On Saturday Night, Four Nations Went Up to Eleven

What a day of hockey

We’ve all been conditioned to be cynical about novelty NHL games. The All-Star game and skills bonanza feel more forced each year, with the league having to outright threaten players with suspensions if they don’t show up and do their time. The shootout wore thin to the point where this latest event features a soft tryout for extended overtimes to reduce shootouts even further.

And if you go back to 2016 and the World Cup of Hockey, even that was a bit of a letdown, with tons of players getting injured, and the final game featuring two cobbled-together groups, one of which was seen as the clear throw-in of the tournament in Team Europe.

So I don’t blame anyone who worried that this tournament might see some players being a little more cautious, given that it was in the middle of a season, and given how many injuries have been happening around the league as a result of the compressed schedule anyway.

But you know what? None of that mattered once the Four Nations started Facing Off on Wednesday, with Canada and Sweden ratcheting things up with a furious pace that sent the game to overtime despite Canada basically having the run of the ice for the entire first period. That was the sign that the players deeply cared about this tournament, from the top down. No quarter was given, and everyone was invested in a victory. When the best players in hockey (from these four countries, at least) show up to give it their best, everyone else is going to follow suit, and did they ever.

Thursday’s USA-Finland match was really fun for 40 minutes, with the Finns hanging on as long as they could, with basically Esa Lindell and a group of backup singers holding down the blue line until the USA finally overpowered them in the final period. But this tournament was always going to be all about Rivalry Saturday, which is to say today.

Hoo boy, did today deliver on even the loftiest promises, with two outstanding games. Just outstanding! And for a while this afternoon, I wasn’t sure how the second game would be able to top the first one, though of course it ended up doing that, and then some.

Finland vs. Sweden

I don’t know if any of you are history buffs, but really quickly: Finland vs. Sweden is a historic rivalry in which a special relationship was borne out of historic subjugation, making their now century-old alliance something of an analog to USA and Canada, whose alliance after the War of 1812 has been similarly special, despite the vast differences between the neighbors.

The Kingdom of Sweden ruled the area known as Finland for 700 years, until the Finnish War ended in 1809, when Sweden ceded Finland to the Russia Empire, and it wouldn’t be until another 100 years, when the Russian Revolution in 1917 went down, that Finland finally gained independence (despite persistent Russian efforts to retake Finland, including in the Winter War).

Finnish identity is something I wrote about back when I was there, but one thing you should always bear in mind: nobody knows where the names “Finland” or “Suomi” (the Finnish word for their own country) came from. In this one, weird way, Finland and Dallas are similar. Their identity is something felt, and sometimes stereotyped by outsiders, but not as easily articulated by those who live there. (What would you say it means to be a Dallas native?)

That identity, much of which is found in pride in accomplishment through hard work and persistence, was apparent everywhere I went, particularly in the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in Tampere, where I received a very interesting tour from a guide named Markus, who went to great pains to impart just how meaningful Finnish ice hockey victories over Sweden are. Sweden is something of the USA to Finland’s Canada, though in their case, Sweden was also historically much more successful at hockey, which would make them Canada to Finland’s, uh, USA, if the USA had the population of the metroplex. Maybe this analogy is not so good.

Yes, the two countries work very closely together now, and they even joined NATO within a year of each other in the wake of recent Russian aggression. They’re close allies in geopolitical terms, but in some ways, that only makes the Swedish superiority more aggravating to Finnish hockey fans. And besides, Finland have come on in recent decades, so the rivalry is much more even nowadays.

Finland are fiercely proud of what they accomplish despite their harsh climate and small population, and their hockey program is a great representation of that pride. What Finland has done, despite having to do more with less than any of the other big hockey superpowers, is extremely impressive. So you can bet that beating Sweden means a ton to them, as Esa Lindell himself said:

“It’s more personal, I feel, maybe because with the games through the years in the past, as well, against them, there’s been multiple tight games,” Finland defenseman Esa Lindell said. "And obviously I would say because they’re the country next to us. That adds up (to) extra tension against them.”

So to watch a depleted Finland lineup go out and defeat a team that had taken a superpower like Canada to overtime in Game 1? That was fantastic theatre.

It was a really great hockey game. Finland didn’t sit back and pray that goaltender Kevin Lankinen saved everything while his team hoped for a power play; they were pretty even on chances with Sweden throughout the game, and Finland nearly scored a fourth goal in the final period a couple of times, though doing so in overtime wasn’t too bad, either.

Esa Lindell played another 28 minutes, ho hum. Mikael Granlund and Roope Hintz were on a line together, with Hintz allegedly being moved back to center at one point per the broadcast, though I didn’t pick it up in the moment, to be honest. If that’s true, then it happened presumably because Finland saw the same thing we all did, with Hintz struggling to find the same level of impact in the tournament on the wing that he’s been bringing in Dallas at center. But even if he wasn’t the most effective player offensively, Hintz was very sturdy defensively, and on Team Finland, that counts for a lot.

Granlund has been one of Finland’s best forwards in both games so far. Don’t you just feel like he’s going to score a massive playoff goal this spring, at some point? Or at least, don’t you think that’s plausible, now that you’ve read the idea in writing?

Anyway, that game rocked. And a Finnish victory in overtime meant both teams had 2 points in the tournament with one game left to play. Would Canada stumble against the USA and also go into the final game of the round robin with just 2 points, setting up some complicated tiebreaking scenarios for nerds (read: me) to contemplate?

Ah, yes. Yes they would.

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USA vs. Canada

I don’t have much to say about the crowd booing the US anthem, other than the fact that I don’t think you can divorce the booing from the leader of the country being booed mocking Canada’s sovereignty with purported annexation and threatening significant tariffs when Canada’s economy is already quite fragile. If you want people to feel patriotic while the anthem is playing, then why on earth wouldn’t they also get their back up when they hear another anthem right before it from a country whose president belittles them in a time of international threats far more severe than a trade deficit?

In other words, you can’t use the anthem to summon respect and honor for those who have died for your nation, and then expect to see nations you’re openly hostile to showing that same respect. Patriotism goes both ways. It’s always pleasant when everyone’s civil, but of a head of state vs. a bunch of beer-drinking hockey fans, I don’t think the latter are the ones who ought to be shamed into civility, here. Your mileage may vary, it's just a hockey game.

I guess I do have much to say about the booing. But if a nation whose economy is already reeling has to stand and listen to their longtime ally’s anthem right after its leader is threatening to hurt their economy further, and their only response is to keep standing while some of them boo before sitting back down side-by-side at a sporting event? Well maybe that’s a testament to Canadian restraint more than incivility. Words mean things, and there’s a reason the best political leaders forge alliances rather than strain them. Frankly, I’ve seen much worse behavior during the US anthem by citizens of the USA than the booing in Montreal. Toughen up already.

In any case, the atmosphere made things extra tense, with PA announcer Michel Lacroix even imploring the crowd beforehand to show respect, to little effect on the crowd or the players, it turned out. Because the puck dropped, and this happened:

Three fights in nine seconds, with a power play for Canada coming out of the third one. It was unreal stuff, a throwback to the Canada Cup days. And before you knew it, each team had three players locked up for five minutes, and the crowd going bananas.

I don’t know if you’ve ever laughed out loud while watching a sporting event, but this was the type of game that merited it. Because this was just ridiculous, and glorious, because it was all of the things people hear hockey can be, but that it rarely is, nowadays.

The reason it worked so well, I think, is because these are all very good players who care about this game. It wasn’t performance art or staged fighting, but a statement. And then another, and oh yeah, one more for good measure because J.T. Miller gonna J.T. Miller, and darned if Coloton Parayko is gonna stand by and let him get away with that.

So the place was delirious, and finally, the hockey started for real. And then I couldn’t help but think how Thomas Harley must be feeling.

Oh right, Thomas Harley. So we’ve written in the last two days about how Team Canada has gone from telling Harley that “Hey, let’s maybe hang out when we’re both in Boston next week, huh?” to “Actually, lol I have a free ticket to Montreal, why don’t you come and just watch practice, nbd.” And then today, we finally found out it was a bona fide “hey, u prolly aren’t free, but wanna come over and play some hockey and chill” situation, with Cale Makar too ill to play, despite Jon Cooper’s confidence in his recovery as of yesterday. So much for Dr. Cooper, I guess.

So there Harley was, a 23-year-old defenseman drawing into the biggest international game for Canada in nearly a decade after getting a phone call while he was waiting to fly to Cabo with Wyatt Johnston (again, according to the broadcast). And then the game starts with the roof being lifted off Bell Centre while you look down the bench and see a trio of Hart Trophy winners in Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, and Nathan MacKinnon. No pressure, buddy.

And Harley did what he’s done all season, and went out and played defense like an world class musician playing Guitar Hero in a friend’s garage. Honestly, watch the highlights from his draft montage, and that’s the same player you saw tonight, only older (and even better).

The thing that surprised me the most about Harley’s game tonight was that Harley looked exactly like he’s looked in Dallas: activating at the right times, recovering when needed, and even laying big hits.

For instance, this one:

Harley even flew back down the opposite side of the ice to prevent a breakaway from turning into anything worse than one shot on Connor Hellebuyck, which is never more than mildly dangerous to begin with.

The SportsNet crew was giving him praise all night long for looking confident and steady, and honestly, he deserved every bit of it. Now it just remains to be seen what lengths Canada will go to in order to keep him in their lineup when Makar recovers. Because I don’t see any way they let him go if they have any choice in the matter.

As for the game, it featured about what you’d expect: a soft goal from Jordan Binnington on a Jake Guentzel shot through his five-hole, then some otherworldly stops by him later in the game, because he’s a goalie with a high ceiling and a shaky floor. Personally, I think Adin Hill is the better goalie on paper, but I’m not sure the recent version of Hill is still the Adin Hill we remember from two years ago, so maybe Binnington is the best option they’ve got.

You know, I’m starting to wonder if Canada might have a weakness in their goaltending depth. Somebody should look into that.

Still, Canada had a chance to grab this game. Connor McDavid scored a goal on a great pass from Drew Doughty that hit him in stride, after which McDavid split McAvoy and Werenski (I think McAvoy was too slow to recognize the danger) and beat Hellebuyck’s glove high with a backhand to make it 1-0. But Guentzel hit back not too long later to tie it up.

McAvoy was a force in this one when he did recognize danger, however. One such way he did that was in choosing not to spare Sidney Crosby on the power play, finishing him with a solid check after he bobbled a puck on the power play, then giving Crobsy (who is nursing a hand or arm injury of some kind) some extra business on the ice.

Oh, and McAvoy laid two good hits on Connor McDavid in the first period, too. Which is not something that happens to McDavid very often at all. It was that kind of a game, where everyone had to be prepared for huge hits, with even Drew Doughty getting absolutely leveled.

The big downer of this game was Matthew Tkachuk, who seemed to indicate some sort of leg injury in the third period, after which he didn’t take another shift. The speculation is a groin injury, and that’s always a safe bet in hockey. But we’ll see, as the USA is going to be cagey about it for as long as they can.

Auston Matthews, for my money, still doesn’t look like his old self either. He missed the net on a pretty great chance in the circle in the first period, with a lot of open twine staring him town. That’s not something I’m used to seeing from the player who looked like the world’s best goal-scorer for the last few years.

Still, it was the US’s persistence that took over the game, or at least that kept Canada from doing so. Nathan MacKinnon looked surprisingly toothless for much of this one, and Cooper was fiddling with the top six forwards all night in search of some way to get McDavid, MacKinnon or Crosby going. In the third period, for instance, Cooper put all three of them together, but to no avail. Canada just couldn’t get cooking, and that’s gotta be a concern for a team whose lineup really has become less than the sum of its parts.

Then again, maybe you just need to bring Cale Makar back in, and everything slots in nicely. I hear that losing your top defenseman can really make a team look different.

All told, Canada simply has to beat Finland in regulation on Monday, and they will face the USA in the final on Thursday. An overtime win could do it too, unless the US kicks back against Sweden and gives back some points, given that they’ve already clinched their own Final appearance.

You know, if Miro Heiskanen were healthy, the Stars would have all three of their top defensemen playing against each other in that game on Monday. That’d be something, eh? But I suppose we’ll have to settle for Esa Lindell vs. Thomas Harley, for all the marbles. That’s not bad theatre.

And neither was today, come to that. There is something so magical about seeing playoff intensity with All-Star rosters. A game like this forces every bit of excellence out of each play, with the smallest of margins and the least amount of space for every play. It is wickedly fast, but also dangerous, and glorious. The amount of casual “flick that puck out of the air” plays that happened was mesmerizing, and I really do think this might be the best game of the whole tournament, even if Canada and the USA face each other again on Thursday.

This game had that magic of the opening game of the playoffs, where coaches haven’t quite put the fear of death into all their players, and the adrenaline is overpowering. Something has to happen, and many things do. Players are out there to empty the tank every game, because this is what you’ve been waiting for.

Hockey needs to grow. The salary cap’s ballooning over the next few years should help, but the economics of the game in Canada are looking pretty precarious, too. I don’t know that you can just vault hockey into the top-three conversation overnight, but I do think the way to make new hockey fans is for them to see the best hockey you can put in front of them. And tonight, we saw that, at last.

The common refrain from players is that they’ve been looking forward to this sort of hockey for a long time. When it comes to the playoffs, players have usually been waiting 82 games, or maybe longer if their team hasn’t made it in recent years/is Buffalo. But with best-on-best, most of these players have been waiting their whole life, or at least nine years with the World Cup veterans. And to see it all play out the way it did was a treat far better than even the least cynical fan, or the most newly-mined one, could have expected.

Whatever else happens in this tournament, Saturday nights like these are gifts. The only proper way to respond to a gift is with gratitude and joy. So revel in this game, and the other game, too. We got to see the culmination of a lot of things today, and I don’t think a single person can be disappointed at the experience, even if they didn’t love the outcome.

Going to a hockey game in person is the best way to hook someone with the sport. There’s no doubt about that. The kinetic, brutal nature of the game is best experienced in person, when you can see the boards rattle and feels the goal horn’s soundwaves. But if you can’t do that—and it’s not like it’s cheap to do that!—then watching a game like this is the next-best thing. Even better, in some cases.