Ho-hum hockey. That’s how a learned friend of mine refers to what’s replacing the National Hockey League for two weeks — the 4 Nations Faceoff. This is the NHL’s attempt to recapture the magic of international hockey, to have fans wave the flags of four countries: Canada, the U.S., Sweden and Finland.
How did hockey get here?
It started with the Summit Series of 1972, originally called the Canada-Russia series. For Canadian players who’d been on amateur teams that fought valiantly in the international arena — specifically Father David Bauer’s National Team — the emotional origins preceded 1972. From World Championships and Olympics, they knew all about the flag waving that followed Paul Henderson’s goal that won the Summit Series, 4-3 with a tie.
The international tournaments that followed never quite matched that, and perhaps they never will. That was the first time international ‘amateurs’ competed against NHL stars who had missed “playing for your country.” It was followed two years later by a carbon-copy series, also in hindsight called the Summit Series, restricted to World Hockey Association pros. The result wasn’t a carbon copy — Russia won 4-1 with three ties — but the WHA pros did lose only once.
Then came five Canada Cups, one Challenge Cup, then three (and counting) World of Hockey tournaments. Scattered over 46 years, they were broken up by inconsistency and, sometimes, indifference. They had great players and great moments, but none equalled the drama and patriotism of 1972 and of Olympic Games hockey… country versus country… superstars versus superstars… flags and anthems versus flags and anthems.
The closest any series came was the 1987 Canada Cup. Fans wanting to see Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux on the same team saw Gretzky set up Lemieux for the goal that won the tournament. Will fans wanting to see Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid as teammates feel that thrill if they combine on the winning goal for Canada next week?
The 4 Nations Faceoff features NHL players from only four countries. It’s putting a hold on NHL playoff races just when they’re heating up — almost all of its predecessors (and probably the next World of Hockey in 2028) were played in September. This tournament has just seven games, all in Montreal or Boston. Hockey with feeling, or with the indifference of an All-Star Game?
Reports indicate ticket sales are moderate, despite the TV hype by players who are keen to wear their country’s colours, some for the first time. The 4 Nations players are excited. The Tkaczuk brothers are excited about playing together. Crosby is excited about re-creating his Olympic gold goal from 13 years ago.
The league is trumpeting it as “the best of the NHL” even though you won’t see Alex Ovechkin, Nikita Kucherov or Andrei Vasilevskiy, who are Russian. Or David Pastrnak or Thomas Hertl, who are Czech. Or Tim Stutzle, who is German, or Roman Josi, who is Swiss. Of 11 series since 1972, this is the first without Russia, always the main adversary.
Are the 80 NHL players likely to display the intensity, the desperation, that drove Team Canada in 1972? What may be missing this week and next is passion…for the players, but also the fans.
Ho-hum?
