When the puck drops between Canada and Sweden on Wednesday in Montreal, marking the start of the 4 Nations Face-Off, the nine-year absence of best-on-best international hockey will finally end.
Not since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey have the NHL’s brightest stars lined up against each other to compete for their countries. The league did not allow its players to participate in the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics.
Edmonton Oilers and Team Canada star Connor McDavid has yet to compete in an Olympics, but he’s getting his wish to play in a best-on-best tournament.
“It’s going to be a great tournament,” McDavid told reporters before the tournament. “It’s going to be short, which should make for some really intense games. Yes, it’s not the Olympics; I understand that. It’s not a World Cup of Hockey. But there’s still something on the line, and we want to represent our country well.”
The U.S. and Finland are joining Canada and Sweden in the competition. After a round robin, the top two teams will vie for the championship Feb. 20 in Boston.
The Americans may very well be the favorites, boasting a roster with plenty of offensive pop at forward and defense, even with Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks) being forced to pull out on the eve of the tournament due to injury. Two-time and reigning Vezina Torphy winner Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets) will be between the pipes Thursday when they play their opening game against Finland.
The longest shot of the event is definitely Finland, which took a huge hit with its top defenseman Miro Heiskanen (Dallas Stars) unable to play due to a knee injury.
As for Canada, the elephant in the room cannot be missed.
While the Canadians boast a galaxy worth of stars at forward and defense, everybody knows goaltending is their biggest question mark. Although Jordan Binnington (St. Louis Blues) and Adin Hill (Vegas Golden Knights) are the only goaltenders in this tournament who have backstopped their NHL clubs to a Stanley Cup title, the netminders (Binnington, Hill and the Canadiens’ Sam Montembeault) are considered Canada’s weakest link.
Coach Jon Cooper announced on Tuesday that Binnington would start the tournament opener.
Yet that issue is one the Canadians believe can be overcome, especially with a crew of forwards featuring McDavid, Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins), Nathan McKinnon (Colorado Avalanche), Mitch Marner (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Brayden Point (Tampa Bay Lightning), and plenty of experience and success in best-on-best events.
“As far as goalies, our defense is so good as well, and as a team you’ve just got to make it easy on them, let them see the pucks,” forward Mark Stone (Golden Knights) said. “If we can do that, all three of these guys are very capable goaltenders.”
Speaking of goaltenders, the Swedes have their own concern between the pipes with Jacob Markstrom missing the tournament due to a knee injury.
Sweden coach Sam Hallam confirmed Wednesday morning that Filip Gustavsson of the Minnesota Wild will start against Canada. He gets the nod over Linus Ullmark (Ottawa Senators) and Samuel Ersson (Philadelphia Flyers).
Ullmark returned to action Feb. 4 after missing 18 games due to a back injury.
“It’s been a long road. It’s been different, but it’s been very productive,” Ullmark said. “I learned a lot of things along the way and had good communication throughout the whole process that enabled me to be here today.”
Sweden will look to Filip Forsberg (Nashville Predators), William Nylander (Maple Leafs), Elias Pettersson (Canucks) and blueliners Victor Hedman (Lightning) and Erik Karlsson (Penguins) for scoring.
–Field Level Media
