The confrontation of the 4 nations will finish exactly the way in which the National Hockey League wrote: a final of the United States-Canada.
The two teams fought on Saturday in what was their first meeting in the best format in nine years, and a hoarse crowd in Montreal which hué “The Star-Spangled Banner” was fought immediate with three fights in the nine first seconds, including two in the first three.
Rivalry extends over a lot of time, but with political tensions between the two countries, it is now warmer than ever.
Before diving into the final of Thursday evening, take a look at a part of the history of rivalry and the way we arrived where we are today.
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Canada Brandon Hagel, on the left, fights Matthew Tkachuk in the United States during the first period of the match confronted from the 4 nations in Montreal on Saturday. (Graham Hughes / Canadian Press via AP)
The juniors of the world have been more beautiful for the Americans in recent years: each of the last four games of the gold medal between the two countries went to the Americans, more recently in 2021. However, it is the big leagues.
The very first meeting between the two countries in the best format was back at the 1976 Canada Cup, which Team Canada won, 4-2; The Americans did not win their first victory over their northern neighbors before the 1996 Hockey World Cup after losing seven of their first eight meetings and attached in the other.
The United States has won this year’s World Cup, winning the best three series against Canada, but since then it has been Canadian domination.
By entering the confrontation of the 4 nations, Canada went 6-1 against the Americans from 1998 to 2016, and three of these victories were absolutely intestinal in the United States.
Canada won the 2002 Olympic gold medal in Salt Lake City on the Americans, but more famous, the gold goal of Sidney Crosby eight years later also came to the detriment of the American team in front of a crowd of Vancouver.
Canada striker Sidney Crosby scores the winning winning goal against the United States during the Men’s Hockey Hockey Medal match at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. (Kyle Terada-USA today Sports)
Four years later, Canada again beat the United States in the Olympic semi-finals. The only victory in the United States in the aforementioned period occurred during the 2010 Olympic Games group game, and their last meeting before last week was a 4-2 Canada victory at the 2016 Hockey World Cup in Toronto. So, it’s been a good time that the stars and stripes have had boastful rights.
The best players in the countries, however, would be on break after problems with NHL, planning, travel and COVVI-19. But a year ago, the NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the new confrontation of the 4 nations was born and that the NHL players would return to the Olympic Games in 2026 and 2030.
A certain skepticism came to the approach of this tournament, however: “Will this tournament be wrong. Will players will care about it? And if there is an injury like Edwin Diaz in the World Baseball Classic?”
But that leads us to the present day, where almost a decade of missed opportunity and a stormy political landscape have led the best rivalry to hockey to a new level, and that criticism is no longer.
USA, Canada Hockey Stars who fought to throw subtle blows before the 4 nations final
From this month, in response to the imminent prices of President Donald Trump against Canada on goods, Canadian crowds hoked the United States national anthem at sporting events in which an American team goes. Last Thursday, when Team USA played his first game of the 4 nations against Finland, we would have thought that the match was played abroad, even if he was in Montreal.
Players and fans represent the US national anthem before the first period of the 4 nations game match between Canada and the United States in Montreal on Saturday. (Christinne Muschi / Canadian Press via AP)
Quick advance until Saturday evening, when the noisy crowd hué “The Star-Spangled Banner” all along, then gloves were abandoned just during the opening game between American star Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel from Team Canada. During the next game, Matthew’s brother Brady fought Sam Bennett, who is a teammate with Matthew for the Florida panthers. Then, six seconds later, after a goalkeeper stop, JT Miller launched his hands with Colton Parayko.
The already electric crowd was on fire, and even more when Connor McDavid of Canada opened the scoring in the first period. However, the defense of the American team arose and the Americans scored three goals unanswered to win their first victory against Canada in almost 15 years. The game has collected an average of 4.4 million viewers, the most watched Non Stanley Cup hockey match since 2019.
The United States players celebrate after defeating Canada during the 4 nations game match in Montreal on Saturday. (Graham Hughes / Canadian Press via AP)
Now, the two teams will come back, this time in Boston for the warmest ticket in the city. The price of the damage is more than $ 1,000, it is the game of the season sanctioned by the best -selling NHL, and fans of 28 countries buy tickets for the show.
The United States team has not won a consecutive competition against Canada since this 1996 series. In total, Canada has a 13-4-1 record on the Americans, but the game final on Thursday 4 nations can just be worth 10 points.
The washer falls to TD Garden at 8 p.m. he.
