Getting ready to tune into the 4 Nations Face-Off championship between Canada and the United States on Thursday night but you haven’t watched any previous games of the week-long tournament?
You’ve come to the right place.
Hi, friend! Let’s get you caught up with what you need to know about the NHL competition finale.
What is the 4 Nations Face-Off?
Let’s get the technicalities out of the way first, shall we?
The 4 Nations Face-Off is an international hockey tournament featuring NHL players from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States representing their home countries. The four teams faced off in a round-robin tournament, with the first two games for each team being played at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Each team’s final round-robin game, and Thursday’s final, are being held at TD Garden in Boston.
But what makes the 4 Nations Face-Off special?
Not only has the competition served as a stand-in for a humdrum All-Star Game (to make room in the schedule, the NHL did not hold an All-Star Game this season), but it is the first time that there has been a best-on-best hockey tournament since 2016. (Well, not quite best-on-best, but we will get to that later.)
The pride athletes have brought representing their country — which is so often left at home by players in other professional sports’ All-Star Games — is palpable this tournament.
Oh, yeah? How so?
The passion is in the punches.
As the puck hit the ice for the opening faceoff in the U.S. and Canada’s round-robin meeting, Team USA player Matthew Tkachuk and Canada’s Brandon Hagel dropped the gloves in a spirited bout. On the faceoff following the fighting majors, Canada’s Sam Bennett and Team USA’s Brady Tkachuk squared off. On the very next shift, J.T. Miller and Colton Parayko also fought. With the game just nine seconds old, each team had three men in the box serving fighting majors.
Matthew’s opening fight was the fastest ever in an international NHL game, topping the previous record of 20 seconds in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. That record was set during another matchup between Canada and the U.S. — Matthew and Brady’s father, Keith Tkachuk, and Bill Guerin, now Team USA’s general manager, were among those involved in the melee for Team USA.
The Tkachuk brothers admitted after Saturday’s matchup they were in a group chat with Miller, with each player planning to fight.
“We’re out there playing for the flag, not the cameras,” Hagel said in response. “That’s a part of Canada that we have in there. We don’t need to initiate anything. We don’t have any group chats going on. We’re going out there playing our game and giving it everything and doing it for our country.”
Matthew sniped back Wednesday, saying, “The other team doesn’t like each other if they don’t have group chats.”
“Our team does not care about anything that they say,” he said. “There’s been a lot of chatter and talk from individuals, but we care about one thing in this room, and we have millions of people that are watching us and supporting us around this country. And we’re very prideful playing for them.”
USA vs. Canada started off in MADNESS 😳
📺: ABC/ESPN+/Disney+ pic.twitter.com/BrWlXzMb7J
— ESPN (@espn) February 16, 2025
What’s with all the booing?
Aside from fights, tack on some boos. In the same U.S.-Canada game, Montreal fans booed the U.S. national anthem in protest of President Donald Trump’s repeated suggestion that Canada should become the 51st state, referring to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as governor and his proposed tariffs on Canadian imports that would violate the North American trade agreement that Trump signed in 2020.
This is not the first time Canadian fans have booed the U.S. anthem at recent sporting events in protest of Trump’s rhetoric.
Do the players actually care about this tournament?
The Athletic asked more than 110 NHL players just that. More than 80 percent said they did indeed care, and 15 of the 16 polled players participating in 4 Nations were all for it.
“The last time we had a full international, best-on-best tournament was the World Cup, and that was a week before I made the NHL,” one Team Canada player said. “In my entire career, we haven’t had this. … With the Olympics next year, you want to perform well — to obviously win the 4 Nations and hopefully be a part of more of these events in the next few seasons.”
“I’m on it, so I will care about it, for sure,” one Team Sweden player said. “You look at the bigger picture, too, is the Olympics is right around the corner. So, it’s a big chance for me to show who I am, and it’s a coaching staff that I haven’t had too much to deal with in the past. Absolutely, I care about it.”
And the lone participating player who wasn’t interested?
“I’d rather go back home to (my home country),” he said. “I’d rather (have) a two-week break. It sucks you miss the two-week break, but it’s cool you’re playing against the best players right now. Except the Russians aren’t allowed to be in there. That’s stupid. They’re the best players right now.”
About the whole ‘best-on-best’ thing …
Some could — and do — argue that the 4 Nations Face-Off is not a true showcase of best-on-best talent because of its exclusivity. Countries that produce top-tier NHL talents like Russia, Czechia and Slovakia aren’t included. NHL superstars like German native Leon Draisaitl and Russian native Nikita Kucherov, who are two of the NHL’s top three scorers this season, can’t participate.
One main factor around roster construction, and why there are only four teams represented, is that there must be enough NHL skaters to complete a full team. That’s why there is no German team, for example. Russia has the NHL representation to skate, but the league disallowed its participation due to the country’s war with Ukraine.
Despite the imperfections, 4 Nations is the closest thing we’ve seen to best-on-best hockey since 2016, when Canada won the World Cup of Hockey. That tournament started in 1996 and happened again in 2004 and 2016.
And so we meet again …
The United States and Canada were very much viewed as the top teams of the tournament. It’s no real surprise to see them reach the championship.
Canada won its first game versus Sweden in OT on Feb. 12. The U.S. beat Finland 6-1 in its opening game on Feb. 13. The two powerhouses met for their second game days later, with the U.S. winning 3-1. Having secured two victories, the U.S. then also secured its spot in the championship.
A Canadian win over Finland in its third and final round-robin matchup set up the North American nations for a rematch in the title game Thursday night. It airs at 8 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN+, SportsNet and TVAS.
Who’s the favorite?
The Americans are considered a slight favorite, though they’re battling some hefty injuries. Matthew Tkachuk didn’t play in the team’s last game as a precaution after he couldn’t finish the game against Canada with a lower-body injury. Brady Tkachuk left last game against Sweden after colliding with the net. Charlie McAvoy was held out of last game due to an upper-body injury, as was Auston Matthews with upper-body soreness. All except McAvoy, who is out with a shoulder injury, are expected to play Thursday.
After being hopeful to play in the championship, reigning Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes was downgraded to out Wednesday night for Thursday’s game after not getting medical clearance, his agent Pat Brisson said.
Still, Team USA has the stud goalie and probable tournament MVP in Connor Hellebuyck. Team Canada’s Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, respectively, follow as The Athletic’s tournament MVP picks. Which makes you wonder, with such star power, will Canada really lose to the same team twice?
The standout stars
The Tkachuk brothers have been the fulcrum of this U.S. team. Matthew has three points (2G, 1A) in two games while Brady posts two goals in three games played.
McDavid, MacKinnon and Crosby have made Team Canada go.
Crosby (1G, 4A) and American Zach Werenski (5A) are tied for most points with five each. MacKinnon, American Jake Guentzel and Finn Mikael Granlund are tied for competition lead in goals with three apiece.
Required reading
(Photo: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)
