NHL goes international as 4 Nations Face-Off tournament gets underway

• The NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off is about to get underway. The international tournament features teams from Canada, the U.S., Sweden and Finland.
• Every player on each team’s roster is an NHL regular.
• The tournament is a round-robin format and a champion will be crowned Feb. 20.

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The NHL is about to drop the puck on one of its signature events. The Four Nations Face-Off will get underway Wednesday, Feb. 12, in Montreal.

The tournament, which follows a round-robin format, features the best players from Canada, the U.S., Sweden and Finland, all of whom are NHL regulars. Some consider it a warm-up for the 2026 Olympic games in Italy since NHL players haven’t played in the Olympics since 2014.

Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid is ready to lead Team Canada to gold.

“I think everybody’s excited. Obviously, a great opportunity for our team to come together and, you know, make our country proud,” McDavid said. “It’s ultimately what it comes down to –– you know, obviously, this isn’t the Olympics or anything like that, but you know this is all about national pride.”

With All-Stars at every position on the ice, the players believe it’s an even competition, and it may come down to how quickly each team learns to play together.

“Just, you know, finding that chemistry and making sure that you’re on the same page as far as, you know, systems and things like that,” Team Canada’s captain, Sidney Crosby, said. “Whatever team is able to do that a little bit better is going to have success, but that’s part of the challenge. So I think, you know, any way you can fast track that it’s to your advantage.”

Team USA’s roster is chock full of guys who played together as kids, and defenseman Adam Fox said it won’t take long to get acclimated.

“We’re all pretty familiar with each other from, you know, NTDP [National Training Development Program], World Juniors, World Championships. So it’s fun to see some familiar faces meet some new guys and get some practice in too, to get some chemistry out there,” Fox said.

The tournament starts Wednesday, when Team Canada goes up against Sweden in Montreal. Then, on Thursday, Feb. 13, Team USA takes on Finland. However, Saturday, Feb. 15, is the game a lot of fans are waiting for, as Team USA will meet Canada.

The two teams with the most points in the standings after playing three games will advance to the final on Thursday, Feb. 20, in Boston.

Russia, the country with the third most players in the NHL, is not involved. They are currently banned from international ice hockey competitions due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.