A Surprisingly Good Tourney
Mike Leitao ~ 02/17/2024
We are officially in a new part of the sports season. We have hit the point where football is over and hockey and basketball are ramping up as they head into the final stretch. Right now is when both leagues would be doing their all-star breaks. The NBA is business as usual, with their disappointing skill competitions that no one cares about and their all-star games that are just the best players in the league playing a game they don’t care about at half-ass speed. The NHL however, is currently doing something different. Unlike the NBA, who have players compete in the summer Olympics, the NHL has players who compete in the Winter Olympics, which end up taking place during the season. However, the NHL has only just restarted allowing players to participate in the Olympics again after a 16-year absence. To prepare for the NHL to allow players to rejoin international competition again, they decided to skip the all-star break this year and replace it with a 4 Nations Face Off. The 4 Nations Face Off is made up of teams representing the USA, Canada, Finland, and Sweden. Going into the tournament, I was a little skeptical of how it would do. The tournament didn’t really matter as it wasn’t a big international event that had global recognition like the Olympics and most of these players are getting ready for the home stretch of the season and to compete for the Stanley Cup. However, after the first 4 games I can confidently say that it is looking like a great move by the NHL, as the tournament has been great so far.
Let’s start out with negatives. Not having Russia simply sucks. We all know everything with Russia and all the bans from international competition and all that shit. I don’t care, Russia has too good of a hockey country to be missing from the tournament. Go look up a mock team for Russia and you will realize that missing them from the tournament is a huge blow to competitiveness. No other nation has enough NHL players to make up a roster, but adding a team Europe that is made up of players from the other European nations also would’ve been great. The league is filled with talent from all over, and there are a lot of talented players who are missing out on playing right now simply because their country doesn’t produce enough NHL talent which really sucks for them.
The only other complaint is a minor one that I also know they can’t really logically change, but I feel like Canada has been given an advantage in this tournament which is slightly unfair. Having 4 of the 7 games played in Canada gave them two home games, and they also got to have the USA vs Canada game happen in Canada. Add in the fact that Canada had an additional day of rest before that game and it’s just something worth pointing out. Obviously, with the USA already clinching a spot in the finals that will be played in Boston, they have a big advantage there now. I understand there really isn’t anything that can be done to correct this, but I still felt like I needed to complain.
Now out of those bads, none of them are really that bad or big of deal. So couple that with the fact that the games have been electric and you got yourself a good-ass tournament. My concern was always going to be if the players actually care enough about it to give us meaningful games or will they be played like all-star games with low effort. Turns out, banning international play with any real meaning for 15 years will have players hella motivated to play with intensity once they are back. The games have been fast-paced and physical, which has been great to see. The players very clearly are proud to represent their countries and want to win to show their country is the best. Seeing that type of intensity is great. Add in the fact we get to see some crazy combinations from these teams like McDavid and Crosby or the Tkachuk brothers getting to play together on the same line allows for some dream lineups and matchups. The games themselves have also all been very good, with 3 of the 4 matchups being very closely decided games and 2 of them going into OT. Although Canada and USA were clearly the top two teams, Sweden and Finland are both still very good and a one game tournament allows upsets to flow more naturally and happen more often. Sweden has gone to OT in both their games, Finland got smacked by the USA but rebounded to beat Sweden in an underrated rivalry game. The USA vs Canada matchup was exactly what you would expect, with fights at the start and heavy hitting throughout. These games clearly mean so much to the players as they are all playing at the same intensity level you expect out of playoff hockey. Compare that with the lackadaisical style of play that normally happens during the all-star break and you will see fans are getting a night and day difference.
As essentially a preview to the NHL’s return to international hockey, this has to be considered a huge success. I have no doubt that this event has done an excellent job of getting fans hyped for the Olympics knowing that this same intensity level will be there and probably exceeded as these players, most of which have never had the opportunity to compete for their country at the Olympics, are given the chance to win their country a gold medal at one of the most prestigious international events. The NHL has clearly already realized this is a success with the announcement of the return of the World Cup of Hockey and wanting to get more international tournaments scheduled for the future. My hope is that the drive of the players for these games continues and it’s not just a one time thing for the return of international play. Assuming this level is here to stay, the NHL will most likely be faced with the difficult decision of what to do with the old all-star break and if they even continue it at all. Any opportunity to either replace something bad with something great or take that something bad and make significant improvements to it are always welcome by me, so whatever happens I’m sure it’s gonna result in better hockey being played which will result in fans around the globe being happier, which is the definition of a win-win for everyone.
