Players and coaches across the 4 Nations tournament acknowledged that the clash between Team USA and Team Canada on Saturday was a significant moment for the sport.
BOSTON — Canada coach Jon Cooper hated the result but had to admit that Team USA’s thrilling, brutal 3-1 win in the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off on Saturday night was a transcendent moment for hockey.
„The game is in a better place because last night’s game existed“, he said Sunday.
At its peak, 5.4 million American viewers watched the first „best on best“ tournament game between the nations since 2016. Many tuned in to see generations of elite NHL players facing each other for the first time while repping their nations. But the game attracted even more attention after Montreal fans booed the U.S. national anthem — protesting President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports and his proposal that Canada become the 51st U.S. state — before the action started with three fights in record succession.
„I knew it was going to be an electric start, but I maybe didn’t expect three fights in the first nine seconds“, Sweden’s Jesper Bratt said. „The arena was already pretty loud, and the fans were already really emotionally engaged. I guess that kind of took it to the next level.“
Team USA players Matthew and Brady Tkachuk and J.T. Miller each had a fight to open the game, which the U.S. won in regulation to clinch a spot in the 4 Nations championship final Thursday night in Boston. Matthew Tkachuk’s fight off the opening face-off was the fastest ever in an NHL international game, topping the previous record of 20 seconds in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey for a fight that involved Matthew’s father, Keith Tkachuk, and Team USA general manager Bill Guerin.
