4 Nations Face-Off

[Hongbit]

So it doesn’t get lost in the catch all thread.    Tourney starts on February 12th and will replace the All-Star game this year.

Swedes and Finns named their stacked rosters today.     

 

[Hongbit]

Sweden looks amazing.  They may be the favorite.    Canada without a reliable goalie may only be the 3rd best team.     US & Canada will release later tonight.

Edited December 4, 2024 by Hongbit

[buddha]

too bad the russians cant play.

[lordstanley]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

too bad the russians cant play.

Yep, to me it’s not an international tournament without the Russians. I have little interest in this. 

[Hongbit]

Canada roster looking old. 

[Hongbit]

How and why Vincent Trocheck and Brock Nelson are on this roster and Tage Thompson, Clayton Keller, and Cole Caufield at home.  

Still a strong enough roster to scare Canadians into pretending not to care.   

[Hongbit]

17 hours ago, lordstanley said:

Yep, to me it’s not an international tournament without the Russians. I have little interest in this. 

I absolutely understand your sentiment.  

In a fantasy world, the Russians need to be involved for a true best of best tournament.     

In our current world,  the Russians are not accepted on the global stage for various political reasons.    

I’d rather have a very competitive international tournament in place of a boring all-star game.  I’d especially hate that reason we would be deprived is due to anything having to do with the Russian leader. 

[lordstanley]

Where have you gone, Yvan Cournoyer? Tidbit of note from the article: "The top Canadian goalie in the NHL so far this year is Detroit’s Cam Talbot, 37, of Caledonia, Ontario, who has a .915 save percentage in 15 games"

https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/nhl/cult-of-hockey/politics-factored-into-quebec-goalie-getting-picked-for-team-canada-nhl-insider-says

Politics factored into Quebec goalie getting picked for Team Canada, NHL insider says

Edited December 5, 2024 by lordstanley

[lordstanley]

28 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

I absolutely understand your sentiment.  

In a fantasy world, the Russians need to be involved for a true best of best tournament.     

In our current world,  the Russians are not accepted on the global stage for various political reasons.    

I’d rather have a very competitive international tournament in place of a boring all-star game.  I’d especially hate that reason we would be deprived is due to anything having to do with the Russian leader. 

My daughter is in her freshman year at McGill in Montreal. I'll visit her at some point between January-March. Tickets for the Wednesday Canada-Sweden opener are somewhat reasonable, around C$250 to get in the door. Canada-U.S. on the Saturday less so. I think I'd rather one of those games over a regular season Habs game.

[buddha]

anything beats the all star game.

[Hongbit]

Walled Lake’s finest will be the starter in the pipes for USA. 

[Hongbit]

I’m sure the players don’t really care but beating USA has probably taken a little more importance with many Canadian fans.    

[buddha]

7 hours ago, Hongbit said:

I’m sure the players don’t really care but beating USA has probably taken a little more importance with many Canadian fans.    

think about how much the us will dominate this competition when canada is the 51st state!

[lordstanley]

On 2/8/2025 at 3:21 PM, buddha said:

think about how much the us will dominate this competition when canada is the 51st state!

You can have Quebec. Their only rep on Team Canada is 3rd string goalie Sam Montembault of the Habs. 
 

Quinn Hughes out of the tournament. 

[buddha]

4 minutes ago, lordstanley said:

You can have Quebec. Their only rep on Team Canada is 3rd string goalie Sam Montembault of the Habs. 
 

Quinn Hughes out of the tournament. 

we'll take alberta, saskatchewan, and manitoba.  they seem like the provinces most likely to like trump.  and that's where the oil is.  

quebec becomes their own country.

ontario, pei, and bc can continue to live free!

[lordstanley]

2 minutes ago, buddha said:

we'll take alberta, saskatchewan, and manitoba.  they seem like the provinces most likely to like trump.  and that's where the oil is.  

quebec becomes their own country.

ontario, pei, and bc can continue to live free!

Take the north  too -Yukon, NWT and Inavut. Few people, tons of resources we’ve been too lazy to uncover. A great April Fool’s prank years ago was a planted story about Taiwan delegation showing up in Whitehorse with all-cash offer .  

[Hongbit]

 

 

Edited February 10 by Hongbit

[buddha]

wings getting a little disrespect with those line pairings.  especially raymond.

[lordstanley]

National anthems of the Soviet Union and O Canada by the incomparable Roger Doucet. I guess the Soviets were allowed to play the 1972 Summit Series because their leaders were kind-hearted and peace-loving back then.

[buddha]

all due respect to finland, its just not the same without the russians involved.

[slothfacekilla]

JT Miller being the third line center instead of Larkin is insanity lol

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, slothfacekilla said:

JT Miller being the third line center instead of Larkin is insanity lol

Everyone in the NHL loves JT - even one of the Elias Petterssons, just not both.....

[Hongbit]

Sweden and Canada kick it off tonight.

In a slight surprise, Jordan Binnington is the first to take his chances as Canada’s top goalie.  Adin Hill will backup. Minnesota Wild’s Filip Gustavsson gets the nod over Linus Ullmark for the Tre Kroner. 

Lucas is +380 to score tonight.   Will be interesting to see if he’s on PP2 or not. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hongbit]

Bettman also said at least 8 teams will take part.  That would be good news for the possibility of a Russian team.

[slothfacekilla]

Go Sweden!