BOSTON – Tom Petty’s 'The Waiting' rang true Wednesday as the theme song for 4Nations Face-Off championship eve. An agonizing prelude before Thursday’s best-on-best finale.
Team USA and Team Canada in a contest to decide world hockey supremacy until the belt is put back on the line next winter in Italy at the Olympics.
Who will win? Who will be the hero? Who will stumble? Will they fight? Will Quinn Hughes rappel down from rafters in a red, white and blue cape? Will there be more political angst?
With so much at stake and the hype machine’s bearings screaming under the weight of its own making this two-day gap between games has been interminable. The only comfort for hockey fans is what is waiting for them. Three periods or more of skill, intensity and competitiveness the likes of which we rarely see.
“Oh baby, don't it feel like heaven right now?
Don't it feel like somethin' from a dream?
Yeah, I've never known nothing quite like this
Don't it feel like tonight might never be again?
Baby, we know better than to try and pretend
Honey, no one could have ever told me 'bout this
I said, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part.”
Practice on Wednesday felt like a necessary evil. Yes, there was work to be done for both teams but everyone involved was dying for face-off. Power play and breakout drills sure matter but drop the darn puck already.
“I think everyone looks forward to the game. At the same time, we'll take the extra day off and recover, giving us a day of preparation,” said USA and Vegas Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel. “It was good to get out there today and practice and work on some things. In a short tournament like this, with the way the schedule has been, everyone's enjoying an extra day off. We all are looking forward to the game tomorrow, and we'll be ready to go.”
Eichel and VGK defenseman Noah Hanifin have skated for the U.S. in the tournament while Vegas teammates Mark Stone and Adin Hill are representing Canada.
“I think it's definitely a buildup to Olympics, but for people to think that this wasn't going to be a competitive tournament, it's kind of mind boggling,” said Stone. “Especially for the four teams here that are representing their countries. It's been 10 years of built-up energy to get these games underway, so tomorrow will be no different.”
Eichel is a tireless worker. He’s in elite shape and he practices long and hard. He said he’ll lean on his routine to get him ready for tomorrow.
“I think, when you're when you're playing in games like this and you're in moments like this, for me, at least, I think I try and prepare the same whether it's the first preseason game of the year versus playing Team Canada in the 4Nations championship game,” he said. “I don't think my preparation changes at all in what I do today and leading up to tomorrow and then what I do tomorrow. There is a lot more attention around the game, and the quality of the game is going to be different with some of the players on each side. In terms of the way I prepare and come at the game, it doesn't change. When it's a winner-take-all game and you understand what's on the line, but, at the same time, we've all played hockey our entire lives, and you just go out there and play as best you can.”
Eichel was asked why the competition was so heated at this event.
“Probably because of the two names on the front of the jerseys. For a lot of us, this probably would be the biggest game of our life. It’s for a championship, and I think you're just representing so much more when you have your nation's colors on,” said Eichel. “The fact that it's the U.S. vs. Canada, I think just wearing the red, white, and blue, I think that's what probably makes it what it is. Both teams are just trying to impose themselves on the game and not give an inch. And it's been a while since we've played this format and represented our countries in a best-on-best tournament. I think everyone wants to represent their country as best as possible, and you're willing to do anything. I think that's where you see a lot of the emotion come from.”
The last time NHL players took part in best-on-best international competition was the 2016 World Cup which was won by Canada.
Canada has won nine of the 13 best-on-best tournaments since NHL players began participating. The U.S. won the World Cup in 1996 while Sweden and Czechia have won gold at the Olympics.
Canada has won five of the last six best-on-best events and the last three in a row.
Stone said best-on-best is, well, the best.
“Oh, for sure. I think there's so many people that if you just show them hockey for the first time, they're fascinated by it,” he said. “So, if we can get more people following the game, enjoying the game, and, like I said, most of this tournament, I think this is why guys want to play in these events. It's special hockey. It's unique hockey. You have 85-90 of the best players in the world getting together to compete for their countries, and it's a pretty special feeling.”
