We’re just past the halfway mark of Winter, and that’s traditionally when the National Hockey League takes a breather from the regular season, and attention turns to the annual NHL All-Star Game.
Not this time around.
As enjoyable as the All-Star Festivities were this time last year in Toronto, the NHL has seen fit to change things up considerably this season, most likely in large part to stoke anticipation for the league’s return to the Winter Olympics 12 months from now.
The final two NHL games get underway the afternoon of Super Bowl Sunday, then the league goes on a two-week hiatus and turns its attention to the first-ever 4 Nations Face-Off.
Beginning Wednesday, February 12 on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio, many of the top players in the NHL will be in Montreal for the first leg of the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States are all represented at this mid-season tournament.
Canada and Sweden get things going on that Wednesday with an 8 pm Eastern game, followed by the States and Finland meeting up the following day, also at 8 pm Eastern. Following two more games in Montreal, the scene switches to Boston for a few games on Monday, February 17.
It’s a round-robin tournament using NHL rules. If there’s overtime, the extra session can go up to 10 minutes, followed by a shootout. For the Championship Game on Thursday, February 20th, the rules revert to what is used in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This means there could be a winner-takes-all overtime that lasts as long as it takes to produce a goal.
That Championship Game will also be held in Boston.
You can follow all the play-by-play action here on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio Channel 91. All the games will be broadcast, featuring voices you’ve grown familiar with over the past two decades.
Scott Laughlin (NHL Morning Skate) will host the pre-and-post games shows on-site in Montreal and Boston. Scotty will be on the air an hour before the opening face-off and for an hour after the three stars have been announced.
Steve Kouleas (The Power Play) will be the radio play-by-play voice of the 4 Nations Face-Off, live in Montreal and Boston. Steve will be joined in the booth by former NHL forward Anthony Stewart for the Montreal games and former NHL goaltender Andrew Raycroft for the Boston games, including the championship game.
In addition, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio Channel 91 will devote most of its daytime programming during these two weeks to covering the Four Nations Face-off. However, they will also monitor any developments and happenings in the National Hockey League.
There hasn’t been a top-level best-on-best men’s hockey tournament since The World Cup of Hockey in September 2016. That’s almost a decade ago. In anticipation of next year’s Winter Olympic Games in Italy, and the return of The World Cup of Hockey in 2028, the 4 Nations Face-Off is a welcome primer.
No, not every nation, thus not every star player, will be represented. And how much each player there will invest themselves in the outcome of the game remains to be determined, but keep this in mind. The top players involved have made it clear that they wanted this tournament to happen, and have been eagerly anticipating this rare opportunity to play with fellow best-on-best players from their own country.
Sidney Crosby with Nathan MacKinnon, Brayden Point, and Connor McDavid…Auston Matthews with Matthew Tkachuk, Jack Eichel, and Kyle Connor…Aleksander Barkov with Sebastion Aho, Mikko Rantanen, and Patrik Laine…Victor Hedman with Filip Forsberg, William Nylander, and Lucas Raymond.
Which lineup is the strongest? Who has the best goaltending, especially in such a short series? Each team has three games to show their stuff, because the next game after that is the Championship Game.
Remember to follow all the action of the 4 Nations Face-Off on social media for interviews and behind-the-scenes moments on X @SiriusXMNHL and on Instagram @NHLNetworkRadio.
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