How important is Thursday night’s 4 Nations Face-Off matchup between the United States and Canada? According to Team USA’s Matthew Tkachuk, it’s bigger than Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. In a pregame interview on Sportsnet, Tkachuk spoke about the significance of the tournament. “It’s been absolutely incredible the impact that this tournament and that this team’s had on the whole country,” he said. “And I don’t think people really realize it yet. Everybody’s, you know, locking eyes on this tournament, really and you know, kind of fallen in love with it and fallen in love with this team and the way we play and the competitiveness, the fun and the energy. Once we beat Canada, we knew that we were gonna play them again in the finals. We knew there was gonna be a rematch. “So I can tell you that every single person I’ve talked to is so jacked up for this game,” he continued. “And we are, as well. Like, this is an opportunity of a lifetime for us. I’ve played in some really big games. And this is the biggest one.”
Matthew Tkachuk, who played in (and won) Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2024, on tonight’s USA-Canada Final.
“Every single person I’ve talked to is so jacked up for this game…I’ve played in some really big games, and this is the biggest one.”pic.twitter.com/Q7XQoboTwo
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 21, 2025
These comments are similar to ones made by P.K. Subban, who compared the 4-Nations Face-Off to the Stanley Cup Final. However, there are two critical differences: one, Subban works for the network broadcasting the game, so he’s naturally going to talk it up; and two, Tkachuk won Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals with the Florida Panthers. For a hockey player, it’s hard to get more significant than that. While it would be one thing if we were discussing an Olympic Final (and NHL players will participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics), this is the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off. The fact that Tkachuk spoke so highly about a tournament with no history before this year illustrates the tremendous impact it has made in a short time frame.
