The NHL, MLB, NBA, and NFL each have their own type of all-star game, but this year, the NHL stood out. The league decided to go a different route, introducing the 4 Nations Faceoff tournament. The best players, coaches, and general managers from Finland, Sweden, Canada, and the United States competed in a seven-game round robin tournament during February.
Sweden and Finland were knocked out early, and as expected, it was Canada against the U.S. in the finals. Just a couple of days earlier, the two nations faced off against each other, and the U.S. won by a score of 3-1. But this time around, the Americans suffered a big loss: superstar forward Matthew Tkachuk was limited to just 6:47 of ice time due a groin injury.
After just 4:48 of playing time, Nathan MacKinnon snuck a wrist shot through a maze of players and passed Connor Hellebuyck to give the Canadiens an early 1-0 lead. With just 3:08 left in the first period, Brady Tkachuk knocked a loose puck home, off the assist from Austin Matthews, to tie the game 1-1.
In the second period, Jake Sanderson, who was only in the lineup because of an injury to Charlie McAvoy, squeezed a wrister through a scramble of players to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead. After letting up two unanswered goals, the Canadians showed no signs of letting up. Sam Bennett, who was not originally in the starting lineup, raised one over Hellebuyck’s shoulder to tie it up for Canada.
The third period featured a lot of back-and-forth hockey, but it produced no goals. Hellebuyck and Jordan Binnington made a plethora of outstanding saves to force this game into overtime. Austin Matthews, one of the game’s best goal scorers, was robbed three times in a row. Once from point-blank range off a beautiful feed from Jake Guentzel; the other two were wide-open shots from the slot.
After just 8:18 of overtime play, the Americans made the mistake of leaving Connor McDavid all alone in front of the crease, and they paid the price. He struck one top shelf to win it for the Canadians, 3-2.
It is safe to say that this was one of the greatest all-star games in NHL history. Freshman Liam Raykis said, “As a hockey fan for over ten years, I have watched many all-star games, but they have never been as exciting, electric, and entertaining as this year’s 4 Nations Face-off.” With that being said, questions regarding whether or not this should replace the standard all-star game have been raised, and senior Tyler Paige had a solution. “I don’t think it should replace the all-star game every year as that could diminish the impact best on best hockey can bring, especially with the NHL athletes already having the Olympics next year. Overall, I think this tournament being every two years directly in between the Winter Olympics would be best,” he explained.
When asked about how other leagues compare to the NHL on an international level, English teacher Craig Kirchenberg said, “The NHL is in a unique position compared to other professional sports leagues in that they have all-stars from many different countries. I don’t see the NBA or the NFL being able to replicate what the NHL just did. The MLB has an international tournament, but I don’t think any of those games are played with the kind of intensity that you see in professional hockey, and that 4 Nations Faceoff tournament was the real deal. That was better than any all-star game of any sport I’ve ever seen because players were playing for pride, for their flag. I don’t see any of the leagues being able to do that on the same level, except maybe Major League baseball.”
“This tournament brought in some casual viewers of hockey. I think [the NHL] might have picked up some casual fans, people who don’t care about hockey. Maybe they tuned in because they wanted to see what all the buzz was about. It would be nice to see some NHL pick up some viewers. The tournament was highly rated and widely talked about, so maybe it will pick up some popularity, it should,” Kirchenberg enlightened when asked how this tournament will impact overall ratings and viewership of the NHL.
