Hockey’s Biggest Stars Set to Take the Stage at Inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off

For the first time in nearly a decade, the best hockey players in the world will all be competing head-to-head in international competition. The first ever 4 Nations Face-Off is set to begin Wednesday night with a game between Canada and Sweden. The other two teams in this round-robin tournament are Finland and the United States. This new tournament will give players and hockey fans around the world a chance to see some of the best players in the world compete against each other in something other than the all-star game. So, let’s preview this exciting tournament, and look at each team’s star players to watch as this exciting event is set to debut.

Format 

The tournament will be in a round-robin format, meaning that each of the four teams is guaranteed to play each other at least one time. The point system for the round-robin games will be three points for a regulation win, two points for a win in overtime/shootout, one point for a loss in overtime/shootout, and zero points for a regulation loss. The two teams with the most points after all the games have concluded will face off in a one-game championship for all the marbles. The round-robin games will begin on Wednesday night and conclude on Monday before the championship on Thursday, February 20th. Here is the full schedule for the games:

Wednesday, February 12th: Canada vs Sweden 

Thursday, February 13th: United States vs Finland 

Saturday, February 15th: Finland vs Sweden and United States vs Canada

Monday, February 17th: Canada vs Finland and United States vs Sweden 

Thursday, February 20th: Championship

Canada

Canada is the favorite coming into the tournament, which should not come as a surprise to anybody. Their roster is littered with stars from top to bottom with names like Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Sam Bennett, and Brad Marchand at forward. They do not like power on the back end either with the likes of Cale Makar, Shea Theodore, and Drew Doughty. The starting goalie for Canada will be Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues. Canada is no stranger to committing at the highest level of international competition, and they expect that to remain the same with this loaded roster. Here is the full Canada roster:

Forwards:

9. Sam Bennett, Florida Panthers

71. Anthony Cirelli, Tampa Bay Lightning

87. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins

38. Brandon Hagel, Tampa Bay Lightning

24. Seth Jarvis, Carolina Hurricanes

11. Travis Konecny, Philadelphia Flyers

29. Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche

63. Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins

16. Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs

97. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

21. Brayden Point, Tampa Bay Lightning

13. Sam Reinhart, Florida Panthers

61. Mark Stone, Vegas Golden Knights

Defensemen:

89. Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings

8. Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche

44. Josh Morrissey, Winnipeg Jets

55. Colton Parayko, St. Louis Blues

6. Travis Sanheim, Philadelphia Flyers

27. Shea Theodore, Vegas Golden Knights

5. Devon Toews, Colorado Avalanche

Goalies:

50. Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues

33. Adin Hill, Vegas Golden Knights

35. Sam Montembeault, Montreal Canadiens

Finland

Finland enters this tournament as the underdog, but they do not lack star power of their own. Their forwards have many notable names like Sebastian Aho, Patrik Laine, Mikko Rantanen, Teuvo Teravainen, and Aleksander Barkov. However, they are suffering from some key injuries on defense, causing replacements to come in leaving them weaker on the back end than the other teams in this tournament. Here is the full roster for Finland:

Forwards

20. Sebastian Aho, Carolina Hurricanes

40. Joel Armia, Montreal Canadiens

16. Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers

64. Mikael Granlund, Dallas Stars

56. Erik Haula, New Jersey Devils

24. Roope Hintz, Dallas Stars

84. Kaapo Kakko, Seattle Kraken

92. Patrik Laine, Montreal Canadiens

62. Artturi Lehkonen, Colorado Avalanche

15. Anton Lundell, Florida Panthers

27. Eetu Luostarinen, Florida Panthers

96. Mikko Rantanen, Carolina Hurricanes

86. Teuvo Teravainen, Chicago Blackhawks

Defensemen:

10. Henri Jokiharju, Buffalo Sabres

23. Esa Lindell, Dallas Stars

3. Olli Maatta, Utah Hockey Club

77. Niko Mikkola, Florida Panthers

33. Nikolas Matinpalo, Ottawa Senators

18. Urho Vaakanainen, New York Rangers

6. Juuso Valimaki, Utah Hockey Club

Goalies:

32. Kevin Lankinen, Vancouver Canucks

1. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Buffalo Sabres

74. Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators

Sweden

Sweden enters this tournament as the dark horse who could cause a major upset to either Canada or the United States. This is a very deep and well-balanced roster that can beat you with their top line as well as their fourth line. They have plenty of headline talent led by William Nylander, Mika Zibanejad, and Filip Forsberg, but if they find themselves in the championship game, look for there to be an unsung hero on this team that plays a major role in helping them get there. Here is the full roster for Sweden:

Forwards:

33. Viktor Arvidsson, Edmonton Oilers

63. Jesper Bratt, New Jersey Devils

91. Leo Carlsson, Anaheim Ducks

20. Joel Eriksson Ek, Minnesota Wild

9. Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators

10. Adrian Kempe, Los Angeles Kings

28. Elias Lindholm, Boston Bruins

88. William Nylander, Toronto Maple Leafs

12. Gustav Nyquist, Nashville Predators

40. Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks

23. Lucas Raymond, Detroit Red Wings

67. Rickard Rakell, Pittsburgh Penguins

93. Mika Zibanejad, New York Rangers

Defensemen:

4. Rasmus Andersson, Calgary Flames

25. Jonas Brodin, Minnesota Wild

26. Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres

14. Mattias Ekholm, Edmonton Oilers

42. Gustav Forsling, Florida Panthers

77. Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning

65. Erik Karlsson, Pittsburgh Penguins

Goalies:

30. Samuel Ersson, Philadelphia Flyers

32. Filip Gustavsson, Minnesota Wild

35. Linus Ullmark, Ottawa Senators

United States

The United States seems to present the biggest challenge to Canada in this tournament, and some may even say they have the upper hand on Canada on paper. The Americans are pulling out all the stops to try and win this thing as they have the best players this country has to offer suiting up for this event. The Tkachuk brothers, Matthew and Brady, Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, and Jack Hughes headline the forwards. The defense is also solid with experienced players like Adam Fox and Charlie McAvoy, but the clear strength of this team is the offensive weapons. This team will undoubtedly be playing inspired hockey in this tournament to honor the Gaudreau brothers, who would have been on this team, and tragically passed away in August. If both the United States and Canada are able to get by Sweden and Finland, Saturday’s round-robin game could be a potential championship preview. Here is the full United States roster:

Forwards:

12. Matt Boldy, Minnesota Wild

81. Kyle Connor, Winnipeg Jets

9. Jack Eichel, Vegas Golden Knights

59. Jake Guentzel, Tampa Bay Lightning

86. Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils

20. Chris Kreider, New York Rangers

21. Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings

34. Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs

10. J.T. Miller, New York Rangers

29. Brock Nelson, New York Islanders

7. Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators

19. Matthew Tkachuk, Florida Panthers

16. Vincent Trocheck, New York Rangers

Defensemen:

14. Brock Faber, Minnesota Wild

23. Adam Fox, New York Rangers

15. Noah Hanifin, Vegas Golden Knights

25. Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins

85. Jake Sanderson, Ottawa Senators

74. Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes

8. Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets

Goalies:

37. Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets

30. Jake Oettinger, Dallas Stars

1. Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins