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4 Nations Face-Off

Frank E

Frank E

Active member
Alright, I made the thread.

Players already announced:

Team Canada​

Brayden Point | C, TBL

Sidney Crosby | C, PIT

Nathan MacKinnon | C, COL

Cale Makar | D, COL

Connor McDavid | C, EDM

Brad Marchand | LW, BOS

Team Finland​

Sebastian Aho | C, CAR

Aleksander Barkov | C, FLA

Miro Heiskanen | D, DAL

Esa Lindell | D, DAL

Mikko Rantanen | RW, COL

Juuse Saros | G, NSH

Team Sweden​

Filip Forsberg | LW, NSH

Gustav Forsling | D, FLA

Victor Hedman | D, TBL

Erik Karlsson | D, PIT

William Nylander | RW, TOR

Mika Zibanejad | C, NYR

Team USA​

Charlie McAvoy | D, BOS

Jack Eichel | C, VGK

Adam Fox | D, NYR

Quinn Hughes | D, VAN

Auston Matthews | C, TOR

Matthew Tkachuk | LW, FLA


Schedule​

MONTREAL, CA | Bell Centre​

Wed, Feb. 12, 8pm: CAN vs. SWE

Thur, Feb. 13, 8pm: USA vs FIN

Sat, Feb. 15, 1pm: FIN vs SWE

Sat, Feb. 15, 8pm: USA vs. CAN

*all times ET

BOSTON, MA | TD Garden​

Mon, Feb. 17, 1pm: CAN vs. FIN

Mon, Feb. 17, 8pm: SWE vs. USA

Thur, Feb. 20, 8pm: CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

*all times ET
 
I didn't know until yesterday that each team only gets 3 games, so this thing could very well come down to the goalies.

If we look at meaningful starts in the double digits, then this morning Cam Talbot leads all CAN goalies with a SV% - .923:

Cam Talbot - .923
Logan Thompson - .917
Joey D'Accord - .916
*bunch
*of
*guys
Jordan Binnington - .898
Adin Hill - .895

I don't know about Binnington and Hill at this point, but maybe they get hot again by Feb.
 
3 games also means regular season stats right now are basically useless. Goaltending will really just come down to vibes. So in that respect I get why Binnington and Hill are the favourites for Canada.
 
I am curious how this goes.

Is the NHL running this tournament?
Are players going to go all out for this?
Do players get paid?
Will players back out?

I am not sure this has the same feeling as the best on-best World Cups and Olympics. A lot of the best players in the world are not from these 4 countries.
 
cabber24 said:
I am curious how this goes.

Is the NHL running this tournament?
Are players going to go all out for this?
Do players get paid?
Will players back out?

I am not sure this has the same feeling as the best on-best World Cups and Olympics. A lot of the best players in the world are not from these 4 countries.
Click to expand...
It is being run by the league, yes. And, yeah, I suspect the players will put in their best efforts for this one, as, unlike representing their division at the All Star Game, players actually care about representing their country - which also means, unless they have injury issues, we're not likely to see players back out. No extra pay for it, though, from what I can tell.
 
Guru Tugginmypuddah said:
The vibe I am getting from this is the NHL is going hard at selling this tournament, and no one really cares all that much about it.
Click to expand...

Sounds like marketing givoshe to me. Why would anyone care?

That said, taking time out from real games does allow the league schedule the Leafs for 37 B2Bs this year, which is just genius.
 
At the very least, it should be more entertaining than the All Star Game it's replacing. I don't think too many people will get all that invested in it, but I imagine it will be a good watch.
 
It strikes me as kind of a gimmick. But if folks enjoy it better than the All-Star game, that is what it is all about.

Goaltending for Canada looks dismal. But because the tournament is so short, the chances of any goalie getting hot and stealing it are greater over so few games. Although not good, it would be worse with a longer tournament that would be more likely to expose the warts.
 
I like the idea better than the all star game.

But I hate the all star game and think the whole thing should be ditched. So that’s a fairly low bar.
 
I like this more than an all-star game but the four teams seem random. I get why Russia isn't included (and agree with it) 11 of the top 30 scorers in the NHL right now are excluded from this tournament because they play for Denmark, Germany, Russia, Slovakia and Switzerland.
 
It is a shame that we have never seen Crosby and McDavid play together for their country before so hopefully the national pride shines through and the players buy into it. Being a Leaf fan my only memories of my team winning are at the international level and I miss the Olympics and World Cup.
 
L K said:
I like this more than an all-star game but the four teams seem random. I get why Russia isn't included (and agree with it) 11 of the top 30 scorers in the NHL right now are excluded from this tournament because they play for Denmark, Germany, Russia, Slovakia and Switzerland.
Click to expand...
Yeah. That's always going to be an issue for tournaments with national teams - at least, when it's restricted to NHL players. Russia is probably the only country there capable of icing a complete lineup (Germany and Slovakia might be close, though).

I get that they went with 4 teams mostly to keep it to a tight, shorter tournament. The upcoming World Cups the league/PA are planning will hopefully be better in dealing with a lot of the limitations around this event.
 
bustaheims said:
Yeah. That's always going to be an issue for tournaments with national teams - at least, when it's restricted to NHL players. Russia is probably the only country there capable of icing a complete lineup (Germany and Slovakia might be close, though).

I get that they went with 4 teams mostly to keep it to a tight, shorter tournament. The upcoming World Cups the league/PA are planning will hopefully be better in dealing with a lot of the limitations around this event.
Click to expand...

It feels like kind of a warm up for the World Cup.
 
Guru Tugginmypuddah said:
It also seems as though the players don't really care either. This is the NHL's answer to not participating in the Olympics.
Click to expand...
I think the players will care quite a bit. Representing their countries is always a big deal, and it's been a long time since the last best on best tournament. Crosby and McDavid finally playing together and also probably the most stacked U.S. team ever will both be pretty big storylines.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
I think the players will care quite a bit. Representing their countries is always a big deal, and it's been a long time since the last best on best tournament. Crosby and McDavid finally playing together and also probably the most stacked U.S. team ever will both be pretty big storylines.
Click to expand...

I would think the USA has to be the favourite here...stacked AND goalies!

What do we think on the USA goalie front?

Hellebuyck
Oettinger
Wolf?

EDIT: Stolarz and Woll have to be in the conversation for the last spot, right?
 
Frank E said:
I would think the USA has to be the favourite here...stacked AND goalies!

What do we think on the USA goalie front?

Hellebuyck
Oettinger
Wolf?

EDIT: Stolarz and Woll have to be in the conversation for the last spot, right?
Click to expand...
Hellebuyck and Oettinger are surely locks. 3rd spot would have came down to Demko or Swayman if the team was picked at the end of last season. Demko's injury and Swayman's start to the season makes the choice a littel tougher. If it's not one of those two I wouldn't be shocked if it's a veteran like Quick. I can't imagine the 3rd goalie even playing for them anyway.
 
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