The NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off between the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland kicks off on Wednesday. Here's everything you need to know about the tournament:
SCHEDULE
At Bell Centre, Montreal
Wednesday, Feb. 12: Canada vs. Sweden, 8 p.m. on MAX, truTV, TNT
Thursday, Feb. 13: United States vs. Finland, 8 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN+
Saturday, Feb. 15: Finland vs. Sweden, 1 p.m. on ABC, ESPN+; United States vs. Canada, 8 p.m. on ABC, ESPN+
At TD Garden, Boston
Monday, Feb. 17: Canada vs. Finland, 1 p.m. on MAX, truTV, TNT; Sweden vs. United States, 8 p.m. on MAX, truTV, TNT
Thursday, Feb. 20: Championship game, 8 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN+
FORMAT
Each team will play three tournament games in a round robin format. Teams receive three points for a win in regulation time, two points for a win in overtime/shootout, one point for a loss in overtime/shootout, and no points for a loss in regulation time. The two teams with the best tournament record will then advance to a one-game final for the gold medal and a still-unnamed trophy:
TAYLOR HAASE / DKPS
Overtime is three-on-three and will last for 10 minutes before going to a shootout. If the championship game goes to overtime, it will be just like overtimes in the Stanley Cup playoffs: Five-on-five, continuous 20-minute periods until a goal is scored.
PENGUINS CONNECTIONS?
The four teams' rosters and staffs are full of current and former Penguins connections.
For the U.S., Mike Sullivan is behind the bench, with David Quinn and former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach John Hynes as his assistants. Former Penguin Bill Guerin is the general manager. The staff includes Penguins video coach Madison Nikkel, former goaltending coach Mike Buckley, and former equipment manager Teddy Richards. The lone connection on the ice is former Penguin Jake Guentzel, but a pair of Pittsburgh natives in J.T. Miller and Vince Trocheck round out the forwards.
Sidney Crosby, of course, captains Team Canada. Kyle Dubas is involved as the director of player personnel, and former Penguin Rick Tocchet will serve as one of the assistants.
Sweden has Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell on its roster, a roster that was helped shaped by Sweden's assistant general manager Patric Hornqvist.
The Penguins don't have any current ties on Finland, but the roster include a pair of former Penguins in Olli Maatta and Mikael Granlund.
WHO IS PLAYING?
Here are the line combinations and pairings that each team used in practice on Tuesday:
Team USA:
Kyle Connor - Jack Eichel - Matthew Tkachuk Jake Guentzel - Auston Matthews - Jack Hughes Matt Boldy - J.T. Miller - Brady Tkachuk Brock Nelson - Vincent Trocheck - Dylan Larkin
Jaccob Slavin - Adam Fox Zach Werenski - Charlie McAvoy Noah Hanifin - Brock Faber
Team Canada:
Sam Reinhart - Connor McDavid - Mitch Marner Sidney Crosby - Nathan MacKinnon - Mark Stone Brad Marchand - Brayden Point - Seth Jarvis Brandon Hagel - Anthony Cirelli - Travis Konecny
Filip Forsberg - Elias Pettersson - Adrian Kempe Rickard Rakell - Mika Zibanejad - William Nylander Jesper Bratt - Joel Eriksson Ek - Lucas Raymond Viktor Arvidsson - Elias Lindholm - Gustav Nyquist
Victor Hedman - Jonas Brodin Mattias Ekholm - Erik Karlsson Gustav Forsling - Rasmus Dahlin
Team Finland:
Artturi Lehkonen - Aleksander Barkov - Mikko Rantanen Roope Hintz - Sebastian Aho - Patrik Laine Teuvo Teravainen - Erik Haula - Joel Armia Eetu Luostarinen - Anton Lundell - Mikael Granlund
Niko Mikkola - Esa Lindell Juuso Valimaki - Olli Maatta Urho Vaakanainen - Nikolas Matinpalo
WHO IS FAVORED?
The tournament is widely being seen at as a two-horse race between the U.S. and Canada, with the U.S. perhaps having a slight edge with it's stacked goaltending trio of Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman.
Finland is undoubtedly the underdogs. The roster was weaker on paper to start, and then the Finns lost Miro Heiskanen, Jani Hakanpaa and Rasmus Ristolainen due to injury leading up to the tournament.
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THE ASYLUM
4 Nations Face-Off preview
The NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off between the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland kicks off on Wednesday. Here's everything you need to know about the tournament:
SCHEDULE
At Bell Centre, Montreal
Wednesday, Feb. 12: Canada vs. Sweden, 8 p.m. on MAX, truTV, TNT
Thursday, Feb. 13: United States vs. Finland, 8 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN+
Saturday, Feb. 15: Finland vs. Sweden, 1 p.m. on ABC, ESPN+; United States vs. Canada, 8 p.m. on ABC, ESPN+
At TD Garden, Boston
Monday, Feb. 17: Canada vs. Finland, 1 p.m. on MAX, truTV, TNT; Sweden vs. United States, 8 p.m. on MAX, truTV, TNT
Thursday, Feb. 20: Championship game, 8 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN+
FORMAT
Each team will play three tournament games in a round robin format. Teams receive three points for a win in regulation time, two points for a win in overtime/shootout, one point for a loss in overtime/shootout, and no points for a loss in regulation time. The two teams with the best tournament record will then advance to a one-game final for the gold medal and a still-unnamed trophy:
TAYLOR HAASE / DKPS
Overtime is three-on-three and will last for 10 minutes before going to a shootout. If the championship game goes to overtime, it will be just like overtimes in the Stanley Cup playoffs: Five-on-five, continuous 20-minute periods until a goal is scored.
PENGUINS CONNECTIONS?
The four teams' rosters and staffs are full of current and former Penguins connections.
For the U.S., Mike Sullivan is behind the bench, with David Quinn and former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach John Hynes as his assistants. Former Penguin Bill Guerin is the general manager. The staff includes Penguins video coach Madison Nikkel, former goaltending coach Mike Buckley, and former equipment manager Teddy Richards. The lone connection on the ice is former Penguin Jake Guentzel, but a pair of Pittsburgh natives in J.T. Miller and Vince Trocheck round out the forwards.
Sidney Crosby, of course, captains Team Canada. Kyle Dubas is involved as the director of player personnel, and former Penguin Rick Tocchet will serve as one of the assistants.
Sweden has Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell on its roster, a roster that was helped shaped by Sweden's assistant general manager Patric Hornqvist.
The Penguins don't have any current ties on Finland, but the roster include a pair of former Penguins in Olli Maatta and Mikael Granlund.
WHO IS PLAYING?
Here are the line combinations and pairings that each team used in practice on Tuesday:
Team USA:
Kyle Connor - Jack Eichel - Matthew Tkachuk
Jake Guentzel - Auston Matthews - Jack Hughes
Matt Boldy - J.T. Miller - Brady Tkachuk
Brock Nelson - Vincent Trocheck - Dylan Larkin
Jaccob Slavin - Adam Fox
Zach Werenski - Charlie McAvoy
Noah Hanifin - Brock Faber
Team Canada:
Sam Reinhart - Connor McDavid - Mitch Marner
Sidney Crosby - Nathan MacKinnon - Mark Stone
Brad Marchand - Brayden Point - Seth Jarvis
Brandon Hagel - Anthony Cirelli - Travis Konecny
Devon Toews - Cale Makar
Josh Morrissey - Colton Parayko
Shea Theodore - Drew Doughty
Team Sweden:
Filip Forsberg - Elias Pettersson - Adrian Kempe
Rickard Rakell - Mika Zibanejad - William Nylander
Jesper Bratt - Joel Eriksson Ek - Lucas Raymond
Viktor Arvidsson - Elias Lindholm - Gustav Nyquist
Victor Hedman - Jonas Brodin
Mattias Ekholm - Erik Karlsson
Gustav Forsling - Rasmus Dahlin
Team Finland:
Artturi Lehkonen - Aleksander Barkov - Mikko Rantanen
Roope Hintz - Sebastian Aho - Patrik Laine
Teuvo Teravainen - Erik Haula - Joel Armia
Eetu Luostarinen - Anton Lundell - Mikael Granlund
Niko Mikkola - Esa Lindell
Juuso Valimaki - Olli Maatta
Urho Vaakanainen - Nikolas Matinpalo
WHO IS FAVORED?
The tournament is widely being seen at as a two-horse race between the U.S. and Canada, with the U.S. perhaps having a slight edge with it's stacked goaltending trio of Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman.
Finland is undoubtedly the underdogs. The roster was weaker on paper to start, and then the Finns lost Miro Heiskanen, Jani Hakanpaa and Rasmus Ristolainen due to injury leading up to the tournament.
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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