4 Nations Face-Off Opened Eyes To Hockey

Kraken general manager Ron Francis couldn’t believe what he was hearing earlier this week while at a Starbucks in Naples, Fla. the morning after the first Four Nations Face-Off clash between Team USA and Canada.

“I was listening to four older gentlemen talk about the game of hockey,” Francis said. “And I’m not sure they’d ever talked about hockey before they were in that Starbucks.”

Indeed, millions of people across North America on Friday were still buzzing about Team USA’s round-robin victory last weekend in Montreal and Thursday night’s subsequent 3-2 championship win in overtime by Canada in the rivalry rematch played in Boston. Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers ended the see-saw struggle midway through the first sudden-death frame by firing home a puck from the slot after Canadian goaltender Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues made a handful of game-saving stops just moments before.

Regardless of the outcome, the intensity of the two USA-Canada games – and indeed the tournament as a whole – helped raise awareness of the sport among fans who’d admittedly never watched hockey before.

“I think everybody was talking about it, watching it, so it was really good to see,” Francis said. “I don’t think it could have had any bigger impact. Which is great, in a positive way, for the game.”

An astounding 9.3 million viewers watched the game on ESPN, more than any prior NHL contest and the most-watched non-Olympic hockey matchup of all-time in the U.S. The country’s previous most-watched non-Olympic showdown was Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals at 8.9 million.

On Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, and TVA in Canada, the game averaged 6.9 million viewers – roughly one-sixth of the country’s population.

Last weekend’s round-robin game drew 10.1 million television viewers in both countries, making it the most seen since the Stanley Cup Final telecast in 2019.

And the intensity behind what were supposed to be glorified exhibition games stood out next to an NBA All-Star Game also held last weekend in which players appeared to be going at half-speed.

A Yahoo! Sports headline blared: “NHL’s Four Nations Outshines NBA All-Star Game.”

Front Office Sports wrote that “when Team USA squared off against Team Canada on Saturday night in the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off, NBA All-Star festivities were barely a footnote to the evening.”

Toronto-born hockey analyst and former NHL defenseman P.K. Subban told ESPN ahead of Thursday’s championship clash: “You can step onto an NBA floor and go through the motions. You can’t do that in hockey – you can’t. Like, the culture of our sport, you have to play it with passion. You have to be willing to fight. You have to be willing to leave it on the ice. That’s what fans are investing in.”

On ESPN’s First Take, following Canada’s championship win Thursday, Michael Wilbon credited the NHL “for getting it right” by replacing its all-star game format while calling out the NBA and players for not doing something similar.

Former NFL star J.J. Watt, who grew up playing hockey player in Wisconsin, tweeted: “It’s just incredible how much of a home run 4 Nations has been for the NHL and hockey in general” and said friends who’d never watched the sport were reaching out asking about plans to watch and what to eat while doing so.

"Definition of growing the game," Watt said. “Much, much respect for how much effort, energy, and passion (players) poured into this tournament. That’s what’s made it so special. The best in the world going all-out for pure pride.”

The intensity shown by players at the Four Nations tournament – featuring the U.S. Canada, Sweden, and Finland -- wasn’t entirely unexpected; Hockey players, as with soccer counterparts, often grow up raised on the idea that the biggest pride comes from wearing a nation’s colors.

“I think when you put the flag of your country on a player, especially a hockey player, they take that seriously,” Francis said. “There’s a lot of pride that goes with that.”

But few truly expected the debut 4 Nations event to be much beyond a two-week NHL regular season pause – let alone taking on dimensions rivaling Winter Olympics play.

The NHL skipping the past two Winter Olympics likely had something to do with it, as a new generation of players wore their country’s uniform for the first time. And though some would like to downplay it, the current geopolitical situation and comments by U.S. President Donald Trump about imposing new economic tariffs, annexing Canada as a 51st state, and repeated references to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “Governor” clearly inflamed passions around some of the games.

Team USA GM Bill Guerin admitted Trump’s comments added “political flair” to the matchups. Indeed, anybody watching the fan in the MAGA hat behind the Team USA bench on Thursday night’s ESPN broadcast could see politics had permeated.

Just as those listening to Canadian fans in Montreal booing The Star Spangled Banner ahead of Saturday’s game knew this wasn’t business as usual. The booing certainly rankled observers south of the border. And the three fights that erupted in the first nine seconds of that contest also served to rev up fans on both sides on the 49th parallel.

In a Truth Social post ahead of Thursday’s championship clash, Trump invited “Governor Trudeau” to watch the game with him. After Canada’s victory, Trudeau trolled Trump by tweeting: “You can’t take our country – and you can’t take our game.”

Canadian anthem singer Chantal Kreviazuk even changed the words to O Canada prior to Thursday’s clash – switching from “that all of us command” to “that only us command” in an admitted protest against Trump’s annexation comments.

None of this is anything new to a sport where the biggest games in its history have been international affairs set against a political backdrop. The 1972 Summit Series, 1980 Miracle on Ice, and 1987 Canada Cup championship all featured Canadian and American teams going up against the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.

ESPN play-by-play man Sean McDonough referenced it ahead of Thursday’s overtime, musing on-air: “Who will be Paul Henderson? Who will be Mike Eruzione?”

Henderson scored Canada’s winning goal in the dying seconds of a decisive Game 8 of the 1972 Summit Series in Moscow. And Eruzione, on-hand in Boston for Thursday’s pregame ceremonies wearing the No. 13 of the late Johnny Gaudreau, had the 1980 “Miracle” third-period game-winner to lift Team USA over the Soviets.

Sidney Crosby’s overtime goal to help Canada defeat the U.S. at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver typically gets referenced among the bigger international results in more recent memory. But the two countries had met in winner-take-all events before, starting with Canada capturing the 1991 Canada Cup final, the U.S. registering a shocking victory at the 1996 World Cup and then Canada winning at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City ahead of the 2010 triumph.

And none of those games since the 1980s seemed to register quite as much within the U.S. as this week’s politically charged drama. Whether that becomes merely a one-off or a precursor to next year’s Winter Olympics in Milan, it’s certainly opened eyes to the sport.

“I think going in, some people, including myself, had some questions about how it would all go,” Francis said. “But I don’t think it could have been a bigger hit for hockey.”