BOSTON – If this were wrestling, last Saturday’s USA vs. Canada game would have been the final episode of RAW leading up to WrestleMania.
The plot torqued and heightened in the final days prior to sports entertainment’s greatest spectacle. Babyfaces and heels pitted against one another.
All that, of course, would make Thursday night’s 4Nations Face-Off championship game the granddaddy of them all – WrestleMania.
Bad guys against good guys. Villains turned into heroes and the nice guys flipped into cheaters and schemers.
Tuesday broke with only Team USA and Canada left standing and two days of hype and intrigue prior to Thursday night’s puck drop.
The first news of the day came from the Boston Bruins when they issued a release saying Team USA and Bs defenseman Charlie McAvoy would be unavailable for the rest of the tournament due to an upper body injury which had required him to be admitted to hospital.
USA coach Mike Sullivan chummed the waters a few hours later announcing that Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes was traveling to Boston as a potential replacement. Tournament rules would make Hughes ineligible unless another player was unfit to play due to illness or injury. Hughes reportedly practiced with the Canucks on Tuesday as the team begins preparations to face the Golden Knights on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Saturday’s Part 1 of Canada/USA saw the game open with three fights before 10 seconds had ticked off the clock. Team Canada forward Brandon Hagel, who fought USA’s Matthew Tkachuk, talked about the histrionics on Tuesday at TD Garden.
“I think we’re out there playing for the flag, not the cameras. That’s a part of Canada that we have in there. We don’t need to initiate anything. We don’t have any group chats going on,” said Hagel. “We’re going out there playing our game and then giving it everything and doing it for our country. We don’t need to initiate everything. We’re just going to play as hard as we can and do it for the flag on the chest.”
Golden Knights defensemen Noah Hanifin has logged close to 18 minutes per game for Team USA and has looked more and more comfortable as the tournament has gone on.
“I think we're all super excited. It's nice just to have an off day to unwind a little bit and let everybody get healthy and regroup and just start mentally preparing for Thursday because last Saturday was a pretty intense environment and intense game, and we expect the same on Thursday,” said Hanifin. “So, everybody is looking forward to it. Last night, we turned the page pretty quickly and took what we could away from the game, and now it's time to start getting ready for a big one Thursday. I think we'll see how it plays out, and we just know it's going to be an intense game. It's going to be an emotional game again. It's a rivalry, and both teams are great and have a lot of skill, talent, and speed. But I think it's bigger than that. I think it's about the compete and the emotion and who wants it more. So, it should be a fun one.”
Hanifin grew up with McAvoy and knows his game as well as anyone. Losing McAvoy is a major blow said Hanifin.
“I think just the way Charlie plays the game; he doesn't make it easy on other teams and other top players. And a guy like (Connor) McDavid or (Nathan) MacKinnon, the talent that they have on that team, it's important to have guys like Charlie in your lineup. Just how hard he competes every shift, and he doesn't make it easy on the other team,” said Hanifin. “So, it's something we're definitely going to miss, and I think everybody else just has to step up because we're losing a huge piece. I've known Charlie for a long time. A lot of the guys on this team I've known for a while, but I've played with Charlie since we were kids in youth hockey and at the U.S. National Development Program. So, I've known Charlie forever. Like I said, it hurts to lose him and just even being with him the last couple weeks, hanging out with him again and playing on the same team as him, it's been a lot of fun, a lot of laughs, and it kind of brings you back to when we were kids. So, it hurts for sure. I just hope he's doing well, and he's healing up and getting better.”
Canada has long been considered the foremost hockey nation on the planet but a win for Team USA on Thursday would be another step in the U.S. closing that gap.
“I think it's huge. I think it's huge for both countries, but I think especially just for the USA. Because in the last twenty years, I think the USA has taken a lot of strides, and hockey's grown a lot in our country,” said Hanifin. “Whether it's the national program or anything, college hockey, I think there are players who have developed a lot more recently here in the U.S., and we've found a way to compete with Canada. Now we're looking to surpass them. I think it's a huge game for that. It's a statement game for sure.”
