Who else has very little interest in the Four Nations tournament?

[57special]

I mean I'm not going to claim I'm an expert on the international relations between those countries, I would presume most are not happy with Russia right now. But does that mean it's a guarantee they'd hold that against a national team made up of NHL players from Russia?

And if I'm reading you properly, we do agree opinions aren't allowed on here. HF Boards of a late has become way too Reddit adjacent and discussions are not allowed.



I do believe there is a chance that not all European countries might not boycott. But I am admittedly not an expert on the international relations between other European countries and Russia, and if that would affect their willingness to play against Russia in hockey.

Just because the sport has been utilized in propaganda before, I don't see how disallowing some of the best NHL players to play together under their country of origin counts as propaganda. The NHL set up this tournament, would Russian players not be allowed to play together without a Russian blessing?

I fail to see as a person who is able to think for themselves how a gathering of Russian NHL players is propaganda or supporting Putin.

I've been to various countries over the years, including third world and oppressive. When you go to ground level and meet some of these people, most of whom want the same thing most people do, I don't find it applicable to claim punishing them equates to morality. I don't find find punishing innocent and uninvolved persons of a country a good way to claim the moral high ground.

Letting a group of athletes play together, as I spoke of above, hardly means that everyone supports what Russia is doing because of history and status as an autocratic nation.

Then you go on to give your opinion on political matters....

 

[TheOrganist]

Kind of insane how this thing has taken off...

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/19/business/four-nations-hockey-ticket-prices/index.html

 

[Old Man Jags]

They dislike Canada or the USA or both.

No, or at least definitely not necessarily. They may just not be that invested in either country / team without disliking either of them. I look forward to the game happening because it should be a cracking game full of emotions after what happened in the first game, but I personally don't care either way who wins. I don't dislike either team, they are both great, the best two teams around, the best possible final - but ultimately it's just an exhibition between two teams I feel neutral towards. (Well, given certain recent events I'd prefer Canada to win, but I don't feel that strongly.)

Don't get me wrong, I am not neutral per se - I support my own team over others, and European teams over the North American ones (except Russia - I support anyone who plays against Russia, have done since the age of 6 when I started watching hockey and started to be immersed in the game and the rivalry against Russia (then the Soviet Union) by my hockey mad grandfather). But when the US plays Canada (or Finland plays Sweden for that matter, or Germany against Switzerland, etc.) I really don't particularly care, especially if the event itself is not major (i.e., not Olympics or World Cup, etc.). That said, I'd watch it to see two good hockey teams play if it was in a time zone closer to mine.

 

[BTP]

I totally agree with the OP.

This “tournament” is nothing more than a cash grab. As an Oilers fan, I hated when I heard that McDavid, Arvidsson, and Ekholm were going to play.

The last thing that the Oilers need before wasting another year to potentially win the cup is an injury in a nothing tournament.

If I was Vegas, in would be pissed about Theodore.

You clearly hate hockey. Why even make an account here? Go watch the nba all star game

 

[FinPanda]

Since Finland is out I don't have any interest for the final. It doesn't mean it hasn't been amazing hockey and totally worth watching.. anyone who said the players don't take it seriously are missing out.

I am a Finland supporter and I will miss out on an absolutely classic with the final, but its not worth staying up for since Finland isn't playing.

E: Also I had the best time watching the Finnish team since 2014 Olympics, it says it all what the games meant for me.

 

[NyQuil]

I look forward to the game happening because it should be a cracking game full of emotions after what happened in the first game.

Well, this is the thing, isn't it?

If you like hockey, you should want to see this game play out.

Since Finland is out I don't have any interest for the final. It doesn't mean it hasn't been amazing hockey and totally worth watching.. anyone who said the players don't take it seriously are missing out.

I am a Finland supporter and I will miss out on an absolutely classic with the final, but its not worth staying up for since Finland isn't playing.

With the time zone thing, that's not unexpected.

 

[FinPanda]

Well, this is the thing, isn't it?

If you like hockey, you should want to see this game play out.



With the time zone thing, that's not unexpected.

Its been great hockey and I hope Canada wins.

 

[JianYang]

Since Finland is out I don't have any interest for the final. It doesn't mean it hasn't been amazing hockey and totally worth watching.. anyone who said the players don't take it seriously are missing out.

I am a Finland supporter and I will miss out on an absolutely classic with the final, but its not worth staying up for since Finland isn't playing.

I said it before the tournament that it all depends whether the players take it seriously, and you could tell with the lack of dropouts that the players wanted to play. The Olympics are also serving as a dangling carrot which helps.


There was no doubt that these rosters had the potential to produce some quality games. The only thing that there would be to complain about is the exclusivity of the tournament but that shouldn't take everything away from what is already there.

 

[WaW]

This tournament has been amazing and I fully admit I was skeptical beforehand. We haven't had proper best-on-best hockey in 11 years so this is a real breath of fresh air.

Has me very excited for a return to the Olympics and a proper World Cup with no gimmicks if the league can make that work. And yes, Russia's eventual return even though I've agreed with their exclusion.

 

[Old Man Jags]

Well, this is the thing, isn't it?

If you like hockey, you should want to see this game play out.

Yes, that's a fair point. That's why I said in another post somewhere that I never agreed with posters here saying they don't care about the tournament because the games will be poor. They were never going to be - the players are top notch and will always play with pride for their countries. I said I didn't care because I was not emotionally invested in any of the teams doing well or poorly in terms of results, and the tournament itself has no significance beyond exhibition status. But my goodness, what an exhibition it has turned out to be!

 

[Ghost of Murph]

It has been a decent sideshow during a ridiculously long break. Honestly don't care who wins since winning something with a major competitor excluded makes it an empty win, no matter the amount of rationalizing. Looking forward to NHL hockey starting back up.

 

[Summer Rose]

Since Finland is out I don't have any interest for the final. It doesn't mean it hasn't been amazing hockey and totally worth watching.. anyone who said the players don't take it seriously are missing out.

I am a Finland supporter and I will miss out on an absolutely classic with the final, but its not worth staying up for since Finland isn't playing.

E: Also I had the best time watching the Finnish team since 2014 Olympics, it says it all what the games meant for me.

Don't blame you at all. It's a tournament catered mostly towards the North American audience. Being a hockey fan in Europe must be tough with the time zone thing, since the championship game starts at 3:00 a.m. for you. If it were me, a 3:00 a.m. game not involving my team (the USA) would be a hard pass unless I was having difficulty sleeping that night. I wouldn't go out of my way to try to be awake for the game.

It's actually not bad at all being a hockey fan in my time zone (US Eastern) because I also enjoy the World Championships, and those games, which are usually hosted in a European country with few exceptions, start in the mid morning or early afternoon. Means I can watch them, and then be ready for the NHL playoffs in the evening. Helps that I'm retired as well, so it's not like I have to be at work or anything.

 

[FinPanda]

Don't blame you at all. It's a tournament catered mostly towards the North American audience. Being a hockey fan in Europe must be tough with the time zone thing, since the championship game starts at 3:00 a.m. for you. If it were me, a 3:00 a.m. game not involving my team (the USA) would be a hard pass unless I was having difficulty sleeping that night. I wouldn't go out of my way to try to be awake for the game.

It's actually not bad at all being a hockey fan in my time zone (US Eastern) because I also enjoy the World Championships, and those games, which are usually hosted in a European country with few exceptions, start in the mid morning or early afternoon. Means I can watch them, and then be ready for the NHL playoffs in the evening. Helps that I'm retired as well, so it's not like I have to be at work or anything.

World championships are must watch for me, its nice bc games are during the day so I can spend a whole day watching hockey even if its like Hungary-Germany game or something.

 

[NVious]

Since Finland is out I don't have any interest for the final. It doesn't mean it hasn't been amazing hockey and totally worth watching.. anyone who said the players don't take it seriously are missing out.

I am a Finland supporter and I will miss out on an absolutely classic with the final, but its not worth staying up for since Finland isn't playing.

E: Also I had the best time watching the Finnish team since 2014 Olympics, it says it all what the games meant for me.

Ok fine we'll give Barkov an honorary Canadian citizenship and he can play.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Kinda hilarious that Finland ruined Sweden's chance at winning this tournament.

 

[Guttersniped]

I mean I'm not going to claim I'm an expert on the international relations between those countries, I would presume most are not happy with Russia right now. But does that mean it's a guarantee they'd hold that against a national team made up of NHL players from Russia?

And if I'm reading you properly, we do agree opinions aren't allowed on here. HF Boards of a late has become way too Reddit adjacent and discussions are not allowed.



I do believe there is a chance that not all European countries might not boycott. But I am admittedly not an expert on the international relations between other European countries and Russia, and if that would affect their willingness to play against Russia in hockey.

Just because the sport has been utilized in propaganda before, I don't see how disallowing some of the best NHL players to play together under their country of origin counts as propaganda. The NHL set up this tournament, would Russian players not be allowed to play together without a Russian blessing?

I fail to see as a person who is able to think for themselves how a gathering of Russian NHL players is propaganda or supporting Putin.

I've been to various countries over the years, including third world and oppressive. When you go to ground level and meet some of these people, most of whom want the same thing most people do, I don't find it applicable to claim punishing them equates to morality. I don't find find punishing innocent and uninvolved persons of a country a good way to claim the moral high ground.

Letting a group of athletes play together, as I spoke of above, hardly means that everyone supports what Russia is doing because of history and status as an autocratic nation.

“The NHL set up this tournament, would Russian players not be allowed to play together without a Russian blessing?”

It’s less complicated than this because even though it’s limited to NHL players, this is IIHF event and not an NHL one. Each nation’s hockey federation picked the squads and staff.

Whether you agree with it or not, the IIHF has banned Russia from all International competition since February 2022.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

Kind of insane how this thing has taken off...

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/19/business/four-nations-hockey-ticket-prices/index.html

If that is true the majority of the crowd will be Canadian, however I see few US fans paying anywhere near $2,000.

“The NHL set up this tournament, would Russian players not be allowed to play together without a Russian blessing?”

It’s less complicated than this because even though it’s limited to NHL players, this is IIHF event and not an NHL one. Each nation’s hockey federation picked the squads and staff.

Whether you agree with it or not, the IIHF has banned Russia from all International competition since February 2022.

How can it be an IIHF event. when fighting doesn't result in ejections?

 

[red devil]

“The NHL set up this tournament, would Russian players not be allowed to play together without a Russian blessing?”

It’s less complicated than this because even though it’s limited to NHL players, this is IIHF event and not an NHL one. Each nation’s hockey federation picked the squads and staff.

Whether you agree with it or not, the IIHF has banned Russia from all International competition since February 2022.

Everything you need to know about the 4 Nations Face-Off: Format, schedule, players, what's next

A best-on-best international tournament is coming Feb. 12-20. Get all the details you need to know about it here.

www.espn.com

In a word, practicality. The NHL is putting the 4 Nations tournament together on its own and not in concert with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), whereas the league and IIHF do have a partnership that's bringing NHL players back to the Olympics in 2026 and 2030.

 

[Golden_Jet]

“The NHL set up this tournament, would Russian players not be allowed to play together without a Russian blessing?”

It’s less complicated than this because even though it’s limited to NHL players, this is IIHF event and not an NHL one. Each nation’s hockey federation picked the squads and staff.

Whether you agree with it or not, the IIHF has banned Russia from all International competition since February 2022.

This is not an IHHF event.

 

[Guttersniped]

If that is true the majority of the crowd will be Canadian, however I see few US fans paying anywhere near $2,000.


How can it be an IIHF event. when fighting doesn't result in ejections?

They’re using NHL rules, except they had the 10 minute OT.

Obviously this mutant one-off is the brain child of the NHL and the NHLPA but the teams are managed by Team USA, Team Canada, etc. The NHL can’t circumvent the ban on the Russian Hockey Federation for this.

The Proposed 2024 World Cup fell apart because of IIHF pushback, though that’s obviously more complicated because it would presumably involve non-NHL players.

There were plans between the NHL and the players association to stage a World Cup in February 2024, but they fell apart amid resistance from the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and other international bodies.

The players and the league worked jointly to negotiate a path for NHL players to be involved in the 2026 Olympics in Milano. When there was some certainty that the NHL would return to the Olympics, the league and union turned their attention to some kind of competition before the 2026 Games.

4 Nations Face-Off reignites NHL players’ long-delayed quest for best-on-best hockey

It's not as big as an Olympic hockey tournament, but national pride will be on the line during the 4 Nations Face-Off.

www.nytimes.com

 

[KillerMillerTime]

They’re using NHL rules, except they had the 10 minute OT.

Obviously this mutant one-off is the brain child of the NHL and the NHLPA but the teams are managed by Team USA, Team Canada, etc. The NHL can’t circumvent the ban on the Russian Hockey Federation for this.

The Proposed 2024 World Cup fell apart because of IIHF pushback, though that’s obviously more complicated because it would presumably involve non-NHL players.

4 Nations Face-Off reignites NHL players’ long-delayed quest for best-on-best hockey

It's not as big as an Olympic hockey tournament, but national pride will be on the line during the 4 Nations Face-Off.

www.nytimes.com

Its pay walled but Golden Jet is saying its not an IIHF event. Show me something w\o a pay wall please.

 

[Guttersniped]

This is not an IHHF event.

Its pay walled but Golden Jet is saying its not an IIHF event. Show me something w\o a pay wall please.

I phrased it poorly. It’s an event involving four members of the IIHF, that’s why the teams get to wear those jerseys.

So the question of Russia’s participation wasn’t up to the NHL/NHLPA or ever in question, the national teams are all going to honor the IIHF ban while it’s in effect.

 

[Golden_Jet]

It’s pay walled but Golden Jet is saying it’s not an IIHF event. Show me something w\o a pay wall please.

I read the article nothing in it suggests it’s an IHHF tournament.

 

[robertocarlos]

I have no interest and I can't watch the games on TV. That's why I'm only posting about the series every 10 minutes.

They need to have this every year in place of the All-Star game.

 

[BallardEra]

How bout now ?

Better than I expected to be honest but I would have gone 5 on 5 for OT.