4 Nations Face-Off February 2025 NHL/NHLPA international event, four teams

[LadyStanley]

Four teams? US, Canada, Sweden and Finland?

Missing Czech players and more.

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[jigglysquishy]

Looks like another non best on best tournament.

Can't believe last one was 2014. Best chance now is 2026 Olympics in Italy.

12 years between best of best will be the longest stretch since they started. Current longest is 9 years (1987 to 1996) tied with 2014 to 2023.

We were denied prime McDavid and prime Crosby playing together. An unforgivable sin.

 

[joelef]

Four teams? US, Canada, Sweden and Finland?

Missing Czech players and more.

Worst run tournament ever.

 

[Rob]

The NHL is a detriment to international hockey.

 

[albinaguerette]

Oh, I still hope this World Cup of Hockey tournament will become a prestigious one

 

[ViD]

Might as well just resort to having a Canada vs US matchup like they do in women’s hockey

 

[Jumptheshark]

LIke I said a four team world cup shows just how out of touch the nhl is with growing the game ang engaging fans.

Just to repeat I said in the other thread--for those who did not read it

Teams that should be in ANYTHING that is suppose to be the best of thing

1) Canada
2) USA
3) Sweden
4) Finland
5) Chechia
6) Germany
7) Swiss

with an 8th team decided by the winner of the another tourney

1) Latvia
2) Slovakia
3) Denmark
4) Norway

For those who go--hold on why not the French or Kazakhstan?

I am still mad at the French for the french farce called the world championship they held and as for Kazakhstan? They are notorious for rubber stamping foreign players to get passports that allows them to play in these tourneys

BTW

Here is the current top 10 standing for hockey at the international level. Russia of course is still banned

		Team	Points
1		Canada​	4150
2		Finland​	4080
3		Russia​	4050
4		United States​	3940
5		Germany​	3835
6		Sweden​	3800
7		Switzerland​	3775
8		Czech Republic​	3735
9		Slovakia​	3690
10		Latvia​	3610

 

[GKJ]

It’s laughable that the league finds this so impossible to put together. They had no problem doing it for 20 years between between the 70’s and 90’s

 

[Rob]

Might as well just resort to having a Canada vs US matchup like they do in women’s hockey

At this point I will take anything. A mini-series between the US and Canada would be still get a lot of attention here.

It’s laughable that the league finds this so impossible to put together. They had no problem doing it for 20 years between between the 70’s and 90’s

The owners don't want international hockey. The fans and the players do.

 

[Theokritos]

The NHL presents: The World Balls-up of Hockey.

 

[GKJ]

At this point I will take anything. A mini-series between the US and Canada would be still get a lot of attention here.



The owners don't want international hockey. The fans and the players do.

Everyone knows the best business practices and ideas are born out of never giving your consumers what they ask for.

 

[Yukon Joe]

OK, so I am 100% on-board with Russia not being involved. The reasoning is pretty obvious, and no need to go into a political discussion.

But why only 4? Czechia is the traditional hockey power that is missing, although they're been down. I would much prefer it if they'd add Czechia and Germany to make it a 6-team tournament, or also Switzerland and Slovakia to make an 8 team tournament.

I suspect the reason it's only 4 is that want to guarantee a Canada-USA matchup, and if they went in particular with 8 you'd probably split into 2 pools.

I also kind of enjoyed both the Team North America (aka young stars) and Team Europe last time around, but I suspect it was a bit of an embarassment when Team Europe went to the final last time around, so that's probably why they did away with that idea.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

International hockey is usually bad so I'm fine without the pushovers like Germany, Swiss, etc.

No Russian players is a loss though

 

[rojac]

At this point I will take anything. A mini-series between the US and Canada would be still get a lot of attention here.



The owners don't want international hockey. The fans and the players do.

Some fans want it. I enjoyed the novelty of the 72 Summit Series but that was about it,

 

[rojac]

The NHL is a detriment to international hockey.

And I hope they keep being one. International hockey is just a bunch of silly little tourneys with temporary teams thrown together for a few weeks. Players should be focusing on doing their jobs - which is to help their NHL team try to win a Stanley Cup.

 

[SympathyForTheDevils]

It's no mystery why there's only 4 teams: aside from Russia, these are the only teams that can make a national roster with only NHL players (Czechia has only 4 NHL Dmen).

But it's not a great way to approach this. One day, the NHL will have to bite the bullet and accept it cannot do international hockey by itself. Even if they want to avoid the IOC, they at the very least need the cooperation of the IIHF and of the European leagues.

 

[rojac]

OK, so I am 100% on-board with Russia not being involved. The reasoning is pretty obvious, and no need to go into a political discussion.

But why only 4? Czechia is the traditional hockey power that is missing, although they're been down. I would much prefer it if they'd add Czechia and Germany to make it a 6-team tournament, or also Switzerland and Slovakia to make an 8 team tournament.

I suspect the reason it's only 4 is that want to guarantee a Canada-USA matchup, and if they went in particular with 8 you'd probably split into 2 pools.

I also kind of enjoyed both the Team North America (aka young stars) and Team Europe last time around, but I suspect it was a bit of an embarassment when Team Europe went to the final last time around, so that's probably why they did away with that idea.

I suspect it's only four because they do it want to shutdown the league for more than a week. They know this little tourney isn't worth more than that. I

It's no mystery why there's only 4 teams: aside from Russia, these are the only teams that can make a national roster with only NHL players (Czechia has only 4 NHL Dmen).

But it's not a great way to approach this. One day, the NHL will have to bite the bullet and accept it cannot do international hockey by itself. Even if they want to avoid the IOC, they at the very least need the cooperation of the IIHF and of the European leagues.

And ideally, they'll come to their senses and not do international hockey at all.

 

[joelef]

And I hope they keep being one. International hockey is just a bunch of silly little tourneys with temporary teams thrown together for a few weeks. Players should be focusing on doing their jobs - which is to help their NHL team try to win a Stanley Cup.

So why do value cities over countries?

 

[rojac]

So why do value cities over countries?

I value a full league with things like a salary cap, a draft, trades, etc. over a short tourney like the Olympics or the World Cup.

 

[Albatros]

OK, so I am 100% on-board with Russia not being involved. The reasoning is pretty obvious, and no need to go into a political discussion.

But why only 4? Czechia is the traditional hockey power that is missing, although they're been down. I would much prefer it if they'd add Czechia and Germany to make it a 6-team tournament, or also Switzerland and Slovakia to make an 8 team tournament.

I suspect the reason it's only 4 is that want to guarantee a Canada-USA matchup, and if they went in particular with 8 you'd probably split into 2 pools.

I also kind of enjoyed both the Team North America (aka young stars) and Team Europe last time around, but I suspect it was a bit of an embarassment when Team Europe went to the final last time around, so that's probably why they did away with that idea.

Finnish and Swedish fans would pay to see their NHL stars, for example in Germany this would be a much tougher sell.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

So why do value cities over countries?

It's not cities. It is franchises. Those franchises pay the players millions of dollars annually. The players will receive some sort of nationalistic pride, which is important to many, but doesn't pay much or last very long. The tangible benefits of growing the game internationally does not move the proverbial needle, either. There are more games for those franchises in one month than international games they will play over their entire careers. It is the players' priority, very understandably. If you doubt this, look at the increasing number of players who refuse to play in the IIHF World Championships after NHL playoffs are completed.

If you think hockey or the NHL is unique in this, look at fussballers retiring from international duty despite having an age and skill level capable of being selected for the national team. The battle between national teams and club teams is very rarely won by national teams. The average hockey fan probably has never heard of Antero Nittymäki, despite him being the MVP of the best-on-best 2006 Torino Olympics. But even newer hockey fans know Steven Stamkos, who hasn't played international competition since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

 

[Cacciaguida]

Having this tournament without Russia is a waste of time.

 

[CANADIENSFAN90]

Well maybe if Russia stops be a dick maybe there be allowed to do stuff again

 

[tucker3434]

Why bother? I mean, I know. $$$. But will anyone care about this?

 

[Tawnos]

It's no mystery why there's only 4 teams: aside from Russia, these are the only teams that can make a national roster with only NHL players (Czechia has only 4 NHL Dmen).

But it's not a great way to approach this. One day, the NHL will have to bite the bullet and accept it cannot do international hockey by itself. Even if they want to avoid the IOC, they at the very least need the cooperation of the IIHF and of the European leagues.

Exactly. The combination of the number of players available and this being an NHLPA only tournament makes it impossible to field other teams.

Frankly, if this is what they need to do to get the damn thing off the ground then it's fine with me for now. The thing that makes these tournaments work is when they're a tradition every 2 or 4 years. They need to re-establish this and you can't re-establish something without starting somewhere. Ultimately, you rope in the IIHF... but let's just get going already.