What are the long-term takeaways from the 4 Nations Tournament?

[PaulD]

96 USA team was best Ive ever seen from them. The 2 outta three against Canada for World Club blows this pretty good 4 Nations tourney away.
Ide like to see Olympics in 26. World Cup ( all teams included) 28. Olympics in 30. World Cup in 32 and so on.
In the nothing years in between - the goofy all star game. Kids seem to like it.

 

[Soundwave]

NHL was dumb to not have a tournament like this in the last few years

When put to the test in the most must-win of must win scenarios (in a hostile environment to say the least at that), McDavid delivered just as Crosby in 2010 did and Mario in '87, Team Canada is in good hands going forward. That will be an iconic moment in international hockey and Canadian hockey for a long, long time. Dare I say it, given all that was going on, that will be an iconic moment in Canadian history period.

Canada-USA is now the defacto global hockey rivalry.

 

[BB79]

Gary Bettman has announced that the 4 Nations tournament was a smashing success. As a result, it will be replaced in 2027 with a full 60 minute mascots game. More at 11.

 

[Czechboy]

Add 4 more teams and 1 more game (semifinal)

Pool A - in Montreal

Canada
Sweden
Czech
Slovakia

Pool B - in Boston

US
Russia
Finland
Germany

Semifinals - in Montreal

Winner Pool A plays 2nd place Pool B
Winner Pool B plays 2nd place Pool A

Finals.......in Montreal

I think the Swiss are in trouble and will be setup for a decline (just like my Czechs around 2005 or so). I think the Slovaks are on the rise and will catch the Swiss.

I don't think that happens in 2028 though. Switzerland has to be there IMO.

 

[Marshmallow Man]

NHL was dumb to not have a tournament like this in the last few years

When put to the test in the most must-win of must win scenarios (in a hostile environment to say the least at that), McDavid delivered just as Crosby in 2010 did and Mario in '87, Team Canada is in good hands going forward. That will be an iconic moment in international hockey and Canadian hockey for a long, long time.

Canada-USA is now the defacto global hockey rivalry.

Got to love hockey fans.

NHL hits a massive grand slam with this tournament and people are like "they are so dumb for not doing it sooner!".

 

[Soundwave]

Got to love hockey fans.

NHL hits a massive grand slam with this tournament and people are like "they are so dumb for not doing it sooner!".

I mean .... yeah? McDavid, MacKinnon, Tkachuk (x2), Makar, Marner, Matthews, etc. etc. not getting a chance to play in a best on best tournament until now is a pretty stupid whiff on the NHL's part.

 

[Czechboy]

Needs to be 8 countries. I really enjoyed the 4 nations and didn't miss a match. But they played on the same day and had days off and we had 5 days in winter with no hockey on. I didn't like that at all. I like the World Jrs type format where there is one day off and games everyday (which is possible with 8 nations). For World Cup - 2 pools of 4. Top 2 advance to Semi's. I love my quarters but this is mid season.

Keep it in North America


I would LOVE nothing more than a:

2026 best on best (Italy)
2028 World Cup with 8 teams (USA - I say Vegas)
2030 best on best (France)
2032 World Cup with 8 teams (Canada - I say Hamilton)

Then I would love to argue with all of you on the differences between round robin wins and gold medal wins.lol

I do think the landscape is changing a bit so it would be neat to have some more current data to see if it is true! All the data just shows Canada always wins.lol

IF this happens then I think we'll have 2 different gold winners out of the 4 tournaments. Canada will definitely win at least 2 IMO.

Some hot takes!

Earliest you will see Russia is 2030
Slovaks will rise by 2030
Czechs will rise by 2028 and could be a threat again
Germans will dip
Swiss will dip
Latvia and Belarus may rise
Canada is King
US has a great chance at ending their Goldless 2000s streak
Finn's have a great shot at a gold in here with their generation!
Swedes would be a gold threat for every single one
When this is all said and done it'll still be Canada on top because they are good at 'digging the f*** in' when it matters most in elimination and medal games.

 

[FinPanda]

Still people saying Finland doesn't belong or should be relegated even though the tournament should just have more teams.. we did beat Sweden..

 

[Czechboy]

Still people saying Finland doesn't belong or should be relegated even though the tournament should just have more teams.. we did beat Sweden..

People saying Finland doesn't belong aren't paying attention.lol

Canada winning gold and Finn's medalling are 2 of the bigger constants in the 2000's (I'd start in 1998 though)

 

[nucks88]

Still people saying Finland doesn't belong or should be relegated even though the tournament should just have more teams.. we did beat Sweden..

They absolutely deserve to be there…..

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

The audience cares when the players care.

 

[BelovedIsles]

I want to see this kind of tournament yearly; rivaled the playoffs. What a treat.