To say that the eyes of arguably two nations were set squarely on the ice at Boston’s TD Garden last night might be an understatement. After all, it’s not every day that an exhibition hockey game warrants the kind of attention from the leader of the free world, whose prior experience with ice was likely limited to its utility in a glass of Diet Coke, that THE SPORTING NEWS’ Daniel Chavkin shared:
The 4 Nations Face-Off has exploded beyond just the hockey community, with Team USA’s success reaching the most powerful person in the country.
Americans all over the country have come together to root for their club in this tournament, leading Team USA general manager Bill Guerin to ask President Donald Trump to attend the final. While Trump was unable to be at the game, he did call the team earlier in the day to wish them good luck.
While speaking with Team USA over the phone, Trump explained how proud the country was of them and joked that there was “no pressure” during the game. “I just want to wish you a lot of luck. You really are a skilled group of people. It’s an honor to talk to you,” he said. “There’s no pressure whatsoever.”
Much like a lot of what eminates from his yap these days, the post that accompanied this gesture belied any concept of “no pressure”, which (natch) the NEW YORK POST’s Ethan Sears and Mollie Walker provided their its slightly biased readership:
“I’ll be calling our GREAT American Hockey Team this morning to spur them on towards victory tonight against Canada, which with FAR LOWER TAXES AND MUCH STRONGER SECURITY, will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important, Fifty First State,” Trump wrote. “I will be speaking before the Governors tonight in D.C., and will sadly, therefore, be unable to attend. But we will all be watching, and if Governor Trudeau would like to join us, he would be most welcome. Good luck to everybody and have a GREAT game tonight. So exciting!”
Well, assuming he actually watched a second of the game, as all indications are that a plurality of both countries’ TV audiences did, he would have actually seen an absolute classic, as BLEACHER REPORT’s Lyle Fitzsimmons detailed:
It was a great day—a great several days, actually—for hockey. It was so great that even the talk-show side of ESPN acknowledged the sport’s existence alongside its typically exhaustive coverage of the NFL and NBA. And boy, did the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off make it worthwhile.
The round-robin event wound its way through six skill-sopped games before concluding with an overtime classic at TD Garden in Boston, where Team Canada seized bragging rights and a shiny trophy with a 3-2 defeat of Team USA.
And as Fitzsimmons continued, it was poetic justice that that result ensued from the effort of a couple of Canadian superstars who admittedly have seen better days who rose to the occasion:
There aren’t many items remaining on Connor McDavid’s punch list. But he took care of a big one on Thursday night, scoring the tournament-winning overtime goal in his first big moment with a Maple Leaf crest on his sweater.
It was a fitting torch-pass from veteran legend and team captain Sidney Crosby, whose OT winner clinched gold in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
McDavid had been invisible for much of the game and mishandled the puck on several occasions in the offensive zone. However, the 28-year-old made no mistake on the decisive sequence, when Cale Makar kept the puck in at the blue line and sent it to Mitch Marner, who found McDavid in the slot for the one-timer that beat Connor Hellebuyck.
“It’s not an Olympic gold but it means the world to our group. It was special,” McDavid said. “I was not very good all night. All that was going through my mind was ‘Just keep going.'”
McDavid took full opportunity to recapture the spotlight that his American counterpart helped usurp during Saturday night’s preliminary round win that undoubtedly will be recommended as some sort of an alibi for the U.S. defying the wishes of our self-anointed king:
Sometimes one man’s malady is another man’s, or another team’s, miracle. A case can be made for that conclusion when it comes to Team USA spark plug Matthew Tkachuk, who was clearly compromised by what was reported as a groin injury and didn’t see the ice down the stretch of the third period or in OT.
The blood-and-guts winger was a Cup winner with the Florida Panthers last summer, and the infectious grit provided by him and younger brother Brady created issues for the Canadians and all other opponents during the tournament. Even the most ardent Team Canada supporter would likely concede that if Tkachuk had played, particularly in overtime, things might have been different.
At least one such supporter publicly held back such objectivity and used his own social media pulpit to respond to the day’s trolling, as USA TODAY’s Jace Evans reported:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a victory lap on social media after Canada defeated the USA in the final of the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament.
Trudeau took to X, formerly Twitter, shortly after three-time NHL MVP Connor McDavid gave Canada a 3-2 overtime victory in Boston. “You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game,” Trudeau wrote.
So what’s next in what is now shaping up as an epic rivalry? Well, first there’s the balance of the NHL regular season, which kicks up tomorrow. Quick reminder: if the current standings and chalk hold up throughout it and the first three playoff rounds, the Stanley Cup could feature the team representing the “51st State”‘s smallest city–the Winnipeg Jets–and a team that plays within waddling distance of the White House, the Washington Capitals. Which, as we know, is led by one Alex Ovechkin, a proud son of Mother Russia. That fact certainly has to play well with America’s newest fan.
And while there will not be a 2026 4 Nations Face-Off there is looming the delicious possibility of yet another rematch between these countries at next winter’s Olympics in Milan. That’s certainly an attractive venue for Trump, if for no other reason than Melania and her entourage can shop ’til they drop while Fearless Leader gets up to snuff on what a face-off actually is. The folks at NBC are already literally salivating at the possibility.
Unless, of course, neither they nor Canada is around in its current form a year from now. You never know how these volatile fans might react in the wake of a loss.
Courage…