US, Canada’s brutal clash ‘great event for hockey’
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Greg Wyshynski
BOSTON — Canada coach Jon Cooper hated the result but had to admit that Team USA’s thrilling, brutal 3-1 win in the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off on Saturday night was a transcendent moment for hockey.
“The game is in a better place because last night’s game existed,” he said Sunday.
At its peak, 5.4 million American viewers watched the first “best on best” tournament game between the nations since 2016. Many tuned in to see generations of elite NHL players facing each other for the first time while repping their nations. But the game attracted even more attention after Montreal fans booed the U.S. national anthem — protesting President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports and his proposal that Canada become the 51st U.S. state — before the action started with three fights in record succession.
“I knew it was going to be an electric start, but I maybe didn’t expect three fights in the first nine seconds,” Sweden’s Jesper Bratt said. “The arena was already pretty loud, and the fans were already really emotionally engaged. I guess that kind of took it to the next level.”
Team USA players Matthew and Brady Tkachuk and J.T. Miller each had a fight to open the game, which the U.S. won in regulation to clinch a spot in the 4 Nations championship final Thursday night in Boston. Matthew Tkachuk’s fight off the opening face-off was the fastest ever in an NHL international game, topping the previous record of 20 seconds in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey for a fight that involved Matthew’s father, Keith Tkachuk, and Team USA general manager Bill Guerin.
Matthew Tkachuk sat out the final 12:36 of the third period with a lower-body injury. Team USA coach Mike Sullivan said Tkachuk “is continuing to be evaluated,” and he wouldn’t reveal the Florida Panthers star’s status for Monday’s game against Sweden.
Canada forward Travis Konecny said the trio of fights set the game apart Saturday night.
“We’re one of the only sports that still has fighting in it. It’s a war out there,” said Konecny, who plays for the Philadelphia Flyers. “It’s funny: You put the flag behind the meaning of something and guys’ switches just kind of flip.”
Cooper acknowledged that there are some “naysayers” when it comes to fighting in hockey.
“You can say whatever you want about fighting, but that was what ignited the game. Then both teams flexed, and nobody backed down. Then a hockey game broke out and it was a fantastic,” Cooper said. “When you get the best players in the world, not only trying to score but actually checking, this is what you get. You’re holding your breath every time there’s a potential scoring chance, because you don’t know if it’s going to be the last one.”
The game attracted attention for those outside the hockey world, something the players noticed.
“After the game you see things. I saw a lot talking about other leagues and what they do on their All-Star breaks, and then you see the Tkachuks going crazy,” Team USA forward Jack Hughes said. “It’s been a great event for hockey and, honestly, definitely surpassed my expectations. And I’m sure for a lot of the fans too.”
U.S. center Vincent Trocheck, who plays for the New York Rangers, noted that 4 Nations was replacing the NHL’s All-Star Game this season.
“Something like this, when you see the intensity and the emotion and how much guys actually care and want to win and represent their countries, you can’t really compete with that,” he said. “It’s not comparable to an all-star game or a Pro Bowl or something like that. This is something that’s like playoff hockey. This is like Game 7 every night.”
The other teams in the tournament were in awe of the USA-Canada showdown as well. Sweden coach Sam Hallam praised the emotions that were driven by the nations’ hockey rivalry, which spans from world juniors to 4 Nations. Finland forward Erik Haula said it was just “a great hockey game between great players.”
“It’s great for the game and just shows the passion the guys have playing for their country and what it means for everyone,” he said.
What the game could mean for U.S. hockey — and what a rematch with Canada in the championship could elevate even more — is something Sullivan has been considering in its aftermath.
“I thought it was an unbelievable celebration of hockey,” Sullivan said. “It’s great for the sport itself. I think it could inspire another generation of young players to want to play the game, like some of the events that impacted my generation, like the Miracle on Ice team in 1980. There’s so many events like that that inspire the next generation of players.”
Canada takes on Finland on Monday at 1 p.m. ET at TD Garden, facing elimination if the Finns win. The U.S. takes on Sweden at 8 p.m.
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Adam Rittenberg
The Nebraska–Tennessee football home-and-home football series scheduled for 2026 and 2027 will not be played after Nebraska opted out of the agreement.
Tennessee athletic director Danny White posted on X that Nebraska called off the series and added that Tennessee is “very disappointed” by the cancellation, especially so close to the initial game in 2026. The teams had been set to play in 2026 at Nebraska and at Tennessee the following year.
In a statement, Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen explained renovations to the team’s stadium, which will temporarily lower seating capacity, ultimately led to the decision.
“We are making plans to embark on major renovations of Memorial Stadium that may impact our seating capacity for the 2027 season,” Dannen said. “The best scenario for us is to have eight home games in 2027 to offset any potential revenue loss from a reduced capacity. The additional home games will also have a tremendous economic benefit on the Lincoln community.”
The Cornhuskers announced they will host Bowling Green in 2026 and Miami (Ohio) in 2027 on the dates when it was originally set to play Tennessee. Nebraska has never faced either school. The team will play eight homes in 2027 for the first time since 2013.
The cancellation ends a nearly two-decade process around a Nebraska-Tennessee series, which was originally agreed upon in 2006 and set for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. In 2013, the two schools agreed to delay the games for a decade. Nebraska will pay $500,000 to get out of the scheduling agreement.
White told Volquest that the “buyout implications need to be much steeper” with an “old contract,” and the cancellation puts Tennessee in a bind. Tennessee, which opens the 2025 season against Syracuse in Atlanta, had its nonleague schedule set through the 2030 season. The school either must find an opponent who can fill the 2026 and 2027 dates for a home-and-home series, or explore neutral-site options.
“You really can’t pull an audible this late in the game,” White told Volquest.
Nebraska’s stadium renovation, the first phase of which had been set to begin after the 2024 season, has been delayed until after the 2025 season, at the earliest.
Tennessee and Nebraska have played only three times before, most recently in the 2016 Music City Bowl, won by the Vols. Nebraska beat Tennessee in the 1998 Orange Bowl to secure a share of the national title that season.
Tennessee has been on the other side of a similar situation. The Vols in 2021 canceled a game against Army for the next season in 2022 and added Akron instead.
Information from ESPN’s Chris Low was used in this report.
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Jorge Castillo
TAMPA, Fla. — The New York Yankees‘ facial hair and grooming policy, an infamous edict in place for nearly 50 years, was formally amended for the first time Friday.
In a statement, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said the organization will allow “well-groomed beards” effective immediately, changing a rule his father, George, established in 1976.
“In recent weeks I have spoken to a large number of former and current Yankees — spanning several eras — to elicit their perspectives on our longstanding facial hair and grooming policy, and I appreciate their earnest and varied feedback,” Hal Steinbrenner said in the statement. “These most recent conversations are an extension of ongoing internal dialogue that dates back several years.
“Ultimately the final decision rests with me, and after great consideration, we will be amending our expectations to allow our players and uniformed personnel to have well-groomed beards moving forward. It is the appropriate time to move beyond the familiar comfort of our former policy.”
George Steinbrenner implemented the mandate before the 1976 season, leaving players with a choice of being clean-shaven or wearing a mustache. Hal Steinbrenner kept the policy in place after becoming chairman and controlling owner of the franchise in 2008.
Players overwhelmingly obliged with the order over the next five decades, from spring training through October, often before letting themselves go during the offseason, though a few have pushed the limits.
In the 1990s, for example, star first baseman Don Mattingly was fined and benched by manager Stump Merril for refusing to trim his mullet. Four years later, Mattingly wore a goatee for part of his final season in 1995.
This year, All-Star closer Devin Williams, acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in December, reported for his spring training physical with a beard before shaving it down to a mustache for the team’s first workout the next day. On the other end, former Yankees Gleyber Torres and Clay Holmes reported to camp with their new teams sporting full beards.
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