Series Talk: Four Nations Face-Off Tournament

[myperbixhurts]

This is such an odd take to me. The players OBVIOUSLY care about this tournament. Telling them not to care because they may get hurt is weird.

An NHL player could get hurt in a Tuesday game in San Jose or even just a practice. It happens.

I’m not saying the players shouldn’t care about the tournament, I’m just saying me as a fan, I rather see Nate, Makar, Toews and Lehky being healthy for a stretch run of the NHL season going into playoffs, than playing in this tournament and getting injured

 

[Foppa2118]

Already some key injuries. Theodore, Tkachuk. Can we just get this tournament over with and get back to NHL hockey please. Actually any one getting injured in this tournament is gonna be a key player for their NHL team

Sounds like you're not the_fan you used to be.

 

[niwotsblessing]

Sounds like you're not the_fan you used to be.

His perbix hurts.

 

[Hasbro]

I like the tranquilized version of him I saw the other night. The Thorazine does him wonders.

More like on of those darts they shoot at rampaging circus animals.


*favorite Veep line.

 

[Foppa2118]

Three illnesses in the last 12 months is quite a bit. I assume most people only go through one per year.

Pure speculation, and possible confirmation bias, but your immune system weakens when you're exhausted.

3 in a year isn't crazy, but it seems like more than normal. Just a guess, but 1-2 seems average, with many having none. You'd think Cale should have a strong immune system, being such a high level athlete, that probably has a very good diet, so he'd be closer to the lower side of average, rather than the higher.

Often when high level athletes get sick, it's because they pushed their bodies physically past the limit they should, and their immune system crashes.

He played a ton of minutes recently too and those are hard minutes Cale plays.

Feb 2 - 26:51
Feb 4 - 30:36
Feb 6 - 26:43
Feb 7 - 29:11
Feb 12 - 28:06 (Four Nations)

 

[Hasbro]

How was advanced stat God Toews when he isn't attached at the hip to Makar.

I assume terrible? Not to diss Toews but on his own merits he wouldn't be a lock for this team.

Toews is the Andrew Ridgley of that duo.

 

[Hasbro]

Heated U.S.-Canada face-off delivers red hot 4.4 million on ABC

A heated matchup between the United States and Canada delivered a massive audience in the NHL Four Nations Face-Off.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

These are just USA numbers, with Canada it could be close to 10 million overall.

Five million on all fours.

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

Pure speculation, and possible confirmation bias, but your immune system weakens when you're exhausted.

3 in a year isn't crazy, but it seems like more than normal. Just a guess, but 1-2 seems average, with many having none. You'd think Cale should have a strong immune system, being such a high level athlete, that probably has a very good diet, so he'd be closer to the lower side of average, rather than the higher.

Often when high level athletes get sick, it's because they pushed their bodies physically past the limit they should, and their immune system crashes.

He played a ton of minutes recently too and those are hard minutes Cale plays.

Feb 2 - 26:51
Feb 4 - 30:36
Feb 6 - 26:43
Feb 7 - 29:11
Feb 12 - 28:06 (Four Nations)

I'm betting at least 2 minutes of those were in OT?

So another way to look at in is through 60 minutes a team with only 5 defenders played Cale less than he usually does under Bednar.

 

[dahrougem2]

The same Tkachuk he’s talking about said he was waiting for Saturday night’s game his entire life. He said he couldn’t sleep the night before. He said he was watching tape of his dad’s games against Canada for the past month in anticipation.

The players love representing their countries.

I, for one, love watching the passion they’ve shown in this tournament. Makes me even more excited for the Olympics.

I love international hockey, I just wish the NHL didn't restrict this tournament to four nations. Imagine the anticipation for Canada/Russia in Montreal or USA/Russia in Boston. The roof would explode the way it did for Canada/USA. Then to have other countries like Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Germany try to make their marks on international hockey would be fantastic to see.

A quick look at nhl.com shows 20% of the top 50 scorers right now aren't even eligible to play in this tournament, including 4 of the top 15.

This tournament has been both a great way and an awful way to promote the game.

I also believe the location of this tournament has a huge impact on both viewership and intensity levels. I don't expect anything close to this level of intensity for next year's Olympics in Italy because there's no true home crowd feel.

Pure speculation, and possible confirmation bias, but your immune system weakens when you're exhausted.

3 in a year isn't crazy, but it seems like more than normal. Just a guess, but 1-2 seems average, with many having none. You'd think Cale should have a strong immune system, being such a high level athlete, that probably has a very good diet, so he'd be closer to the lower side of average, rather than the higher.

Often when high level athletes get sick, it's because they pushed their bodies physically past the limit they should, and their immune system crashes.

He played a ton of minutes recently too and those are hard minutes Cale plays.

Feb 2 - 26:51
Feb 4 - 30:36
Feb 6 - 26:43
Feb 7 - 29:11
Feb 12 - 28:06 (Four Nations)

It just seems high to me. Feels like he gets sick a lot more than most players do throughout the season.

 

[Foppa2118]

Makar said his decision not to play last night was the most difficult of his career. He must be real sick.

The thing that's concerning is that he was so sick he couldn't play in a game where you know he wanted to play, and Cooper said he was confident he'd play.

Now in an elimination game they have to win in regulation two days later, he's still not sure he'll play.

He must be in rough shape otherwise he'd play through it. Cale's as big a competitor I've ever seen.

 

[CharlesPuck]

I love international hockey, I just wish the NHL didn't restrict this tournament to four nations. Imagine the anticipation for Canada/Russia in Montreal or USA/Russia in Boston. The roof would explode the way it did for Canada/USA. Then to have other countries like Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Germany try to make their marks on international hockey would be fantastic to see.

A quick look at nhl.com shows 20% of the top 50 scorers right now aren't even eligible to play in this tournament, including 4 of the top 15.

This tournament has been both a great way and an awful way to promote the game.

I also believe the location of this tournament has a huge impact on both viewership and intensity levels. I don't expect anything close to this level of intensity for next year's Olympics in Italy because there's no true home crowd feel.

It just seems high to me. Feels like he gets sick a lot more than most players do throughout the season.

You seem to miss it’s a replacement for the NHL all star game. Those other nations, sans Russia, wouldn’t be able to ice a team with NHL players. As a one off and intro back into Olympics this is as good as it gets.

 

[dahrougem2]

You seem to miss it’s a replacement for the NHL all star game. Those other nations, sans Russia, wouldn’t be able to ice a team with NHL players. As a one off and intro back into Olympics this is as good as it gets.

Olympic hockey has been a replacement for the NHL All Star game, too. You think that's stopped other countries from participating in the past?

The NHL just gave in to political nonsense, nothing more. By keeping Russia out, they had an excuse to keep the other countries out, too, and wouldn't have to hold this tournament in conjunction with the IIHF.

 

[PAZ]

Olympic hockey has been a replacement for the NHL All Star game, too. You think that's stopped other countries from participating in the past?

The NHL just gave in to political nonsense, nothing more. By keeping Russia out, they had an excuse to keep the other countries out, too, and wouldn't have to hold this tournament in conjunction with the IIHF.

It was an experiment more than anything, and it was one the NHLPA still had to agree to.

Nobody knew how the players were going to react. If the players lazily skated around for a week like it was the ASG people would just say it was a joke and a waste of time.

The players aren't getting paid to participate in these games, if I played for Switzerland I would rather go on vacation with my family then be stuck in a meaningless tournament where we get crushed every game. The Olympics is on a whole different scale for the weaker teams because you're trying to avoid regulation/win a bronze and your entire country is watching. This type of tournament they'd just be there just because.

 

[dahrougem2]

It was an experiment more than anything, and it was one the NHLPA still had to agree to.

Nobody knew how the players were going to react. If the players lazily skated around for a week like it was the ASG people would just say it was a joke and a waste of time.

The players aren't getting paid to participate in these games, if I played for Switzerland I would rather go on vacation with my family then be stuck in a meaningless tournament where we get crushed every game. The Olympics is on a whole different scale for the weaker teams because you're trying to avoid regulation/win a bronze and your entire country is watching. This type of tournament they'd just be there just because.

I think you underestimate what international hockey means to Europeans.

There's a reason those countries and their respective fans go nuts for the World Championships.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

My major concern and why I originally called it a gimmick was because of ONLY four nations. Half of the top 30 scorers aren't even in this tournament it feels like and because the NHL doesn't want to involve IIHF, we might not be able to see European-based players field a German, Czechia, Slovakia, Suisse, and other countries team. Plus having no Russia and Belarus is a pretty big loss on top of that. I understand why they aren't, but I don't think Bobvrosky or Kaprizov told Putin to invade somebody else or have any sort of power that they should be punished. Think about the ratings behind Canada vs Russia or USA vs Russia in this political climate. Omg, it would be WWIII on the ice.

Not everything is about TV ratings. It's good to have ethics.

 

[Jasenr]

The problem with extending this to more nations is propably that players are not too keen to extend their season with multiple games if they are in a hunt for Stanley Cup.

This just being max 4 games is not too bad for players. And who wants NHL to be stopped for 4 weeks to handle Word Champions style tournament?

Its not like football where you can have the World Cup at off-season while playing like under 40 games plus Champions league.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

The problem with extending this to more nations is propably that players are not too keen to extend their season with multiple games if they are in a hunt for Stanley Cup.

This just being max 4 games is not too bad for players. And who wants NHL to be stopped for 4 weeks to handle Word Champions style tournament?

Its not like football where you can have the World Cup at off-season while playing like under 40 games plus Champions league.

They could have easily made this six team tournament. Just play three games a day. Groups of three. One eliminated from the group. Two to semifinal. That's it.

Invite Czech and Switzerland too.

 

[LOFIN]

They could have easily made this six team tournament. Just play three games a day. Groups of three. One eliminated from the group. Two to semifinal. That's it.

Invite Czech and Switzerland too.

Czechia is the one that should really be pissed about not being in the tournament, considering they have been more successful than Russia in best-on-best tournaments.

World Cup 2028 should be pretty awesome, regardless if Russia is in it. But the NHL needs to cooperate with IIHF to allow European players to participate. You could have 10 teams even. Canada, USA, Finland, Sweden, Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Germany, Latvia, Denmark. And Russia, should things trend in that direction.

Pretty good feeling about the game tonight. Not expecting Finland to win, but there is zero pressure. If we lose to Canada, oh well. We beat Sweden, so the tournament is already a success. If we could upset Canada...

Here's to hoping Leakington continues on goal for Canada.

 

[Ceremony]

It's the first international competition the NHL has organised in years and is only happening mid season. There wouldn't be enough NHL players to fill the rosters of other countries (Russia is the only meaningful one you could manage) so they really couldn't do anything besides this smaller scale effort. It's worked, that's great. Going forward hopefully everyone understands the importance of regular Olympic participation and then a meaningful World Cup if that's what they're going to do.

 

[Avs_19]

It's an NHL international tournament. You can't fill out rosters for those other countries like the Swiss with players who only play in the NHL.

All of those other countries belong in international play and will be there in the Olympics. I'm fine without them being included in this short tournament. Not once have I watched these games and thought, "man, I really wish Kucherov or Draisaitl were playing right now."

 

[CharlesPuck]

Why is TrashBin getting the start again…

 

[LOFIN]

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[myperbixhurts]

World Cup and Olympics are more important than this 4 nations. This is more like a pre-Olympics and World Cup tournament, not very important and I don’t care if Makar doesn’t play. In fact I wish none of the Avs played in this tournament and rested instead

 

[LOFIN]

World Cup and Olympics are more important than this 4 nations. This is more like a pre-Olympics and World Cup tournament, not very important and I don’t care if Makar doesn’t play. In fact I wish none of the Avs played in this tournament and rested instead

I mean this is better than the World Cup of 2016 with its made up gimmick teams. I'd rather have less teams than made up teams.