US vs. Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off has must-see potential on and off the ice

 

[February 15, 2025]  By STEPHEN WHYNO

MONTREAL (AP) — Playing for the Boston Bruins, Charlie McAvoy is accustomed to being a visitor at Bell Centre as a chief rival of the host Canadiens.

“It’s nothing that won’t be familiar to me,” McAvoy said. “You’re not welcome here.”

Now ratchet that up a bunch as he and the United States play Canada on Saturday night at the 4 Nations Face-Off in the countries' first showdown in an international tournament with the NHL's best players in nearly a decade, with the world watching and a jacked-up crowd into it from warmups on.

“Saturday night in Canada, against Canada, I don’t think there’s much better than this for a hockey player of this level,” U.S. winger Jake Guentzel said Friday. “The crowd’s going to be intense, it’s going to be hostile, it’s going to be all of the above, so it’ll be a lot of fun.”

On the ice, it's a tantalizing matchup of Canada's Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon against Americans Brady and Matthew Tkachuk, Jack Eichel and Auston Matthews. Canada has won the past two Olympics the NHL has participated in, and with Milan a year away, the 4 Nations is a chance for the U.S. to show it has risen to the same level to compete in these kinds of events.

Brady Tkachuk, who had two goals and eight hits in a 6-1 rout of Finland on Thursday night, called it the biggest game of his career. And while coach Mike Sullivan isn't feeding into the notion that the U.S. has to prove something on this stage, he said his players are “excited to earn their way.”

“One of the greatest things about our sport is that nothing is inevitable,” Sullivan said. “You’ve got to earn it every shift, you’ve got to earn it every game, you’ve got to earn it every year. This team is a different team than years past (and) Canada’s the same way. We’ve got to go out, and we’ve got to earn it.”

Canada has looked inevitable and invincible whenever Crosby has worn the country's red and white over the past 15 years, winning 26 in a row with him on the ice dating to a loss to the U.S. in the preliminary round at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. That streak, of course, includes Crosby scoring the golden goal to beat the U.S. a week later.

That's McDavid's favorite hockey memory, and this is a way for him to put his stamp on this rivalry.

“It’s a big game,” McDavid told reporters in Brossard, Quebec, after Canada's practice there Friday. “Playing the Americans in Montreal, best-on-best tournament, it’s what you dream of.”

The Tkachuk brothers are a nightmarish matchup, though, and the U.S. showed in beating Finland it can also beat up opponents. Brady had a team-high eight of 32 hits.

“He was a beast,” Matthew said. “It was eight hits, but it felt like 28 hits. He made his presence known.”

Canada's Connor McDavid (97) and Sidney Crosby (87) hug following their overtime win over Sweden during 4 Nations Face-Off hockey game in Montreal, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

So did Canada in beating Sweden on Wednesday night, flashing speed and absurd talent from the McDavid-to-Crosby-to-MacKinnon power-play goal less than a minute in to Mitch Marner's overtime winner. Canada and the U.S. went into the 4 Nations as co-favorites, and there is no reason to reconsider that so far.

That's another reason Saturday night is so meaningful. There is a scenario in which the U.S. can clinch a spot in the final in Boston on Thursday night, but players are focused only on Canada because of the challenge at hand.

“That was the one that we all had circled on our calendars,” U.S. defenseman Noah Hanifin said. “They have such a great team. Even watching their game against Sweden the other night, it was so fast-paced, and they got so much talent. So do we. It’s going to be a great game, and I know our guys are super fired up about the opportunity.”

Canada defenseman Drew Doughty has been part of many of these kinds of games over the years, including 2014 in Sochi when he and his teammates clamped down on the U.S. in the semifinals en route to Olympic gold, and his passion hasn't waned.

“Growing up as a young kid, when you go play American teams and stuff like that, like you want to beat them so bad,” Doughty told reporters in Brossard. “And I still have this feeling at 35 years old how bad you want to beat the Americans.”

Off the ice also has the potential for drama, given the ongoing geopolitical situation since Donald Trump took over as U.S. president and threatened tariffs against Canada, among other countries. A contingent of fans booed “The Star-Spangled Banner” on Thursday night before the game against Finland, and that could rise to nearly the full arena of over 20,000 fans with Canada on the other side this time.

McAvoy also knows what a similar level of vitriol is like from playing in the world junior final in Montreal in 2017 when the U.S. “got booed the whole night.”

“I don’t think I remember seeing one American person,” McAvoy said. “I know my family was there, but I couldn’t find them. It was an all-Canadian crowd and it was loud. It was hostile. ... Playing in this rink, that’s kind of what I’m used to. It will be electric.”

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