U.S. & Canada Ready For Greatest Show On Ice
As a fan of the Jets, Nets, and Devils, there haven’t been many mornings in the last few years where I’ve woken up truly stoked to watch a game.
Saturday morning was different. It’s U.S. versus Canada hockey night.
I know for many of you, this frivolously-named Four Nations Face-Off is a contrived event by the NHL to push interest in the sport after multiple formats for its All-Star weekend were largely ignored by the public when they saw that the contestants barely competed. Like any All-Star Game, the results of this tournament mean nothing other than to reinforce bragging rights.
Well, let me ask you this: When you’re just a fan, what do you get for your rooting interest OTHER than bragging rights? You don’t share in any prize money and you sure as heck aren’t bestowed a medal or a championship ring.
Based on recent (hockey) events, Canada has supplantded Russia, which was snubbed in this tournament due to its invasion of Ukraine, as Team USA’s main rival for supremacy. The U.S. and Canada are currently mired in their own political spat too—a very stupid one at that. But allow me one title I and the Team USA players wish our country would steal from their northern neighbors--rulers of the hockey universe.
Hockey is Canada’s pastime. The nation was in mourning after Team USA’s upset at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and about the half the country watched when their team redeemed itself by winning gold at the 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City and Vancouver, respectively. The last time the best-on-best pros skated against each other was at the 2016 World Cup, where the U.S. laid an egg and Canada took home the title.
Now, after such a long time without such a high-level event, it’s Team USA’s turn to make a statement. And if you didn’t watch their 6-1 blitzing over Finland in Thursday night’s opener and still don’t think that matters to the players, let me introduce you to the Tkachuk brothers.
Matthew and Brady, who each scored two goals in that contest, were both born before their father Keith, one of the premier power forwards of his time, earned the enduring enmity of a nation during the 1996 World Cup with a baseball-style full swing of his stick at the midsection of Team Canada defenseman Adam Foote (who was also culpable in escalating the altercation with some vicious whacks to Tkachuk’s legs). Trust me, though, both boys were schooled in the significance of these particular matchups.
Like their father, the Tkachuk brothers combine scoring prowess with agitating physicality. Credit Team USA Head Coach Mike Sullivan for tweaking his lines in the middle of Thursday’s second period to allow Brady and Matthew to flank center Jack Eichel. It changed the flow of the game.
There was one play when the puck skittered along the boards in the neutral zone with both Tkachuk brothers chasing after it against a sole Finnish skater. The scene looked like it would belong in that Hanson brothers’ montage during the classic 1970s film “Slap Shot.” You could hear ESPN Behind the Bench reporter Ray Ferraro mutter with fearful anticipation, “Oh, no.”
Nothing came of the incident, perhaps because it was Finland, the grateful-to-be-invited guest of the tournament. If it was a Canadian jersey in their sights, there was a better chance that the Tkachuks would have finished those checks, evoking nightmares of their father from the diehard Canada fans rooting passionately for the Finns. They haven’t forgotten the connection, just like Rangers fans still chanting “Potvin sucks!” over 45 years after his claim to villainy.
Tonight’s actual game at Montreal’s Bell Centre promises to be one that hockey fans without a rooting interest can enjoy. The energy inside the building will be electric. It’s a pick-em wager, with Team USA possibly having an edge because their goalie Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg) is considered the best in the world despite his relatively average career playoff stats while Team Canada has St. Louis’ Jordan Binnington, who sports a sub .900 save percentage this season but owns a Stanley Cup ring.
Team Canada’s speed in Wednesday’s 4-3 overtime victory over Team Sweden was otherworldly. Defenseman Drew Doughty, 35, said it was the fastest game he had ever played in. The power play unit with Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, and Sidney Crosby, who has won 26 consecutive games when wearing the Team Canada jersey, is unfair. The Tkachuk brothers will have to keep their emotions in check such that their antics do not cross the legal lines. (Note: Don’t tell me it’s only Ottawa’s Brady who pushes the envelope—I’ve seen Matthew take plenty of liberties against the three local clubs since his 2022 trade to Florida.)
It's not just Team USA who can get chippy. Boston’s Brad Marchand, a fourth liner on this loaded Canada squad who scored a goal against Sweden, is one of the NHL’s dirtiest players. Team Canada Head Coach Jon Cooper reportedly will elevate Sam Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk’s Florida teammate, in place of Philadelphia’s Travis Konecny for purposes of ratcheting up the physicality. Another Team Canada lineup change, Philadelphia defenseman Travis Sanheim for Shea Theodore, was not one made out of choice, as the Vegas shutdown ace injured his hand on Wednesday.
That’s the unfortunate side of holding this event in season. There could be further injuries that will impact their respective clubs after this break, and those fans will cry about the wisdom of it all, like Islanders fans when John Tavares tore his MCL and meniscus during the 2014 Winter Olympics.
That doesn’t seem to bother the Four Nations contestants. They care, and so do I.