Jack Eichel has been starving. The 4 Nations Face-Off is his sustenance.
The Vegas Golden Knights center said he has waited years for another “best-on-best” hockey tournament for himself and his peers. “The generation of the players that are currently in the NHL haven’t had that opportunity to all play together,” he told ESPN.
The NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off brings together four hockey powers — the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland — in a midseason tournament played in Montreal and Boston. Now Eichel gets to wear the red, white and blue with Auston Matthews and Jack Hughes. Connor McDavid gets to wear the maple leaf next to Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby. William Nylander shares a Swedish locker room with Victor Hedman and Erik Karlsson. Aleksander Barkov can sling passes to Mikko Rantanen and Patrik Laine.
The players acknowledge the 4 Nations Face-Off is more borne out of necessity — a combination of compressed scheduling and the conundrum of Russian participation — than an ideal best-on-best event.
“Obviously it’s not exactly what we want in terms of … we’re missing some great teams. I think of the Germany or Switzerland or the Czechs, so many different teams,” McDavid told ESPN. “But it’s just exciting to have best-on-best again. You know, four great teams. It’ll be a pretty fun competition and a prelude to the Olympics.”
How will the 4 Nations Face-Off play out, starting tonight with Canada vs. Sweden at Bell Centre?
Spoiler warning: It’ll play out exactly like what I’ve written below. Or maybe it won’t. Either way, enjoy 4 Nations!
The 4 Nations Face-Off is set to be an exciting tournament featuring some of the best teams in international hockey. With so much talent on display, predicting the outcome of each game is no easy task. However, we are going to give it our best shot and try to forecast the winners of every match in the tournament.
First up, we have the opening game between Team Canada and Team USA. Both teams are perennial powerhouses in international hockey, but we are going to give the edge to Canada in this matchup. With a roster stacked with NHL talent, including the likes of Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby, we think Canada will come out on top in a close game.
Next, we have Team Russia taking on Team Sweden. This is sure to be a tightly contested game, but we are going to give the slight edge to Russia. With their dynamic offense led by players like Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin, we think Russia will be able to outscore Sweden and secure the win.
In the final game of the tournament, we have Team Finland facing off against Team Czech Republic. This game is a tough one to call, but we are going to predict that Finland will come out on top. With a strong defensive core and a potent offensive attack, we think Finland will be able to edge out the Czech Republic and finish the tournament on a high note.
Of course, these predictions are just our best guesses and anything can happen in the world of hockey. We can’t wait to see how the tournament unfolds and which teams will come out on top in the 4 Nations Face-Off.
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