In the United States, ice hockey is not a sport that draws the eyes of many individuals. The Four Nations Face-Off just changed that.

Replacing the NHL’s usual All-Star game, the Four Nations Face-Off brought best-on-best hockey back. Since 2014, NHL players have not been allowed to play in the Olympics, and this competitive, emotionally charged aspect of the best athletes in the world playing for their country was dearly missed. Canada, the United States, Sweden, and Finland all rostered their best NHL players to compete in this tournament, and they did not disappoint. 

Canada and the United States, most notably, did not have much love to go around, as three fights broke out in the first nine seconds of their head-to-head game in the Round Robin. The United States defeated Canada by a score of 3-1, with Tampa Bay Lighting player Jake Guentzel leading the charge with two goals. When the Round Robin portion of the tournament ended, both the U.S. and Canada had advanced to the championship game, creating an incredible amount of anticipation to see how the game would unfold the second time around. The last time the men’s U.S. and Canada teams had faced off in a championship game, Sidney Crosby scored an overtime goal to win gold for Canada in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Canada continued their reign of terror over the United States in international hockey tournaments in that same fashion with a 3-2 overtime win at TD Garden in Boston. With less physicality involved than the first game, the championship displayed an incredible amount of skill amongst both teams. Jaccob Slavin, in particular, stood out for the United States, as he provided a handful of impressive defensive plays that allowed his team to keep the game tied during regulation. On the other side, goalie Jordan Binnington provided multiple saves to keep the Canadians alive during overtime, robbing Team USA’s captain Auston Matthews the chance to score the game-winning goal multiple times. Despite the incredible effort that the United States gave, Canada sealed the win with a goal from Connor McDavid, captain of the Edmonton Oilers.

Though the result was a disappointment to many Americans watching at home, the tournament could not have gone better when it comes to marketing the game. In a country where hockey lies in the shadows of football and basketball, the tournament drew in millions of viewers around the country with a newfound interest in the sport. One student at Bucks described how the game drew his attention. “I was watching [the first U.S. v.s. Canada game] at a restaurant, and it was amazing to see the two teams going at it… it proved that the U.S. team wasn’t going to get pushed around.” The NHL desperately needed to advertise the exciting, physical nature of ice hockey, and letting the most skilled players in the world play for their country for the first time in 11 years provided that. The league’s best player in Connor McDavid scoring the game-winning goal under the dramatic pressure of overtime is probably the best display of what this era of hockey holds. If so many eyes were on and invested in an in-season tournament, it bodes well for the NHL’s future success and relevance. One of the best eras of hockey is just getting started.