Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby.
On any given night, these NHLers can wreak havoc on the opposition.
Imagine having to play against all three.
That’s exactly what the United States, Sweden, and Finland are in for when they take on Canada at next week’s 4 Nations Face-Off.
The first best-on-best international event since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey will run from Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston.
Each team will play three games in a traditional round-robin format. The points system is as follows: three points for a win in regulation time; two for a win in overtime/shootout; one for a loss in overtime/shootout; and zero for a loss in regulation time.
The two teams with the best tournament record will advance to the one-game, winner-take-all championship final.
Four group games will be played at Montreal’s Bell Centre.
- Feb. 12: Canada vs. Sweden
- Feb. 13: USA vs. Finland
- Feb. 15: Finland vs. Sweden and Canada vs. USA
The final two group games and the championship match will be played at TD Garden in Boston.
- Feb. 17: Canada vs. Finland and Sweden vs. USA
- Feb. 20: Championship game
All games are on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
Tickets for the tournament are still available on Ticketmaster. The cheapest seat for Canada vs. Sweden is at $172, while Canada vs. USA tickets are starting at $284.
McDavid, MacKinnon, Crosby, Brad Marchand, Mitch Marner, and Mark Stone are among Canada’s top forwards at the tournament.
Cale Makar and Josh Morrissey lead the way on defence, with Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill, and Sam Montembeault backstopping Team Canada.
There’s no shortage of talent in the other dressing rooms.
Auston Matthews, Kyle Connor, Jack Eichel, Brady and Matthew Tkachuk, Charlie McAvoy, and Connor Hellebuyck lead the way for the United States.
Representing Sweden will be Filip Forsberg, William Nylander, Mika Zibanejad, Victor Hedman and Linus Ullmark – among many others.
Sebastian Aho, Aleksander Barkov, Patrik Laine, Artturi Lehkonen, Mikko Rantanen, Teuvo Teravainen, and Juuse Saros are some of Finland’s biggest threats.
Full rosters for each team are available here.