Replacing the NHL All-Star Weekend, the 4 Nations Face-Off starts this Wednesday, February 12th, and runs through to February 20th. The event is being shared between two host cities, Montréal & Boston, and features 4 countries: Canada, the United States, Sweden & Finland.
The 4 Nations Face-Off will act as a preview for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, which will be the first Winter Olympics to include NHL players since the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia.
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid said, "I feel like it's important for hockey as we continue to try to grow the game internationally and at home. I think it's a great thing. It's an exciting schedule, something that people can look forward to," when asked about best-on-best international hockey returning.
The NHL All-Star Weekend viewership has been decreasing over the years, and fans have been less engaged with the tired All-Star Weekend format. The players are typically not putting in their best efforts because they don’t want to injure themselves during an important period of the season, and honestly I doubt many of them care that much about the outcome of the All-Star Game or the skills competition. In the end, their regular season and playoff objectives are what matter the most.
So what will the 4 Nations Face-Off bring? Hockey fans globally are excited to see the NHL players represent their countries. Fans love any opportunity to root for their nation at an international tournament. Best-on-best tournaments like these also help bring in people who may not even be fans of the NHL, but love to show support for their country.
As for the players, they appear to be excited to wear their country’s colours with pride. NHL players have been vocal about wanting to make it back to the Olympics for years, and as the 2026 Winter Olympics are right around the corner, the 4 Nations Face-Off could be viewed as an opportunity to showcase what they can bring to their country on the world stage. It's an exciting time for the players to represent their nations again and it is not an opportunity they will take lightly.
With only four nations taking part, I imagine that players from other nations feel left out of the festivities, however, it could also pose an advantage, as the players not participating will have time to relax and enjoy a well-earned break. Players like Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers, Germany) and Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals, Russia) not participating in the action could be a key asset for their teams as their stars will be well-rested when the season resumes. It is however still disappointing to not watch them play like we typically do at the All-Star Game.
Sidney Crosby is set to wear the ‘C’ for Team Canada, with Connor McDavid and Cale Makar taking on the alternate captaincy roles. This makes sense given Crosby’s history playing in international best-on-best hockey for Canada. Connor McDavid brings a slightly younger perspective and lots of captain experience to the alternate captain role. Canadian fans are eager to see McDavid and Crosby take to the ice as teammates for the first time ever.
Finland will be captained by the Florida Panthers' Aleksander Barkov, with Carolina Hurricanes forwards Sebastian Aho and Mikko Rantanen, as well as Mikael Granlund from the Stars, being named as alternate captains.
Team Sweden will be captained by Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning, with Mattias Ekholm (Edmonton Oilers), Erik Karlsson (Pittsburgh Penguins), William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs) being named as alternate captains.
Finally, the United States will be captained by the Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews, with Charlie McAvoy (Boston Bruins) and Matthew Tkachuk (Florida Panthers) announced as the alternate captains.
For all of these teams it should be interesting to see how players get along , as some will have to play alongside their NHL rivals. Players have only three days of team bonding and practices leading up to the tournament.
There are two big rivalries in this tournament, Canada vs. USA and Finland vs. Sweden. This should make for some intense play all around.
When asked about the Finland vs. Sweden rivalry, Buffalo Sabres and Team Finland goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stated, "The biggest game every year for us is when Finland plays Sweden at any tournament. It doesn’t matter what it is, you always want to play against them. You know everybody is watching back home and it’s what you dream about when you’re a kid, and it’s going to be unreal to be a part of that."
How will the teams stack up against each other? Canada has quite the stacked team, but the United States is not far behind. There is a lot of talent between all four nations, but I think at the end of the tournament it will be Canada vs. USA in the Championship game on February 20th.
Comments