Before the puck fell on the 4 Nations Face-off final between the United States and Canada, it was clear that the NHL and NHLPA created a big hit with their return to the best-for-best competition.
Players on both sides called Thursday’s game in Boston the largest in their lives.
Coaches marveled at the speed and pace shown throughout the tournament, and 3-2 overtime gain for Canada in the final was no exception.
A replacement for the NHL All-Star game? Not way.
“Anyone who thought they would come in here and see an all-star game was hard, hard wrong,” said Canada and Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper before the title. “This has been anything but. There have been all stars, but it has not been an all-star game. “
Fans responded in a big way, with the round Robin games that took an average of 4.6 million viewers over North America. A huge 10.1 million saw last Saturday’s initial collision in USA-Canada and marked the largest audience for a game that is not the playoff since the fourth winter classic 2011 at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field.
The tournament was a WHO’s Who of NHL stars, with 28 different Stanley Cup winning players, 16 winners of the Major League Awards and six earlier No. 1 Overall draft election.
Like Pittsburgh Penguin’s captain Sidney Crosby-now a six times champion in internationally best-for-best-game-finally returned on the big stage and did everything for their respective nations.
Really, how could fans not answer?
“Only from a hockey purist or a hockey fan in general, it is difficult not to be excited about what we are witnessing,” said American coach Mike Sullivan, who is usually behind Crosby’s bench with the penguins. “That’s all you hope for in sports, which is why we love it. (The sport is) that is shown right now and I have to think that this tournament will have a lasting impact. “
Of course, it was a brilliant showcase of young talents such as Sweden’s Leo Carlsson, Anaheim Ducks’ No. 2 overall elections two years ago and 22-year-old American defender Brock Faber from Minnesota Wild.
And although it was not difficult to imagine the latest No. 1 overall elections such as Chicago Blackhawks ‘Connor Bedard and San Jose Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini who donated the Maple Leaf shirt in a future tournament like this, the real winners were those who looked at reverence.
In some ways, it was the 1980s miracle on the ice again when it comes to an impact on the sport as a whole.
“It’s pretty cool to think about the next generation and how much this can mean to them,” said US goalkeeper Connor Hellebuyck, a twice Vezina Trophy winner for Winnipeg Jets.
After two Olympic winter games without NHL participation, the players – such as Canadian forward and Florida Panthers switch to NHLPA Rep Sam Reinhart – advocated for this type of return for several years.
What a return it was. And which appetizer for Milan Cortina 2026 it was too.
“It just helps the game; It just helps the league, Reinhart said. “We both respect what each page does from a league and a player’s position. We both want to push the needle forward, and that is what an event like this does. Sure a win-win. “
The international taste will not be over after next year’s Olympics, as the NHL and NHLPA have already announced initial plans for the return of a World Cup hockey 2028. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman expects at least eight teams to participate in that tournament, with With touring, with games possible outside North America.
What else is on the horizon for the NHL remains to be seen. If another event that the four nations’ facial off comes, hockey fans would really not mind.
And there is no doubt that players would fall in the same boat as well.
“It would be difficult for someone who looked at this tournament not to be excited to participate in it. If you love hockey, it would be hard not to be excited about this, ”Sullivan said. “It was just an incredible privilege to be part of it, quite frankly. And the hockey may have been the best hockey that I have ever been associated with. It was really the fastest, no doubt.
If something has been standing out in recent weeks, it is that the best-to-best is the best.
