It’s been a great week for the city. And as we now turn to the outlook of no football on the horizon for the next 200 days or so, it’s clear that we will need to fill that void for hard hits, exhilarating plays, and the passion for sport that this city is known for… Allow me to recommend a crazy concept to some of you, hockey is still here: the Four Nations Face Off!
Embracing Hockey Post-Football Season
Look, I know most of you will shift to watching meaningless spring training baseball, and I’ve never understood you and probably never will. And don’t take that as me saying I don’t like the Phils, I love baseball, but for the next 6 weeks I’ll be tuned into a season that is still meaningful, and specifically Thursday night there’s going to be a game played that will be the most significant “All-Star” game in the modern era, The Four Nations Face Off Championship, The US vs Canada for international supremacy as we have NHL players back in next years Olympics for the first time in a decade.
Now, with all that being said this is not going to be a Flyers piece, those will be coming fast and furious from now until mid-April. This morning I am going to recap what you missed in this tournament and why Thursday night is must-see TV (don’t sue me NBC).
Thus far the play has been physical and no one was entirely sure of whether the players would play with that violent edge in what has essentially been an All-Star tournament. But that all went out the window in the first period of the first game as Sweden and Canada beat the tar out of each other en route to a 4-3 Canada win in OT.
Then Saturday night happened:
Three fights in the first 9 seconds:
Three fights in what is an exhibition game. That game Saturday night was a perfect performance by the States and the game was an instant classic, if you missed it, you don’t have any excuse to miss the rematch Thursday night for the whole shebang. Both teams are a little banged up, but that’s hockey, you go ‘til you can’t go anymore.
Flyers’ Samuel Ersson Shines in Net
As the round-robin play wrapped up last evening, the Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson had a beauty of a game that saw him save 32 of 33 shots for a .970 save percentage and lead Sweden to the W against the stacked States squad. Now the game itself was of no consequence since Canada and the US had already punched their tickets to the ‘ship game on Thursday night. But the game was still played full-force and this is the kind of breakout performance that establishes him as a potential Olympian (and gives him future trade value…).
This tournament has changed All-Star breaks forever, and unfortunately, the NHL can’t go back to a skills competition and worthless weekend now. These games matter, and while the risk of stars being injured before the stretch run is present—it has already happened to Shea Theodore, amongst others—the ratings and publicity are huge for the fourth major sport in the States.
So for the rest of you looking for something to fill that football void, welcome to the new Golden Age of hockey. Ferda.
Have you been watching the Four Natiosn Games? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, BlueSky, or TikTok. Email us at [email protected] and we’ll share the story on the show. Join our Discord for further discussion with the GENY community!