The National Hockey League (NHL) struck gold with the first edition of the Four Nation’s Face-Off.
“It’s just incredible how much of a home run 4 Nations has been for the NHL and hockey in general. Friends who never watched a hockey game in their lives reaching out asking what the plan is for tonight’s game, what food we’re ordering, etc. Definition of growing the game,” JJ Watt tweeted, former NFL player turned sports analyst.
The Four Nation’s Face-Off replaced the NHL’s All Star Game format with a four-team tournament and featured four of the most historic hockey countries in the world; Canada, Sweden, Finland, and the United States. NHL players were chosen to represent their respective country by the country’s hockey governing body.
The festivities kicked-off on Feb. , with Canada taking on Sweden at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. The game began with a ceremony that involved past and present NHL stars representing each country, which included the likes of Mario Lemieux and Auston Matthews.
Team Canada started the tournament off with a bang, which was a recurring theme throughout the event. Canada would go on an early powerplay from a high sticking from Sweden winger William Nylander. It took only 12 seconds for Captain Crosby to rip a backhand-no look pass to fellow Nova Socitian Nathan MacKinnon for a one-timer to take an early 1-0 lead.
Canada added another tally by the end of the first period when Braden Point and Brad Marchand capitalized on an odd-man rush.
The Swedes found themselves down 3-1 after two periods of play. But they weren’t quite out of it yet. 1:54 into the final frame, Adrian Kempe squeaked one past Canadian goalie Jordan Binnington. Around seven minutes later, Joel Eriksson Ek scored off a beautiful pass from Jesper Bratt that had Binnington sprawling to get back into position.
However, Team Sweden’s late momentum wasn’t enough to stop the dominant offense that was Team Canada’s. Mitch Marner split the Team Sweden defense and fired the game winner into the net. The scoring opportunity was set up once again by Sidney Crosby, who ended with three assists on the night.
“He (Crosby) will go down as the greatest player to ever represent his country. If not, he’s going to be on the Mount Rushmore for sure of people who have thrown a Canadian jersey on,” Team Canada coach Jon Cooper said.
The second game of the tournament was played the following night, between Finland and the United States. The United States were heavily favored heading into this game, given the expectation by many that Finland would be the weakest of the four teams in the tournament.
But Finland shocked the doubters, and possibly scared some bettors, when they took a 1-0 lead 7:31 into the second period. Henri Jokiharju’s shot tipped off an American defender’s stick, flipping it over the shoulder of netminder Connor Hellebuyck and into the back of the net.
It didn’t take long for the Americans to respond, as about three minutes later, Brady Tkachuk buried his own rebound into the net to tie the game at one a piece.
This opened the floodgates as the Americans poured on six unanswered goals on the Fins, which included three within the first three minutes of the third period, en route to a 6-1 victory.
The Tkachuk brothers, Brady and Matthew, combined for four of America’s six goals. Despite the shaky start, Hellebuyck put aside the remainder of his shots faced, and finished with 20 saves.
Saturday kicked off the rivalry games, with Sweden taking on Finland in the first game of the double-header. Despite the hiatus in international play for many of these players, there was no love-lost between the two Nordic rivals. Team Sweden captain Victor Hedman stirred up the pot prior to the matchup.
“I think if you ask them, they say they’re the big brother, and if you ask us, we’re the big brother,” Hedman said in an interview with Stephen Whyno from AP News.
It was a back and forth battle between the two sides, and finished regulation tied at three. Both goaltenders, Linus Ullmark and Kevin Lankinen, made critical saves to keep their squads in the game.
But it was 1:49 into overtime where Mikael Granlund beat Ullmark five-hole to keep Finland’s championship dreams alive and subsequently eliminated the Swedes from making the championship game.
Finnish winger Patrik Laine fired back at Hedman in a post game interview with ESPN’s Emily Kaplan
“Now I feel like we’re the big brother now,” Hedman said.
That energy carried over into the next game, which happened to be the most anticipated game of the tournament, USA vs. Canada. Just like the game prior, the intensity came way before puck drop.
The political tension between the United States and Canada had never been higher. Just a few weeks prior, United States President Donald Trump imposed a 25% additional tariff on Canada and Mexico, due to the three sides not coming to an agreement on immigration issues. Per the Bank of Canada, the tariffs imposed on Canada would negatively impact the Canadian economy by decreasing the amount of exports, and would lead to the depreciation of the Canadian dollar. The three sides would eventually come to an agreement days later, delaying the tariffs until more discussions occurred.
Additionally, President Trump has been in serious talks about annexing Canada and making it the 51st state. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has publicly rejected President Trump’s plan, however it didn’t stop President Trump from saying both sides would “be better off” as one country.
These shake-ups left a bad taste in many Canadian’s mouths. With all things considered, the Canadian fans booed the Star Spangled Banner before the game.
“I didn’t like it. That’s all I got,” Matthew Tkachuk said postgame about the booing.
Matthew Tkachuk made it very evident that he didn’t like the Canadian fan’s actions. As soon as the puck dropped on the opening face-off, he and Brandon Hagel immediately dropped the gloves and fought. The Bell Centre erupted with cheers as the two exchanged blows. The fight ended with a failed takedown by Tkachuk that led Hagel to fall on top of him. Both players were able to land clean punches on each other.
Matthew wasn’t the only Tkachuk who wanted in on the action. After the very next face-off, Brody went after Sam Bennett. Tkachuk was able to body-slam Bennett on to the ice for a decisive win.
Just seven seconds after the last fight, American forward J.T. Miller cross checked Canadian defenseman Colton Parayko, which led to yet another fight.
Three fights in nine seconds, and the game had just started.
Fueled by the energy within the Bell Centre, Canadian center Conor McDavid blew by American defenseman Charlie McAvoy, and fired a backhand shot into the top-right corner of the net to take an early 1-0 lead.
The Americans quickly replied with a goal of their own, when Jack Eichel connected with a streaking Jake Guentzel, who slid the puck five-hole past Binnington and into the net.
By that point, it was clear that it would take everything from both sides if they wanted to win. The game became very physical, with big hits coming from Team USA’s Charlie McAvoy as well as Canada’s Anthony Cirelli.
With 6:27 left in the second frame, a rare Sidney Crosby turnover proved to be costly as Team USA’s Matt Boldy gained control of the puck and found Dylan Larkin on an odd man rush. Larkin looked off J.T. Miller on the two-on-one and instead whizzed one past Binnington’s blocker to take the first lead of the game for the Americans.
The physicalness did not slow down, each team trading hit after hit. The American’s held onto their lead into the third period. With 1:19 left to play, Jake Guentzel put the game to rest with an empty net goal, his second of the evening. Additionally sending the Americans to the championship game. Despite great chances for Canada to score, Connor Hellebuyck stood strong, making 25 saves in the 3-1 win.
Another doubleheader took place Monday, President’s Day, where Canada and Finland faced off in a win or go home matchup. The event had shifted to the Boston leg of the tournament, with TD Garden now being the host arena. Canada could no longer rely on their home ice advantage.
Despite the new surroundings, Canada got out to a quick 3-0 lead, and were up 4-0 by the end of the second period. As proven in the prior two games, no lead was safe with the Canadians. Finland’s Esa Lindell banked one off the post and in to cut the lead to three with 6:41 remaining. Then, with the goalie pulled, Mikael Granlund put one past Jordan Binnington with 1:40 left.
23 seconds later, Granlund scored again. All of a sudden, Canada’s four goal lead was cut down to just one.
However, the Canadian’s held on for the final 1:17, and punched their ticket to the championship game.
The USA vs. Sweden game didn’t quite have as much appeal to it as the game prior, due to Sweden already being knocked out and the United States resting their players for the upcoming rematch against Canada.
The Americans opened the scoring for the first time all tournament, with Chris Kreider scoring 35 seconds into the game.
But that was all they could muster, as the Swedes would answer with two goals of their own, both in the second period. Sweden would also hold on to that lead to win 2-1, backstopped by 32 saves from Samuel Ersson.
The championship game garnered the most attention. With the popularity of the first game between these two teams, a game that saw over 10 millions tv viewers (per USA Today).
The hype was so big, both Prime Minister Trudeau and President Trump wished their countries good luck. Prime Minister Trudeau posted a video on X in support of Team Canada, and President Trump called Team USA to give them a pep talk.
“You guys are really talented. I have great respect for hockey players, I’m a hockey fan. I love hockey. The talent, the skill that you have is crazy…and just go out and have a good time tonight. And I just want to wish you a lot of luck. You really are a skilled group of people. It’s an honor to talk to you.” Trump can be heard saying on the phone call in a video posted by USA Hockey on X.
But with all the attention and politics aside, it was up to how each team performed on the ice.
Canada jumped out to an early 1-0 off of a hard shot by Nathan MacKinnon that found its way through traffic and into the net. It was MacKinnon’s fourth goal, and he led all players in the tournament in goals.
The Americans would later tie it with 3:08 remaining in the first period. Team USA captain Auston Matthews failed to score on an attempted wraparound but the puck was tipped by Brady Tkachuk on the rebound and dropped into the net.
Like the game prior, the Americans would take the lead from the Canadians in the second period. Team USA defenseman Jake Sanderson put the puck past a sliding Jordan Binnington off a rebounded Auston Matthews shot. Sanderson saw limited time in the three prior games, but stepped up into a big role after Charlie MacAvoy was hospitalized with an infection. Sanderson saw his moment and seized it.
Later that period, Canada’s Mitch Marner connected with Sam Bennett, who sniped the puck top-shelf to tie the game at two.
The two sides would battle until the end of the third period, still tied at two. Both teams had their chances, but couldn’t quite find the back of the net. Team USA defenseman Jacob Slavin made memorable plays to keep the Americans in the game. First, he tied up Sidney Crosby’s stick when Crosby had a look at a wide open net, and prevented him from easily scoring. Slavin also blocked several key shots, mainly in the third period when the game was knotted at 2 a piece.
In the overtime period, the Americans got off to a hot start, controlling play for about 5 and a half minutes. Brady Tkachuk almost ended it with 15:32 left, where he settled a rebound off another Auston Matthews shot and fired it at the net. But a diving Binnington made the glove save. Off the ensuing face-off, Matthews would get another chance at glory, shooting another snapshot quickly from the slot, but was robbed by Binnington with a windmill glove save.
Those saves proved to be the most important in the game, as four minutes later Mitch Marner would find Connor McDavid open in the slot on a no-look backhanded pass, reminiscent of the OT winner vs. Sweden. McDavid quickly fired the puck past Hellebuyck, and into the net for the golden goal.
Nathan MacKinnon took home tournament MVP, and the Canadians made it official by hoisting the trophy, the first country to ever do such a thing.
ESPN saw 10.4 million viewers at its peak, and Sportsnet garnered 10.7 million viewers for the championship game (per ESPN). The largest non-football event on ESPN since the 2024 NBA Finals.
The Four Nations began as a fun warmup for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, but it ended as one of the most memorable and successful events in hockey history. Fans may dwell on the event being over, but the spectacle of international hockey awaits in another 12 months.
