With the majority of National Hockey League players preparing to enjoy a mid-season break, 92 of them will instead be heading to Montreal & Boston to take part in the NHL & NHLPA’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. Teams representing four of the world’s hockey-craziest nations, the 7 game schedule will allow the top players from Canada, Finland, Sweden, & the United States to show off their skills.
As someone who was old enough to get to enjoy the NHL’s best players competing in various tournaments (Olympics, Canada Cup’s, etc) in the 1980’s, I am glad that there are signs that current fans will get that chance too. I have memories like Wayne Gretzky setting up Mario Lemieux to win the 1987 Canada Cup over the Russians, or a bunch of mainly unknown Americans shocking the world to win the 1980 Olympic gold medal, or Dominik Hasek leading the Czech’s to the same title in 1998. The younger generations deserve to have the chance to fill their own “hockey memory banks” with equally exciting performances. Now if the Whole World would just settle down a bit & relax, the kids might get a chance with this mini-tournament and the upcoming Olympics.
When the puck drops on Wednesday, the Winnipeg Jets will have three representatives on two of the four competing countries’ rosters. Defenseman Josh Morrissey is the sole Canadian representative, while goaltender Connor Hellebuyck & sniper Kyle Connor will be pulling on the red, white, & blue. I know that we have Canadian & American Jets’ fans here at Arctic Ice Hockey, so loyalties might be divided between at least a couple of teams. I know I will be cheering for my home country, but I can say that part of me will be hoping Bucky & KFC do just as well on Team USA.
If you happen to just be a fan of all 7 Canadian NHL franchises, you may be surprised to find out who you will be cheering for at the 4 Nations. Team Canada will actually have the least amount of representative from the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, & Montreal Canadiens, with only 4 players. The Scandinavian countries of Finland & Sweden each have 5 players from Canadian squads, while the Americans have the most with 6 (33% of them from the Jets).
Here is a complete list of the players on each of the four competing Nations’ rosters:
CANADA
Forwards (13)
Sam Bennett, Florida Panthers
Anthony Cirelli, Tampa Bay Lightning
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Brandon Hagel, Tampa Bay Lightning
Seth Jarvis, Carolina Hurricanes
Travis Konecny, Philadelphia Flyers
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins
Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Brayden Point, Tampa Bay Lightning
Sam Reinhart, Florida Panthers
Mark Stone, Vegas Golden Knights
Defensemen (7)
Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
Josh Morrissey, Winnipeg Jets
Colton Parayko, St. Louis Blues
Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings*
Travis Sanheim, Philadelphia Flyers
Shea Theodore, Vegas Golden Knights
Devon Toews, Colorado Avalanche
Goalies (3)
Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues
Adin Hill, Vegas Golden Knights
Sam Montembeault, Montreal Canadiens
*Added as an injury replacement for Alex Pietrangelo (Vegas Golden Knights).
The Canadian management team has definitely decided size & grit were key factors when they were filling out their forward corps, resulting in Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele (63 pts in 56 gms) being one of the final “cuts“. While #55’s performance this season certainly warrants a red & white Maple Leaf jersey, I am glad that he will get to rest up for the final push instead.
That being said, I like what Team Canada is bringing with a mix of talent & 2-way play…..however, like everyone else, I know the biggest question mark is in the crease. Not sure why the bigwigs never brought the Washington Capital’s Logan Thompson on board after his terrific season (2.23 GAA/.921%). Maybe they didn’t know which goalie to remove? But that seems clear to me….Jordan Binnington has a Cup, Adin Hill has a Cup, and Sam Montembeault has…..nada. Sorry Habs fans.
Early practice pairings suggest that the Peg’s Josh Morrissey will be on the 2nd set with the Blues’ Colton Parayko, but it seems that the Flyers’ Travis Konecny might be stealing his 2nd PP spot after yesterday’s scrimmage.
The injury to Alex Pietrangelo is unfortunate, but having a veteran like Drew Doughty ready to fill in is makes his loss easier to take.
UNITED STATES
Forwards (13)
Matt Boldy, Minnesota Wild
Kyle Connor, Winnipeg Jets
Jack Eichel, Vegas Golden Knights
Jake Guentzel, Tampa Bay Lightning
Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils
Chris Kreider, New York Rangers
Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings
Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
J.T. Miller, Vancouver Canucks
Brock Nelson, New York Islanders
Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators
Matthew Tkachuk, Florida Panthers
Vincent Trocheck, New York Rangers
Defensemen (7)
Brock Faber, Minnesota Wild
Adam Fox, New York Rangers
Noah Hanifin, Vegas Golden Knights
Jake Sanderson, Ottawa Senators*
Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins
Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes
Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets
Goalies (3)
Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
Jake Oettinger, Dallas Stars
Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins
*Added as an injury replacement for Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks).
The Americans also made sure that they had plenty of size up front and arguably have the best roster on paper. The loss of Quinn Hughes to injury is a big one, but the Yanks will still be able to field a formidable defensive six. Agitation might be a part of their game too with the brothers Tkachuk roaming the ice.
Plenty of US scoring power to go along with the Jets’ Kyle Connor and that should allow them to outscore the majority of their opponents, especially with Vezina-lock Connor Hellebucyk guarding the pipes. While Jeremy Swayman is struggling a bit with consistency this season, the Dallas Stars’ Jake Oettinger is a great fallback option for the coaching staff to have (and will hopefully ensure Bucky doesn’t start all the games).
FINLAND
Forwards (13)
Sebastian Aho, Carolina Hurricanes
Joel Armia, Montreal Canadiens
Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers
Mikael Granlund, San Jose Sharks
Erik Haula, New Jersey Devils
Roope Hintz, Dallas Stars
Kaapo Kakko, New York Rangers
Patrik Laine, Montreal Canadiens
Artturi Lehkonen, Colorado Avalanche
Anton Lundell, Florida Panthers
Eetu Luostarinen, Florida Panthers
Mikko Rantanen, Colorado Avalanche
Teuvo Teravainen, Chicago Blackhawks
Defensemen (7)
Jani Hakanpaa, Toronto Maple Leafs
Urho Vaakanainen, New York Rangers*
Esa Lindell, Dallas Stars
Olli Maatta, Utah Hockey Club
Niko Mikkola, Florida Panthers
Nikolas Matinpalo, Ottawa Senators**
Juuso Valimaki, Utah Hockey Club
Goalies (3)
Kevin Lankinen, Vancouver Canucks
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Buffalo Sabres
Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators
*Added as an injury replacement for Miro Heiskanen (Dallas Stars).
**Added as an injury replacement for Rasmus Ristolainen (Philadelphia Flyers).
Team Finland’s defense has taken a big hit with the Stars’ Miro Heiskanen & Flyers’ Rasmus Ristolainen being on the shelf. Their replacements won’t be nearly as impactful and that will probably make defense their weakest unit. Fortunately, the Finns are known for a strong 2-way style and have plenty of high-end talent up front to pop in enough offense.
They will likely need the best goal scorers to snipe often enough to win the goal differential, putting extra pressure on the Hurricanes’ Mikko Rantanen & Sebastian Aho, the Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov, and the Canadiens’ Patrik Laine.
Canucks’ goalie Kevin Lankinen has been playing well this year (2.56 GAA) and we all know how well the Predators’ Juuse Saros can play when he is on.
SWEDEN
Forwards (13)
Viktor Arvidsson, Edmonton Oilers
Jesper Bratt, New Jersey Devils
Leo Carlsson, Anaheim Ducks
Joel Eriksson Ek, Minnesota Wild
Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators
William Karlsson, Vegas Golden Knights
Adrian Kempe, Los Angeles Kings
Elias Lindholm, Boston Bruins
Rickard Rakell, Pittsburgh Penguins*
Gustav Nyqvist, Nashville Predators
Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
Lucas Raymond, Detroit Red Wings
Mika Zibanejad, New York Rangers
Defensemen (7)
Rasmus Andersson, Calgary Flames
Jonas Brodin, Minnesota Wild
Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres
Mattias Ekholm, Edmonton Oilers
Gustav Forsling, Florida Panthers
Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
Erik Karlsson, Pittsburgh Penguins
Goalies (3)
Filip Gustavsson, Minnesota Wild
Samuel Ersson, Philadelphia Flyers**
Linus Ullmark, Ottawa Senators
*Added as an injury replacement for William Karlsson (Vegas Golden Knights).
**Added as an injury replacement for Jacob Markstrom (New Jersey Devils).
The Swedes also have had to deal with some injury-related changes to their roster, losing their best performing goaltender in the Devils’ Jacob Markstrom (2.20 GAA/.912%). Fortunately it seems that the Senators’ Linus Ullmark (2.49 GAA/.915%) has recovered in time to give them another option, but the Wild’s Filip Gustavsson (2.63 GAA/.915%) is also playing well.
The Penguins’ Rickard Rakell is having a career season and seems a good filler for the Knights’ William Karlsson, so the offense didn’t take too much of a hit. Team Sweden has a bunch of exciting forwards to watch, but I will probably be most pumped to watch a young talent like the Sharks’ Leo Carlsson get to play with equally talented linemates.
A solid defensive unit with heavy guys like the Flames’ Rasmus Andersson, the Sabres’ Rasmus Dahlin, & the Bolts’ Victor Hedman. I don’t think Sweden will be any easy out for anyone in the tourney.
*****
Okay, so if all that got you excited to watch all the 4 Nations’ games, here is the full schedule so you can start making excuses for your significant others:
Not sure how many of you will be watching the matches, but I will likely be here at AIH to share my thoughts and see what other members have to say. Feel free to join in. Enjoy the action!!
I will end with a small prayer to the Hockey Gods….please protect Morrissey, Connor, & Hellebuyck from injury and bring them home primed & ready for a real Stanley Cup run!!! Amen.
