Traditionally, professional all-star games are not the most watched or competitive contests. There are several reasons for this, but the biggest is that players often show a lack of effort even with the league’s biggest stars playing together because they don’t want to risk injury. Both the NBA and the NFL have tweaked their formats recently to no avail, with the games becoming less and less serious and garnering less audience.
“They should be more competitive,” John Brown University Senior Cody Ferguson said.
This was not the case for the NHL all-star game this year, which finally cracked the code with an international competition. The 4 Nations Face-off was a new all-star format devised to get players to compete at a higher level. Instead of representing their conference, NHL players from Sweden, Finland, the United States and Canada represented their nations. With the integrity of their countries and international glory on the line, the players came to play. This competition also ended a long international hockey hiatus dating back to the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, with many players getting the opportunity to represent their nations for the first time.
The United States defeated Finland 6-1 on the first matchday of the round-robin tournament, and Canada dispatched Sweden 4-3 in overtime to set up the first of two hotly contested matchups between the bitter North American rivals. Before the contest (which was held in Montreal), the United States National Anthem was booed by mostly Canadian fans, and three fights broke out in the first 9 seconds of action. After the fighting that started the night, the brutal contest featured intense action with the United States pulling out a 3-1 win.
“Something like this, when you see the intensity and the emotion and how much guys actually care and want to win and represent their countries, you can't really compete with that. It's not comparable to an all-star game or a Pro Bowl or something like that. This is something that's like playoff hockey. This is like Game 7 every night,” U.S. center Vincent Trocheck said.
When the players were given something bigger to play for, they showed up.
“It's funny: You put the flag behind the meaning of something and guys' switches just kind of flip,” Canada forward Travis Konecny said.
The rematch in the final game didn’t disappoint, this time being played on American soil in Boston. Both teams traded goals until it was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, sending the game to a 20-minute sudden-death overtime. After a little more than 8 minutes of the extra period, Canada’s Connor McDavid scored the winning goal to defeat the United States 3-2.
Going into the game, sports betting reflected the increased interest in the Title game matchup, with 7 to 10 times more money being wagered compared to the average NHL game, according to ESPN and Caesars Sportsbook. Viewership of the grudge match also set numerous records for a hockey game, with ESPN reporting 10.4 million American viewers at its peak. Meanwhile, over 10.7 million Canadians tuned in to watch the game according to Sportsnet, which is over a quarter of the nation’s population.
With the success of the 4 Nations Face-off, many have speculated what it could mean for the future of All-star games, particularly in the NBA, where there are sufficient international players for a “USA vs. The World” type of competition. Others have suggested a charity game to add to the motivation.
“The winners get to decide where money should go to a charity that the NBA gives to,” Ferguson said.
As far as hockey is concerned, it is certainly one of the best events for the sport in recent memory.
“It’s just incredible how much of a home run 4 Nations has been for the NHL and hockey in general. Friends who never watched a hockey game in their lives reaching out asking what the plan is for tonight’s game, what food we’re ordering, etc. Definition of growing the game” Retired NFL star J.J. Watt said via X.
Going forward, there are set to be numerous international hockey competitions, starting with the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. If they are anything like the 4 Nations Face-off, then fans have a lot to look forward to.
Photo courtesy of Markus Spiske on Unsplash
