Finland, Sweden set for next chapter in rivalry at 4 Nations Face-Off

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen knows the feeling of backstopping Finland to victory against Sweden, and the Buffalo Sabres goalie is looking forward to the next encounter between the rivals at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Finland plays Sweden at Bell Centre in Montreal on Feb. 15 (1 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS) in the second game of the tournament for each team.

"It’s what you want when you’re growing up, you want to be part of that game," Luukkonen told NHL.com. "The biggest game every year for us is when Finland plays Sweden at any tournament. It doesn’t matter what it is, you always want to play against them. You know everybody is watching back home and it’s what you dream when you’re a kid, and it’s going to be unreal to be a part of that."

The 4 Nations Face-Off is an international tournament featuring teams made up of only NHL players from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States.

The teams will play each other once in a round-robin format starting on Feb. 12 at Bell Centre in Montreal. The final day of the round robin is Feb. 17 at TD Garden in Boston, with the two top teams advancing to the championship game on Feb. 20 in Boston.

Prior to being named to Team Finland, Luukkonen had never represented his country at the senior men’s level. He won gold at the 2016 IIHF Under-18 World Championship, which was held in the United States, and silver in 2017 (Slovakia), and gold at the 2019 World Junior Championship (Canada).

Luukkonen was the starter when Finland defeated Sweden, 6-1 in the gold-medal game in 2016, and again at the final of the World Junior Championship in 2019, defeating the United States 3-2.

"We would have had to play in the semifinal against them at the World Junior, but they lost to Switzerland (in the quarterfinal) that year in Vancouver," Luukkonen said. "In the Under-18 my first year, we played them in the final and won gold, it was great.

"I’ve never been part of the men’s national team yet, so this being my first tournament, it’s a huge honor for me. It’s been a really good couple of years for me, finding my game and proving myself, so I feel like this was one of the things everybody was looking forward to. It was a goal of mine and it kind of just proves to me that I’m doing things right and it’s a huge honor to be part of."

The Finland-Sweden rivalry in hockey dates nearly a century. Finland’s first international game was an 8-1 loss against Sweden in January 1928. Finland’s first Olympic hockey experience was in 1952 in Oslo, Norway, where they lost 9-2 to Sweden during the tournament.

Finland’s population is just over 5.5 million, while Sweden has a population of over 10.5 million. It’s often referred to as a sibling rivalry when the two countries meet, and usually a cause of national celebration when Finland wins.

"It’s funny how it works out, the big finals and the big games that we’ve won have usually been against Finland," Edmonton Oilers and Team Sweden defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. "The big memory, I know we had a 5-1 comeback (6-5 win) in Helsinki (2003 World Championship quarterfinal) with (Peter) Forsberg and those guys; (Mats) Sundin was on the team. The 2006 Turin Olympics also featured Sweden and Finland facing off in the final, a 3-2 win by Sweden.

"We’re connected as countries geographically, and it’s a big rivalry. You hate to lose against Finland, that’s just what it is."

Sweden’s first Olympic hockey appearance was in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1920. Along with winning Olympic gold in 2006, Sweden won gold in 1994 (Lillehammer). Sweden has also won 11 World Championships, the most recent in 2018, and two World Junior Championships.

Finland won gold at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and has won four World Championships, the last coming on home ice in 2022. It has also won gold at the World Junior Championship five times.

"I think they are two good nations that are close to each other and have a lot of history," Oilers and Team Sweden forward Viktor Arvidsson said. "It makes it more fun to play in those games. When we beat them in 2006, I think that was a big point in the rivalry. We had a lot of good players, and they had a lot of good players, and we came out on top. I think kind of sparked even more of a rivalry."

Ekholm and Arvidsson were each named to Team Sweden for the 4 Nations Face-Off and Luukkonen was one of three goalies named to Team Finland, along with Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators and Kevin Lankinen of the Vancouver Canucks.

Sweden open the tournament against Canada at Bell Centre on Feb. 12 (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS). Finland open against the United States at Bell Centre on Feb. 13 (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS).

"I feel like we have a really balanced team," Luukkonen said. "I feel like that’s going to be our biggest thing. I don’t know how we’re going to play yet, but we have good goaltending, we have good defense, we have good forwards, and I feel like we have a good roster to build a good, balanced team and we’ll be able to play the style our coach wants us to play. That’s going to be a big thing for us."

The early start for the game between Finland and Sweden will allow hockey fans in the two European countries to watch the game in prime time. The time difference between North America and Europe usually mean evening games in Canada and the United States are on well before sunrise in Finland and Sweden.

"My dad wakes up at crazy times to watch me anyway, he’s a different guy and he’s always been there for me," Luukkonen said. "But I feel the game being shown in the evening back home is a big thing. There are not a lot of times when your friends can watch you play that is not in the middle of the night, so I feel this game is going to be extra important for everybody."