‘No bigger rivalry’: USA, Canada to renew history
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Kristen Shilton
MONTREAL — The storied USA-Canada hockey rivalry will be reintroduced — and reignited — when the two countries take center stage at the 4 Nations Face-Off on Saturday night.
It can’t be defined as an ordinary game — not for players who have waited a lifetime to be part of best-on-best hockey against their nation’s greatest on-ice foe.
“This one’s a big one, the biggest of my career,” USA forward Dylan Larkin said. “Just watching [international games] as a kid with my family, it’s like a holiday, it’s like the Super Bowl for us. To be able to be a part of it, on a Saturday night in Montreal, it’s perfect. It’s just great.”
The opportunity for NHL skaters to be involved in events such as the Olympics came to a halt after the 2014 Sochi Games and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Many of the league’s current top stars were left wondering if they’d ever go toe-to-toe against the world’s greatest players in tournaments like the ones they were raised on.
It’s a reality now.
“I think it’s going be the biggest game that I’ve ever played in my career,” USA forward Brady Tkachuk said. “I’m really looking forward to that. There’s a big buildup to it. USA vs. Canada is bigger than just the guys on the ice. There’s so many people past, present and down the road [that it affects]. We’ve been talking about this game especially. It’s going to be a long couple days [waiting] until it happens, but it’ll be exciting.”
Canada and the USA will enter Saturday night with one tournament win apiece — the U.S. pounded Finland 6-1 on Thursday, and Canada outlasted a stubborn Swedish team 4-3 in overtime Wednesday.
Those appetizers will be nothing like the upcoming main event, though. There’s unmatched history between these two countries that has found its way into the 4 Nations discourse already.
The most memorable chapter — at least for most skaters now — was the 2010 Olympics. Canada and the U.S. faced off in the gold medal game, and Canada let slip a 2-1 lead with less than a minute to play. In overtime, it was Sidney Crosby — captain of Canada’s 4 Nations team — who scored the winner to down the Americans and send Canada home with gold.
Canadian forward Connor McDavid claims that as his favorite moment produced by these rival countries. He watched it happen then as a junior hockey player; now, for the first time at this level, he’ll be counted on to help lead his nation to victory.
“It’s what you dream of,” McDavid said. “It’s big; it’s exciting. It’s playing the Americans in Montreal. That’s a big game.”
Defenseman Drew Doughty was part of Canada’s 2010 and 2014 gold medal Olympic teams. That has done nothing to dampen his passion for what’s coming Saturday.
“The wait has just amplified [the rivalry]. It’s made you more hungry. And I know that the Americans are feeling the same way about playing us. It’s going to be a hard-fought game. I suggest everyone watches that one.”
Canada defenseman Drew Doughty
“When you play the Americans, you want to beat them so bad,” Doughty said. “And I still have this feeling at 35 years old, how bad [I] want to beat the Americans. They’re a really good hockey team. … It’s going to be a tough battle. But this is probably the most exciting matchup of the tournament.”
The world junior championships have provided a dose of elite-level best-on-best hockey in the years since that latest World Cup. But the men’s rivalry was still simmering beneath the surface just waiting to be released again with this generation of talent.
“The wait has just amplified [the rivalry],” Doughty said. “It has made you more hungry. And I know that the Americans are feeling the same way about playing us. It’s going to be a hard-fought game. I suggest everyone watches that one.”
“There’s no bigger rivalry than Canada-USA in hockey,” Canada’s Brad Marchand added. “They’re the games that everybody dreams about playing growing up. They’re memories that will last a lifetime. We’re all really looking forward to it. Can’t come quick enough.”
Canada will have a distinct hometown advantage, a reaction the U.S. anticipated for every game it will play this tournament.
Still, there was some surprise that fans at Bell Centre booed the United States anthem when it was performed ahead of Thursday’s game. That has become more of a trend around the league since President Donald Trump threatened — and subsequently enforced — significant tariffs on Canadian imports.
“I’m not going to get into that,” Crosby said. “We respect the anthems; I’ll leave it at that.”
“I just kind of stay out of it,” Doughty said. “I know what’s going on, and I understand the Canadians’ frustration, but I think we should respect the anthems. I don’t think anyone should be booing.”
Some fans might save that reaction for what happens during the game. Coaches, like players, are expecting to see the best out of their lineups for what is projected to be a tournament highlight. And no amount of practice time or conversation can prepare players for a potentially emotional night.
“There’s a lot of pride,” USA coach Mike Sullivan said. “There’s a lot of familiarity on both sides. These guys play with and against each other in the NHL all the time. An event like this where it’s best-on-best, I think it brings out the competitive spirit of both sides. The biggest difference is when you have the privilege to play in an event like this and represent your country, it has become something that’s bigger than any individual. There’s a responsibility to bring your best when you have the privilege to participate in these types of events.
“I would envision it being a real competitive hockey game.”
That might be an understatement.
“Saturday night in Canada, against Canada — I don’t think there’s much better than this for a hockey player of this level,” Jake Guentzel said. “The crowd’s going to be intense, it’s going to be hostile, it’s going to be all of the above, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
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Ryan S. Clark
BOSTON — Other than the game itself, both Canada and the United States were talking about President Donald Trump hours before playing one another in the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off championship game.
Trump was a topic of conversation for both teams Thursday with many Team USA players speaking about the call they shared with the president with Team Canada sharing some of its thoughts about Trump once again stating that Canada would become the “51st state” in the country.
“It was awesome. It was one of the cooler experiences I’ve had,” Team USA’s Vincent Trocheck said of the Trump phone call. “Having the president of the United States call your team about a hockey game just seems kind of crazy but it’s pretty cool.”
Team USA and New York Rangers forward J.T. Miller echoed a similar sentiment.
“Pretty cool. It was so awesome to hear the support,” Miller said. “It’s a pretty big deal for us to take time out of his schedule to talk to us. It’s just another one of those things where we’re pinching ourselves this tournament. It’s been really fun so far to see the support from everybody up to the president is pretty wild.”
Miller said that Trump told the team to enjoy the moment and have fun with it with Team USA defenseman Zach Werenski saying he “kind of blacked out” because of the significance of the moment.
Team USA received a call from the President this morning to wish them luck ahead of tonight’s #4Nations championship game. pic.twitter.com/he1kIgUVGW
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) February 20, 2025
A reporter then asked Miller if Trump mentioned making Canada the 51st state.
“I don’t think he brought that up,” said Werenski, who plays for the Columbus Blue Jackets. “He left that one out.”
Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier Thursday that he planned on calling Team USA while later adding that “on toward victory tonight against Canada … will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important Fifty First State.”
With political tensions already in place prior to the 4 Nations, those feelings have only amplified with hockey as its latest avenue. It started with fans on both sides booing during each country’s respective national anthems.
It further escalated during the first Canada-U.S. game last Saturday. There were three fights in the first nine seconds of a contest which ultimately ended with the U.S. winning 3-1 in Montreal. The game itself became the talk of the North American sports landscape and only added to the anticipation of a potential rematch, something Canada secured Tuesday with a 5-3 win against Sweden.
Canada coach Jon Cooper was asked if the political discussion regarding the two countries has entered the dressing room.
“Other than the talk of [Canada becoming] the 51st state and then somebody saying, ‘Wow, we’d have one hell of a hockey team,'” said Cooper, who is the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Cooper then further elaborated on the subject.
“Let’s be honest, you’d never get what’s going to be contested tonight,” Cooper said. “The political side of things, we feel [that] for everybody on our side of things. But for us to come here and to be in that room, it’s going to be more for us to win that game, then sit there and debate what the game means. We have to go out there and represent our country and make them proud. If we accomplish that, then I think we accomplish what we want to, which is to make Canadians proud.”
ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski contributed to this report.
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