The 4 Nations Face-Off () was an international ice hockey tournament held from February 12 to 20, 2025. The games were played in Montreal at the Bell Centre and in Boston at TD Garden. Hosted by the National Hockey League (NHL) and featuring only NHL players, the 4Nations Face-Off temporarily replaced the NHL's annual All-Star Game for 2025. In the tournament, teams representing Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States played each other in a round-robin format, followed by a one-game final between the two top-placed teams. Although each team's respective national ice hockey governing body selected the rosters, the tournament was an NHL-only event, not affiliated with the International Ice Hockey Federation.
Canada won the tournament after defeating the United States 3–2 in overtime of the final. Reactions to the tournament from sports journalists were positive and the tournament was viewed as a welcome change from the All-Star Game format.
Background
The 4 Nations Face-Off was announced at a press conference at the 2024 NHL All-Star Game on February 2, 2024, by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. Also present at the press conference were NHL Players' Association (NHLPA) executive director Marty Walsh and four NHL players: Connor McDavid (Canada), Sebastian Aho (Finland), Elias Pettersson (Sweden), and Auston Matthews (United States).
At the press conference, Bettman announced plans for NHL participation in international best-on-best tournaments in coming years. In 2025, players would participate in the 4Nations Face-Off, a tournament between NHL players representing Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States, which would be held in lieu of the 2025 NHL All-Star Game. Bettman stated that NHL players would play in the 2026 and 2030 Winter Olympics, after they had not been released for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments. Bettman also stated the league would host the next World Cups of Hockey in 2028 and 2032; the most recent edition was held in 2016.
+Men's top 10 IIHF rankings as of May 2023RankChange*TeamPoints1 141502 1408034050439405 438356 13800737758 237359 1369010 13610
At the time of the tournament's announcement, all participating teams were ranked in the top six by ice hockey's worldwide governing body, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF): Canada (1), Finland (2), United States (4), and Sweden (6). Germany, while ranked fifth, did not have enough NHL players to create a roster. Though they had enough NHL players to create a roster, Russia and Czechia—ranked third and eighth, respectively—were not included in the tournament, with Russia specifically excluded due to the ban imposed on it by the IIHF for the ongoing war in Ukraine. Czech forward David Pastrňák called the omission of Czechia a "huge disappointment", though he said he understood there was limited time to organize the tournament. In early reporting on the tournament's format, journalist Greg Wyshynski wrote that the competition could not be considered best-on-best due to the omission of players from other ice hockey powers.
The tournament took place among heightened political tensions between Canada and the United States due to American president Donald Trump's call for annexing Canada and plan to impose tariffs on the country. Before the final, Trump posted on Truth Social stating he would be calling the United States team and that "[Canada] will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important, Fifty First State". After Canada beat the United States in the final, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted "You can't take our country – and you can't take our game". Before Canada's round-robin game against the United States in Montreal, fans booed the American anthem, which was responded to with fans booing the Canadian anthem in the final in Boston. Anthem singer Chantal Kreviazuk changed one of the lines of the Canadian anthem to sing "that only us command" instead of "in all of us command" in response to Trump's annexation rhetoric. Following the game, tournament MVP Nathan MacKinnon stated "A lot of stuff going on with Canada and the USA right now, and us playing against each other was kind of a perfect storm for our sport. It was much more popular than even we would have imagined. It was getting so much attention from our whole continent." Canada's coach Jon Cooper stated "I just hope Canada’s proud, because every player in that room is proud to be a Canadian, and yeah, did we need a win, not only like our team, but Canada needed a win. The players beared that on their shoulders and they took it seriously. This one was different, this wasn't a win for themselves, this was a win for 40+ million people and the guys knew it and they delivered." The political tension in the tournament between the United States and Canada was compared to the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union.
Venues The league did not initially announce the tournament venues, but stated that there would be two: one in Canada and one in the United States. The league confirmed on June 8, 2024, that the venues would be Bell Centre in Montreal and TD Garden in Boston, after months of reports by various media sources.
Montreal Boston Bell Centre TD Garden Capacity: 21,105 Capacity: 17,850
Format Two practice days, February10 and 11, were held prior to the tournament. From February12–20, seven total games were played. The tournament was held in a round-robin format. Each team played three games, and the two teams with the most points advanced to a one-game final.
Games were played on NHL-sized rinks, following NHL rules. For round-robin games, overtime was a 10-minute, 3-on-3 sudden-death period, followed by a three-round shootout. In the final, overtime was held in consecutive 20-minute, 5-on-5 sudden-death periods.
Tiebreakers Teams were ranked according to points earned (3 points for a regulation win, 2 points for an overtime or shootout win, 1 point for an overtime or shootout loss, 0 points for a regulation loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order: Head-to-head result (only if tie between two teams); Total regulation wins; Total regulation and overtime wins; Total goal difference; Total goals scored; Goal difference in games played between tied teams; Goals scored in games played between tied teams; Most even-strength goals for in games played between tied teams; Fewest even strength goals against in games played between tied teams.
Teams Teams consisted of 23 players: 20 skaters (forwards and defencemen) and 3 goaltenders. Players were selected by their respective governing bodies: Hockey Canada, the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association and USA Hockey. The tournament was restricted to players who have a 2024–25 NHL contract and were on an NHL roster as of December2, 2024. Because the NHL did not have an agreement directly with the IIHF for the 4Nations Face-Off (only an agreement with the governing bodies which are IIHF members), the tournament could not include non-NHL players.
On June 28, 2024, the NHL announced the first six players on each team's roster. The remaining players were announced on December4, with the complete rosters of Team Sweden and Team Finland announced at 2:00 p.m. ET on the NHL Network and ESPN's SportsCenter, and the complete rosters of Team USA and Team Canada announced at 6:30 p.m. during pregame broadcasts on Sportsnet, TNT, and TVA Sports. Initially, no players from the Seattle Kraken or Washington Capitals were selected to participate in the 4 Nations Face-Off; however, the Kraken gained a representative when they acquired Finland's Kaapo Kakko from the New York Rangers on December 18, 2024. About a week before the tournament, the San Jose Sharks lost their representation in the event by trading Finland's Mikael Granlund to the Dallas Stars, making the Capitals and the Sharks the only two teams to not appear in the event.
Canada In April 2024, it was announced that Don Sweeney and Jim Nill were appointed by Doug Armstrong as Canada's general manager and associate general manager, respectively. Both were also named assistant general managers for the 2026 Olympic team. On June 25, Jon Cooper was named Canada's head coach for both the 4 Nations Face-Off and 2026 Winter Olympics. Rick Tocchet, Bruce Cassidy, and Peter DeBoer joined Cooper as assistant coaches for the 4 Nations Face-Off. On December 4, 2024, the entire roster for Canada was released. On January 26, 2025, defenseman Alex Pietrangelo withdrew from the tournament; Drew Doughty was announced as his replacement on February 9. On January 30, 2025, Team Canada named Sidney Crosby as its team captain for the 4 Nations Face-Off, with Cale Makar and Connor McDavid serving as alternate captains. After an injury to Shea Theodore in Canada's first game, and Makar facing a potential absence due to illness, Thomas Harley was named as emergency alternate for Canada; after Makar was officially ruled out for Canada's second game, Harley formally joined the roster, playing for Canada against the United States. Brad Marchand served as alternate captain in the absence of Makar.
Head coach: Jon Cooper No.Pos.NameS/GBirthplaceBirthdateTeam 5 D L Abbotsford, British Columbia Colorado Avalanche 6 D L Elkhorn, Manitoba Philadelphia Flyers 8 D (A) R Calgary, Alberta Colorado Avalanche 9 F L Holland Landing, Ontario Florida Panthers 11 F R London, Ontario Philadelphia Flyers 13 F R North Vancouver, British Columbia Florida Panthers 16 F R Markham, Ontario Toronto Maple Leafs 21 F R Calgary, Alberta Tampa Bay Lightning 24 F R Winnipeg, Manitoba Carolina Hurricanes 27 D L Aldergrove, British Columbia Vegas Golden Knights 29 F R Halifax, Nova Scotia Colorado Avalanche 33 G L Comox, British Columbia Vegas Golden Knights 35 G L Bécancour, Quebec Montreal Canadiens 38 F L Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Tampa Bay Lightning 44 D L Calgary, Alberta Winnipeg Jets 48 D L Syracuse, New York Dallas Stars 50 G L Richmond Hill, Ontario St. Louis Blues 55 D R St. Albert, Alberta St. Louis Blues 61 F R Winnipeg, Manitoba Vegas Golden Knights 63 F (A) L Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia Boston Bruins 71 F L Woodbridge, Ontario Tampa Bay Lightning 87 F (C) L Halifax, Nova Scotia Pittsburgh Penguins 89 D R London, Ontario Los Angeles Kings 97 F (A) L Richmond Hill, Ontario Edmonton Oilers
Finland Jere Lehtinen was the general manager, and his assistants were Mikko Koivu and Jarmo Kekäläinen. Antti Pennanen was the head coach, and Tuomo Ruutu was the assistant coach. On December 4, 2024, the entire roster for Finland was released. On January 30, 2025, Aleksander Barkov was named captain for Team Finland; Sebastian Aho, Mikael Granlund, and Mikko Rantanen were named alternate captains. On the same day, defenceman Miro Heiskanen was ruled out of the tournament due to injury. On February 2, he and defenceman Jani Hakanpaa, who was also injured, were replaced by Urho Vaakanainen and Henri Jokiharju. On February 9, defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen was ruled out due to injury, and was replaced by Nikolas Matinpalo.
Head coach: Antti Pennanen