For the first time ever, four countries faced off in a mini hockey tournament called the 4 Nations Face-Off.
This was an international tournament with NHL players from the United States, Canada, Finland, and Sweden. This tournament was played from Feb. 12-20. in Montreal and Boston.
As expected, the US and Canada played each other in the championship game on Feb. 20 and Canada won in overtime, 3-2. The game was at the TD Garden Arena in Boston. An overtime goal by Connor McDavid sealed the 3-2 win for Canada.
One of our own students Kirsten Pinkham (9), who is a hockey fan herself, and the hockey reporter for the Wentzville hockey team, shared what she thinks of the games. Pinkham watched the first match on Feb. 15 when the US defeated Canada.
“The biggest thing that stood out from the game was the three fights within the first nine seconds,” Pinkham said. “Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel fought right off the opening face off, then Brady Tkachuk and Sam Bennett right after, then JT Miller and Colton Parayko fought.”
This showed how much the teams wanted to win. There was a lot of tension between the two teams, both on the ice and off the ice. When the teams played their first game in Montreal, many fans booed the National Anthem. That may have spilled over onto the ice as there were three fights at the beginning and the USA was not going to stand for that.
These Canada vs. USA games have had a lot of people interested and watching hockey. The 4 National Face-Off replaced the NHL All-Star game this year and TV ratings and fan interest skyrocketed. The USA-Canada title game averaged more than 10 million viewers across North America, more than any non-Stanley Cup Final game since 2014. In fact, the game was ESPN’s highest ever rated hockey game that it’s aired on its network.
These games have been extremely fun to watch for people. There has been a lot of energy from both of the teams.
“It was overall just a very fun game to watch,” Pinkham said. “Watching (St. Louis Blues’ players) Colton Parayko and Jordan Binnington play for their country was very fun. You could tell that both teams were really proud to represent their country, and that they wanted to win it for their country.”
