronze medal)
- 2003 World Championships
- 2004 World Championships
- 2004 World Cup of Hockey (silver medal)
- 2005 World Championships
- 2006 Winter Olympics (silver medal)
- 2006 World Championships (bronze medal)
- 2007 World Championships (silver medal)
- 2008 World Championships (bronze medal)
- 2010 Winter Olympics (bronze medal)
Read more about this topic: Ville Peltonen
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