Starved of best-on-best action since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, nine years have passed since Canada’s stars last shared the ice. But it’s time to put those wasted years in the rearview mirror because the moment for Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid to combine has arrived.
Coached by Tampa Bay Lightning stalwart Jon Cooper, Team Canada are not the favourites ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off – but there is no doubting their embarrassment of riches when it comes to offensive acumen.
Canada’s roster is so stacked that Crosby, albeit age-37 and on an injury comeback, is pencilled in as the team’s third line centre.
With that in mind, let’s preview the 4 Nations Face-Off — what is it, who is playing, and when are the games?
Organised by the National Hockey League, the 4 Nations Face-Off is a precursor to the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics and a potential World Cup of Hockey two years further down the line.
Played across a nine-day span in Boston and Montreal by Canadian, Swedish, Finnish, and American national teams, a round-robin phase will open the tournament, before the top two advance to a winner-takes-all championship showdown on Friday, 20 February. (There is no third-place playoff.)
For the 4 Nations Face-Off’s round-robin stage, teams will receive three points for a regulation time win, two points for a shootout or overtime win, and one point for a shootout or overtime loss.
4 Nations Face-Off: William Nylander, Team Sweden (Image: NHL)
Games will be played with the NHL rulebook (unlike the World Championships or Winter Olympics, which are played under IIHF rules), albeit with one minor tweak – three-on-three overtime is capped at ten minutes (rather than five) in the group stage.
For the final, Stanley Cup rules will be implemented if the score remains tied after sixty minutes – that’s twenty-minute periods of five-on-five overtime until someone scores; no shootout.
They didn’t. Canada, Sweden, Finland, and the United States were handpicked by the NHL.
Ideally, this quickly thrown together tournament would have featured at least six teams – but practicalities (the requirement for every participating player to be under contract in the NHL) and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine necessitated a four-team field featuring the United States, Canada, Sweden, and Finland.
Thursday, 13 February (1am in the United Kingdom)
Friday, 14 February (1am in the United Kingdom)
Saturday, 15 February (6pm in the United Kingdom)
Sunday, 16 February (1am in the United Kingdom)
Monday, 17 February (6pm in the United Kingdom)
Tuesday, 18 February (1am in the United Kingdom)
Friday, 20 February (1am in the United Kingdom)
Per the NHL, the tournament is free to watch on YouTube for UK-based viewers.
The Americans touch down in Montreal with the most complete roster in the tournament, with four wicked forward lines, three solid defensive pairs, and the strongest netminding trio by a significant a margin.
While they aren’t able to call upon a Connor McDavid or a Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel will certainly do as a one-two punch down the middle. Add Jake Guentzel and the Tkachuk brothers to the mix and that’s a tough forward group to beat.
4 Nations Face-Off: Auston Matthews, Team USA (Image: NHL)
Likewise, they have a legitimate Norris Trophy contender in Zach Werenski and boast outstanding quality on the blueline even without the injured Quinn Hughes. However, Team USA’s biggest advantage is the depth and quality they have between the pipes – Connor Hellebuyck is the world’s best netminder, with backups Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman also elite.
The Canadians, by contrast, enter the tournament in the midst of a goaltending crisis – Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill, and Sam Montembeault have each turned out below-par seasons at the club level and are unlikely to inspire confidence on the international stage.
Canada’s blueline has the added benefit of including a ready-made (and formidable) first pair, with Colorado Avalanche teammates Cale Makar and Devon Toews leading the way on the backend.
Offensively, Team Canada is unrivalled – Crosby, McDavid, and MacKinnon, plus a supporting cast of Mitch Marner, Brayden Point, and Sam Reinhart, with prime agitator Brad Marchand providing feistiness from the bottom-six.
4 Nations Face-Off: Connor McDavid, Team Canada (Image: NHL)
Miro Heiskanen’s absence leaves Team Finland with a mountain to climb. The Finns touch down in Montreal with the shallowest squad at the 4 Nations Face-Off, which includes a surprise call-up in Nikolas Matinpalo, who started the season in the American Hockey League.
Chemistry will be the difference-maker for Finland, with Anti Pennanen (a mainstay within the Finnish Hockey Association’s development programme) behind the bench and Aleksander Barkov leading the way as captain.
Team Sweden is in the best position to challenge North America’s powerhouses and will call upon William Nylander to power their offence. With Victor Hedman anchoring the Swedish blueline and Linus Ullmark between the posts, the Swedes could shock Canada on night-one.
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