4 Nations Face-Off shatters expectations as showcase

Canada won the 4 Nations Face-Off by beating the United States for the championship in an overtime thriller capped off by Connor McDavid's memorable goal that will be on highlight reels for decades to come.In the grand scheme of things, the NHL, its players and the sport of hockey all came out as winners.The 4 Nations was a one-off tournament with no past and no future, a trimmed down version of a World Cup of Hockey staged because the best players in the world waited so long for something of its kind. With tens of millions watching across North America it exceeded all expectations, with play on the ice better resembling a Stanley Cup Final or the Olympics than the All-Star Weekend festivities it replaced."It was much more popular than even we would have imagined — it was getting so much attention from our whole continent," 4 Nations MVP Nathan MacKinnon said. "The 4 Nations caught on fire. I'm sure everyone didn't really know what to expect. Obviously questions about it being an All-Star Game, things like that. Obviously people didn't really know the player's mindsets coming in, and rightfully so. You never really know. But guys took this very seriously when you represent your country."Given that a generation of players from McDavid and MacKinnon to Americans Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel never got a chance to represent their countries in so-called best-on-best play as professionals, it was clear in their minds they were taking it seriously. For many fans, it took seeing the opening game — Sidney Crosby's no-look pass to MacKinnon for a goal 56 seconds in and the frantic pace at which Canada and Sweden were skating up and down the rink — to believe this was going to be worth watching.Then people watched. With U.S. ratings numbers for the final still pending, Sportsnet reported 10.7 million people across Canada watched Thursday night — over a quarter of the country's total population — after the six round-robin games averaged 4.6 million viewers in North America and 10.1 million tuned in to the first U.S.-Canada game.In a series of social media posts, former NFL player J.J. Watt raved, "It's just incredible how much of a home run 4 Nations has been for the NHL and hockey in general" and said friends who had never watched the sport before were reaching out asking about plans to watch and what to eat during it."Much, much respect for how much effort, energy and passion (players) poured into this tournament," Watt said. "That's what's made it so special. The best in the world going all-out for pure pride."The next chance they will get is a year away at the 2026 Olympics in Milan, the return of the players to that stage after the NHL skipped in 2018 and pulled out at the eleventh hour in 2022 because of pandemic-related scheduling problems.Commissioner Gary Bettman billed the 4 Nations featuring the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland as an appetizer for Milan. The level of play — and the result — set the stage perfectly for the Americans to again challenge Canadian hockey superiority, with the Swedes, Finns, Czechs, Slovaks, Germans and maybe even the Russians also in the mix for Olympic gold."I'll always remember this feeling when it's next year," U.S. winger Brady Tkachuk said after losing 3-2 in the final. "Everything happens for a reason and I think this year, this moment can really motivate us going into next year."For now, Canada remains unbeaten over the past 15 years in tournaments with the NHL's top talent involved, extending its winning streak to four, with a title at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and gold medals at the 2014 and 2010 Olympics before this.Crosby has been a part of all of this, plus an unbeaten run at the 2015 world championships, and played through injury at the 4 Nations because of how special the occasion was."Every opportunity you get to wear the Canadian jersey and compete in this event, it's something new, but I think you saw the hockey that was on display," Crosby said. "It was pretty incredible. Happy for this group. We came together in a short period of time and found a way to get it done."