Selanne - International

International

Together with Saku Koivu and Jere Lehtinen, Selänne formed the backbone of Team Finland during his reign. He has appeared in over 120 international games: five Olympics, five Ice Hockey World Championships, the 1991 Canada Cup, and the 1996 and 2004 World Cup of Hockey.

Selänne played for Finland at the 1991 World Championship, hosted in his native Finland, and was one of the top scorers in the tournament with 11 points, behind only Mats Sundin and Jari Kurri. He also played in the 1991 Canada Cup, where Finland qualified for the semi-finals for the first time. At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, Finland ended up in a disappointing seventh place after losing 6–1 to the Unified Team in the quarter-finals. Selänne was top scorer for his team with 11 points. After a long season he chose not to participate in the 1992 World Championship, but Finland still managed to capture its first ever medal at the World Championship level.

Selänne did not take part in the 1995 World Championship, where Finland took its first gold medal, beating Sweden 4–1 in Stockholm's Globen arena. In 1996, Selänne played his second World Championship, and also in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey (successor to the Canada Cup), his team finishing fifth in both.

Selänne was teamed up with Saku Koivu at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, where they tied as the tournament's top scorers. Finland beat Canada 3–2 in the bronze medal game. However, Selänne was injured in the previous (semifinal) game against Russia, and did not play in the bronze medal game. At the 1999 World Championship, he was again combined with Koivu. Finland was beaten by the Czech Republic in the final games. With 11 points, he finished second in scoring, 5 points behind Koivu. Both were elected to the tournament's All-Star lineup, and Selänne also received the tournament's MVP award.

Selänne's next duty came at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Due to absence of Koivu, who was battling cancer at the time, Selänne was named the captain of the Finnish team, but was unable to carry the team to win a medal. The team was crushed by the United States in their first game and was knocked out by the eventual gold medalists Canada in the quarter-finals. Finland finished in sixth place. The following year, the World Championship was held in Finland. The San Jose Sharks (Selänne's team at the time) failed to qualify for playoffs, allowing Selänne to play for the national team. This was his second tournament on home soil, with Finland finishing in 5th place. He managed to score 11 points and was the tournament's leading goal scorer with eight goals.

Selänne's second World Cup opportunity came in 2004, but a nagging knee injury knee hindered his performance. He tallied only four points in six games. Finland won the silver medal, losing 3–2 to Canada in the final.

At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Selänne was again teamed up with Captain Koivu and Lehtinen. Finland put up a 19–2 goal difference in the group stage. Finland came up short against Sweden in the final game. Selänne was once again the joint top scorer with Koivu and also tied for most goals with fellow Finn Olli Jokinen. Selänne and Koivu were named in the Tournament All-Star lineup and Selänne was elected the best forward of the tournament.

In summer 2007, after his fourth Olympic appearance Selänne announced his retirement from Finnish national team play, stating that there is room for only one "Raipe", in reference to Raimo Helminen. However, Selänne accepted Doug Shedden's invitation to join the Finnish national team for the World Championship, coming out from his short-lived international retirement. After the 2008 World Championship, Selänne once again announced his retirement from international competition.

Despite his earlier plans for retirement from international competition, at the beginning of the 2008–09 NHL season, Selänne contemplated playing at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Coming out of international retirement once again, Selänne joined the Finnish team for the 2010 Winter Olympics, serving as an alternate captain this time to Saku in his fifth Olympic appearance. At the tournament, he became the all-time leader for points scored in the Olympics. In Finland's first game of the tournament, played against Belarus, Selänne had an assist, which tied him in first place with Valeri Kharlamov of Russia, Vlastimil Bubník of the former Czechoslovakia, and Harry Watson of Canada, all of whom have 36 points in Olympic competition. In Finland's second game, against Germany, Selänne had another assist, giving him a total of 37 points throughout his Olympic career.

Selänne is one of only seven ice hockey players (a list which also includes Lehtinen and Helminen) who have appeared in at least five Olympic Games.