Fly High, Freebird: USA vs Canada 4 Nations Final Preview Blog
Vitor Munhoz/4NFO. Getty Images.Who: THE United States of America vs Canada
What: 4 Nations Face-Off Final
When: 8pm EST
Where: TD Garden
Why: Because USA Hockey is Do or Die
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We've got plenty of time to kill before puck drop tonight, so I figured the best way to properly preview this game is to look at it from the past, the present, and the future. So I'll break up the blog in those 3 sections, that way you can just jump around however you want.
The Past: A Century of Canadian Dominance, But With Some Miracles in the Middle
When we're talking about the rivalry between Canada and the United States hockey teams, we have to be honest with ourselves here. It's pretty obvious that Canada trounces the US in terms of past success at this level. They have a million Olympic Gold Medals. They have a million World Championship Gold Medals. The United States hasn't won an Olympic Gold since 1980, and hasn't won a World Championship Gold since 1960. There was the loss in the 2002 gold medal game against Canada. There was the loss in the 2010 gold medal game against Canada. The two biggest wins for Team USA over Canada at this level would have been the 1960 Olympics, and the 1996 World Cup.
But all of that is history at this point. Aside from Sidney Crosby (sick bastard), there's really nothing that any of those previous matchups mean to tonight's game. Team USA isn't in this position tonight because they pulled off some miracle. Team USA has a chance to go out there tonight and stick it to Canada because USA Hockey has put themselves right at the top as one of the best 2 hockey playing nations in the world.
I know everybody would love to relive some 1980 magic to get ready for Team USA taking on Canada tonight in the final game of the 4 Nations Face-Off. But to be perfectly honest, tonight's game is absolutely nothing like 1980. In 1980, the US Team had absolutely no business going up against the Soviets and knocking off the greatest hockey power house in the world. But 45 years later in 2025? This United States team isn't an underdog. This isn't going to be some miraculous story about a rag tag bunch of kids shocking the world and winning one of the most shocking games ever. This is the result of 1980 where USA Hockey is filled with just as many superstars as any other nation on the planet.
Stanley Cup Champions. 1st overall draft picks. 60+ goal scorers. Vezina winners. And perhaps the two biggest lunatics in the sport right now.
It's been a decade since we've gotten a chance to see some true best-on-best matchups between the United States and Canada. And over those past 10 years, we've seen USA start to dominate at the junior level. They've won back-to-back World Juniors Golds, and have won 3 out of the last 5. A couple gold medals at the U18 World Championships. Everyone could see the United States quickly closing the gap on Canada in terms of dominance, and the 4 Nations Face-Off is the first event we get to see it actually happen.
The Present: The Rise of the Americans
So many of these guys on Team USA grew up playing through the National Development Program. These guys have all seen and felt how quickly they were closing the gap on Canada in terms of development. Guys aren't leaving the country to go play junior in Canada anymore. Who do you play for?
But just as all these guys were getting to the age where they would represent the US at the Olympics, the NHL stopped allowing their players to go over and compete. These guys have been waiting their whole lives to represent the United States at the highest level, and now they finally got their chance. So I'm sure some outside politics helped fuel the fire a little before the first faceoff on Saturday night, but those 3 fights in 9 seconds were all about setting the tone after having to wait an extra 8 years to play in this rivalry.
Again, I'm sure the anthem getting boo'd added a little something to the intensity of those 3 fights. But my guess is that they would have all happened anyway because Team USA wants to send a message about how the next chapter of this rivalry is going to go.
Fact of the matter is that there was never a chance this was going to look like just some exhibition event. It doesn't matter that the 4 Nations Face-Off is some made up tournament in the middle of the season that doesn't have history and prestige behind it. It doesn't matter that other great hockey playing nations like Russia, and the Czech Republic, and Slovakia aren't competing. This event was all about USA Hockey and Hockey Canada finally getting a chance to renew the rivalry at the highest level. And holy shit did Saturday night live up to those expectations.
So now that brings us up to tonight. 8pm in Boston. The rematch.
The lineups are going to look a little different tonight. Cale Makar is back in for Canada after missing the first matchup, and Charlie McAvoy will be out of the lineup after dealing with an infection he got after a shoulder injury. It seemed like that was going to open up the door to see a battle between the two most recent Norris Trophy winners with Quinn Hughes coming in to replace McAvoy, but it looks like Hughes wasn't medically cleared to play yet. Considering what McAvoy was able to do to McDavid in the last game, that's obviously going to be a big blow for Team USA.
But the good news for Team USA is that 1) they have the best goalie on the planet in Connor Hellebuyck. So they can afford to be down a defenseman here. And 2) they are absolutely due to get some contributions from at least a few of their top weapons in Auston Matthews, Jack Hughes, and Kyle Connor. If just one or two of those guys find a way to get themselves going tonight in a way they weren't able to on Saturday night, then that's the difference.
I honestly don't know what to expect out of the start of this game. I think the guys got most of it out of their system on Saturday night, but there's still been a lot of chatter back-and-forth between both teams. If guys aren't flying around on the ice legitimately trying to kill each other, then I think there's a chance we could see Jack Hughes finally show up. But if the game is as physical and intense as the first matchup, then maybe you'd have to rely more on a guy like Auston Matthews finally coming up big as Captain America.
Obviously it's going to be tough to beat the Canadians twice in a row. You look back on the history of Hockey Canada, and they typically have a good track record of getting their revenge. They lost the first game to the Soviets in the 1972 Summit Series, but came back to win that event. They lost the first game to the Americans in the 2010 Winter Olympics, but came back to beat USA in the gold medal game. Now this 4 Nations team is coming down to Boston after getting their tails tucked between their legs on home soil in Montreal on Saturday night, and I'm sure they'll have a little extra fire in their belly for this one. It might be a made up tournament that'll never happen again, but every single guy on that ice tonight is going to treat this game like it's game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. One team is fighting to take over the reign of world dominance, and the other is fighting to retain that power.
TWO NATIONS FACING OFF.
The Future
1960 gave birth to the idea that 1980 could happen. 1980 gave birth to a massive wave of hockey fandom across America, and created the idea that the United States could develop the best hockey players in the world.
We already saw the buzz that Saturday night's matchup created across the country and social media. I think there's a chance this event could be such a success that we see the NHL start to chip away and take some of that spotlight from the other sports leagues. If this game tonight lives up to the expectations AND the US comes out on top? There's a chance we pick up a couple million new hockey fans for life. More fans equal better viewership ratings. Better viewership ratings equals higher salary caps. Higher salary caps equal players getting PAID. And players getting paid equals more and more Americans putting on a pair of skates for the first time in their life with the dream about becoming a professional hockey player one day.
P.S. -- Bring it home for Johnny, boys. 13 would have loved this.