Your humble narrator paid little attention to the 2016 World Cup of Hockey because I was in Italy and eating my way through that country. So perhaps I am not as excited about the newest incarnation: 4 Nations Face-Off.
Back in 2016, you could invite Russia to a hockey tournament. Now, we have Canada, Sweden, Finland, and the United States.
The Bell Centre in Montréal hosts the preliminary games (all times Eastern):
February 12 Canada vs. Sweden, 8p
February 13 United States vs. Finland, 8p
February 15 Finland vs. Sweden, 1p // United States vs. Canada, 8p
The squads move on to Boston:
February 17 Canada vs. Finland, 1p // Sweden vs. United States, 8p
February 20 Championship Game, 8p
Rogers Sportsnet and TVA will cover the games in Canada. As for the U.S. television rights: TNT — February 12, February 17 (both); ESPN — February 13, February 20; ABC — February 15 (both).
The points are divvied up this way: 3 points for a win in regulation time; 2 points for a win in overtime/shootout; 1 point for a loss in overtime/shootout; and 0 points for a loss in regulation time. The teams with the best tournament record play in the final.
The overtime format will be 3-on-3 sudden death for a 10-minute period followed by a three-round shootout. The overtime format in the final will be full strength sudden death through successive 20-minute periods until a team scores.
We are not big Brad Marchand fans but we liked what he said about playing a game in Montréal where he doesn't get booed.
NHL notebook: Hockey Day in Canada comes to Canmore, Alberta on Saturday
The 4 Nations Face-Off is in lieu of an All-Star Game. Most NHL players get a considerable break to heal physically or spend time with their families or even both. The tournament leaves out some prominent NHL stars, such as Alex Ovechkin (Russia), Leon Draisaitl (Germany), and David Pastrňák (Czechia).
The Montréal Canadiens get in their Super Bowl weekend matinees before the break: New Jersey (Saturday) and Tampa Bay (Sunday). Under the old contract, CBC would show both matinees to a national audience.
The NHL Network shows the Super Bowl Sunday matinee this season but with its own crew.
There will be no NHL games from February 10 (day after the Super Bowl) through February 21, resuming on Saturday, February 22. All the Canadian teams start up on February 22 except for the Calgary Flames that start up on February 23.
What should CBC show on Saturday nights during the next NHL contract?
Rogers Sportsnet is covering the tournament and doesn't have to simulcast the U.S. Canada game on February 15. We used that as a jumping off point for the future of CBC on Saturday nights.
This is great news for NHL and hockey fans and also wonderful for a surprisingly unusual group of people: NHL team owners. We have had our disputes with Gary Bettman over his hatred of Canada and disregard for tradition in a number of areas.
The money the league and its owners lost on the Coyotes (Arizona or Phoenix). The TV ratings in the desert were truly terrible. Even in Winnipeg, the team would have made a lot more money for the league and its owners.
Imagine if the Quebec Nordiques stayed in La Belle Province and the Colorado Avalanche became the expansion team instead of the Atlanta Thrashers (1999–2011). Again, more lost money for the league and its owners.
Bettman's deliberate attack on getting rid of the WHA teams that he could eliminate (i.e., not the Edmonton Oilers) also meant the transfer of the Hartford Whalers to auto racing country in North Carolina. The issue with the Whalers was partially a conflict with the Boston Bruins. The league should have considered building more neighborly rivalries such as a Milwaukee franchise to have a rivalry with Chicago and give the league another Western team. Kansas City and Houston made more sense than Atlanta and Arizona. Bettman's incompetence isn't just about Canada.
Lost momentum due to a lost season (2004–2005) and 2 severely shortened seasons (1994–1995) and (2012–2013) not because of a pandemic. The pettiness over lost Olympics opportunities because of Bettman's ego.
Sorry. Got distracted. Let's get to some nuts and bolts.
Bettman would like to be there for the new Canadian TV deal in 2026. The CBA (collective bargaining agreement) is set to expire on September 15, 2026. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman pointed out that "the last time Bettman got a deal done without a lockout or COVID disruption was right before the 1998 Nagano Winter Games because the players 'wanted to go to the Olympics without a problem.'" What terrible incompetence!!
We might not even get a new Heritage Classic until after Bettman retires. Bettman turns 73 in June. Bettman has served as commissioner of the NHL since 1993.
Current deputy commissioner Bill Daly (61 in May) might serve as a short-term option, especially if Bettman's health wouldn't allow him to make it to 2026. Some of the internal names tossed around include Steve McArdle, Keith Wachtel, Steve Mayer, and Julie Grand.
There is the thought of Steve Yzerman for the next commissioner. Yzerman has 3 advantages in my book: former player, not a Bettman yes-man, and an actual Canadian. There are self-hating Canadians but a Canadian to fix the ills of the way the NHL treats Canada would be a much needed fresh start.
The only American who seems to hate Canada more than Gary Bettman is the petulant toddler (whom we shall not name). The next NHL commissioner should respect Canada a lot more because, not to be greedy, but the league makes more money when Canada is treated with respect.
Gary Bettman has informed the NHL he intends to retire as league commissioner in a "couple of years" 😮👀
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) January 24, 2025
(via The Athletic) pic.twitter.com/yKIsF967bz
Seems a bit odd for an active NHL player to own a minor league team. Then again, we are talking about Zach Hyman, who isn't the typical NHL player.
Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer sold the Brantford (Ontario) Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) to a group led by Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman.
The team relocated from Hamilton to Brantford in 2023 over disagreements between the city and the team about renovations at First Ontario Centre, the former Copps Coliseum.
The Ottawa Senators made a splash with an announcement that Quebec City will be part of their training camp next season.
Senators owner Michael Andlauer said the team will play 2 preseason games at Centre Videotron as well as holding public practices and community initiatives during a 4-day stay in Quebec City. The Sens will host New Jersey on September 28 and the rivals from Montréal on September 30.
The Los Angeles Kings drew good crowds to Centre Videotron for preseason games against Boston and Florida last fall.
Andlauer took things further by suggesting the team play regular season games in Quebec City. "We'll start with the two preseason games and we'll go from there. For me, that's the vision. If we can play in Sweden, we can play in Quebec."
This also may be a ploy against the National Capital Commission (NCC), which is taking its sweet time (right now, end of 2025) to make a deal for the land at LeBreton Flats for a new downtown arena for the Senators.
Quebec City also doesn't have a PWHL team yet the Ottawa Charge and Montréal Victoire drew more than 18,000 fans to Centre Videotron on January 19.
Quebec City is in the Senators TV region as is the Habs TV region. This is the point we were making earlier about close by rivals adding energy to the league. The region can easily handle 3 teams.
January 31: Vancouver traded J.T. Miller along with Erik Brannstrom and Jackson Dorrington to the New York Rangers for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and a 2025 1st round pick (Top 13 protected). No salary retained on Miller.
The Canucks then traded forwards Danton Heinen and Melvin Fernstrom, defenceman Vincent Desharnais, and that draft pick just acquired from the Rangers for defenceman Marcus Pettersson and forward Drew O'Connor.
Pettersson and O'Connor are unrestricted free agents after the season. As far as we know, Elias Pettersson and Marcus Pettersson are not related.
Editor's note: We wrote this before the J.T. Miller deal. We knew there would be a terrible deal since, well, we have covered the NHL for a long time. Ugh.
We feel like some NHL championship teams have had teammates who don't like each other and yet they still win. Canadian teams seem to have more drama (Canadians pronounce it draaamuh while Americans say drah-ma) with forced trade than American teams.
The Vancouver Canucks had to deal with the "battle" between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson and the potential trade talks with Miller going very far east. Vancouver traded Bo Horvat mid-season (to the New York Islanders) about a year ago. Miller was some of that reason.
The Canucks salvaged something from the deal with the first-round draft pick dealt to Detroit for defenseman Filip Hronek. Vancouver got very little from Anthony Beauvillier while he wore a Canucks sweater and subsequently in trading him. Aatu Raty is a very much maybe even now. NHL trades, midseason or otherwise, don't usually work out for the team forced to deal.
(If you want to learn more about the unique Canadian pronunciation, check out this CBC News article and the Standard Canadian English Wikipedia page. A lot more than just a-boot vs. about.)
Blaming journalists is not my scene yet I do wonder if there was less draaamuh about Canadian teams in the Canadian press, the teams might do better and players might feel more comfortable playing for a Canadian team. Not like too many people care about NHL drah-ma in Sunrise/Miami or Raleigh.
NHL notebook: Kenzie Lalonde is the first female play by play person for TSN
NHL notebook: First look at Monday Night Hockey on Prime Video Canada
You got 2 of the most interesting and explosive offenses in the @NHL. Perfect timing for the @NHLNetwork except it is too afraid to show most all-Canadian matchups. https://t.co/YtHsa8sXs6
— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) February 1, 2025
The NHL Network has odd rigid rules where Canadian teams are involved. The channel is "allowed" to show Toronto vs. Montréal but rarely shows other all-Canadian matchups on Saturday nights.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were in Ottawa on January 25, Edmonton on February 1, and Vancouver on February 8. The U.S. channel showed New Jersey at the Habs (January 25) and Winnipeg at Washington (February 1). The NHL Network is showing women's hockey early on February 8 and not even showing a late game.
The NHL Network also isn't showing any Amazon Prime Video Canada feeds on Monday night games, no matter how ridiculous that looks.
Hoping that the channel is more open to all-Canadian matchups under a new commissioner. Auston Matthews vs. Connor McDavid would be a reason to jump to carry a game but not the NHL Network. Thank goodness for ESPN+.
2024-2025 NHL preview: Cutting back significantly on our NHL coverage
2024 NHL preseason schedule
The crowd at the #Sens game in Ottawa boo’s the U.S. National anthem. Then belts out the Canadian anthem. Tariffs related? #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/M6Zv2EXVpE
— Claire Hanna (@clahanna) February 2, 2025
We covered this topic a bit on Tuesday in wake of the tariffs, which are almost certainly coming. Canadians have shown at times to sing the U.S. anthem and get all the words correctly and sing that without music. Most Americans can't get past O Canada.
Your humble narrator has a thick enough skin to handle the booing of the U.S. anthem at NHL (and even the Raptors in the NBA) games. The idiots in Nashville, when Ottawa was in town, should know if you are the aggressors, you don't get to boo the retaliation. Canada could have said "do something about the guns coming into Canada" or we will have a tariff. Then again, Justin Trudeau isn't a petulant toddler.
CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage
Difficult to know how viable a Jonathan Toews comeback is, given Toews' significant health issues. While he spent his entire NHL career (so far) in Chicago, Toews would look good in the hometown sweater of the Winnipeg Jets.
Toews may not play for any team this year. Still something nice to think about.
Claude Giroux did this in Ottawa. Stanley Cup experience is something Winnipeg can always use down the stretch and into the postseason chase for the elusive Stanley Cup.
Would make a wonderful story if that happens.
photo credits: NHL; The Athletic; Instagram senstalk; NHL
Twitter capture: @GinoHard_; @canadian_xing; @clahanna
