4. Finland

Finland has finished multiple times with the silver and bronze medals in the Olympics competition but never won the gold. However, the country has produced some NHL talent over the past four decades with the best player to come from the country being Teemu Selanne, arguably.

Tthe other players that come from Finland include Olli Jokinen, Tomas Sandstrom, Jari Kurri, and Saku Koivu. Finland has also developed some fine goaltenders, such as Miikka Kiprusoff, Tuukka Rask, Pekka Rinne, and Antti Niemi.

5. The United States

Even though the NHL is based out of the United States, there are tons of American players in the league with some very talented players having come out of the last quarter century.

Some of the best American players of all time include Phil Housley, Keith Tkachuk, Mike Modano, Chris Chelios, and Jeremy Roenick. The US also has many current talents such as Jonathan Quick, Patrick Kane, Zack Parise, Max Pacioretty, Ryan Suter, Joe Pavelski, and Phil Kessel.

In Olympics competition, the US has won two gold medals and one bronze medal and have had to settle for silver up to eight times.

6. Slovakia

Originally a part of the Czech Republic, Slovakia has produced some hockey stars including Marian Gaborik and Marian Hossa. Gaborik is on high pace with 751 points in his first 14 seasons. Meanwhile, the Senators has seen Hossa, whose career that started in 1997, score 1,056 points, as well as five All Star Games and two Stanley Cups. Former Norris Trophy winner Zdeno Chara also comes to mind.

There are some legends from Slovakia as well, with Blackhawks’s Stan Mikita, who scored nine times All Star, two times Lady Byng Trophy winner, and four times Art Ross Trophy winner, and Peter Stastny are much favorite by their home country, while players like Peter Bondra and Pavol Demitra were no slouches.