The NHL 4 Nations Face-Off is an ice hockey tournament scheduled to take place on February12–20, 2025, in Montreal, at Bell Centre, and in Boston, at TD Garden. Hosted by the National Hockey League (NHL) and featuring only NHL players, the 4Nations Face-Off will temporarily replace the NHL's annual All-Star Game for 2025. In the tournament, teams representing Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States will play each other in a round-robin format, followed by a one-game final between the two top-placed teams.
At the press conference, Bettman announced plans for NHL participation in international best-on-best tournaments in coming years.[3][4] In 2025, players will participate in the NHL 4Nations Face-Off, a tournament between NHL players representing Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States. The NHL 4Nations Faceoff would happen in lieu of the 2025 NHL All-Star Game.[5] Bettman stated that NHL players would play in the 2026 and 2030 Winter Olympics, after they had not been released for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.[1][3] Bettman also stated the league would host the next World Cups of Hockey in 2028 and 2032, with the most recent edition having been held in 2016.[3][6][7]
At the time of the tournament's announcement, all participating teams were ranked in the top six by ice hockey's worldwide governing body, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF): Canada (1), Finland (2), United States (4) and Sweden (6).[9] Germany, while ranked fifth, did not have enough NHL players to create a roster.[10][9] Though they had enough NHL players to create a roster, Russia and Czechia—ranked third and eighth, respectively—were not included in the tournament,[8][10] with Russia specifically excluded due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.[11][12][13] Czech forward David Pastrnak called the omission of Czechia a "huge disappointment", though he said he understood there was limited time to organize the tournament.[14][15] In early reporting on the tournament's format, journalist Greg Wyshynski wrote that the competition could not be considered best-on-best due to the omission of players from other ice hockey powers.[16]
The league did not initially announce the tournament venues, but stated that there would be two, one in Canada and one in the United States.[19] The league confirmed on June 8 that the venues would be Bell Centre in Montreal and TD Garden in Boston,[20] after months of reports by various media sources.[14][21][22][23]
Tournament structure
Two practice days, February10 and 11, will be held prior to the tournament. From February12–20, seven total games will be played.[19] The tournament will be held in a round-robin format, with teams winning three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime or shootout win, one point for an overtime or shootout loss, and zero points for a regulation loss. Each team will play three games, and the two teams with the most points will advance to a one-game final.[19]
Games will be played on NHL-sized rinks, following NHL rules.[19] For round-robin games, overtime will be held in a 10-minute, 3-on-3 sudden-death period, followed by a three-round shootout. In the final, overtime will be held in consecutive 20-minute, 5-on-5 sudden-death periods.[19]
On June 28, 2024, the NHL announced the first six players on each team's roster,[25] with the remaining players to be announced between November29 and December2.[26]
Canada
In April 2024, it was announced that Don Sweeney and Jim Nill were appointed by Doug Armstrong as Canada's general manager and associate general manager, respectively.[27] Both were also named assistant general managers for the 2026 Olympic team.[28] On June 25, Jon Cooper was named Canada's head coach for both the 4 Nations Face-Off and 2026 Winter Olympics.[29]Rick Tocchet, Bruce Cassidy, and Peter DeBoer will join Cooper as assistant coaches for the 4 Nations Face-Off.[30]
In February 2024, Bill Guerin was announced as general manager of the United States team for the 4 Nations Face-Off and 2026 Winter Olympics.[35] In May, Mike Sullivan was named head coach of the team for both competitions.[36]John Hynes,[37]John Tortorella, and David Quinn are the assistant coaches.[38]
In Canada, the tournament will be televised by Sportsnet in English, and TVA Sports in French. In the United States, TNT/TruTV will have the round-robin games on February 12 and 17, ABC/ESPN+ will air the February 15 doubleheader, and ESPN will air the United States–Finland game on February 13 and the final on February 20.[20]
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