The NHL 4 Nations Face-Off is an ice hockey tournament scheduled to take place on February 12–20, 2025, 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 4 Nations Face-Off will replace the NHL's annual All-Star Game for 2025. In the tournament, teams representing Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States will play each other in a round-robin format, followed by a one-game final between the two top-placed teams.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host countries |  Canada United States |
| Venue(s) | |
| Dates | February 12–20, 2025 |
| Teams | 4 |
Background
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The NHL 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.[1] 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).[2]
At the press conference, Bettman announced plans for NHL participation in international "best-on-best" tournaments in coming years.[3][4] In 2025, players would participate in the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, a tournament between NHL players representing Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States. The NHL 4 Nations Faceoff would happen in lieu of the 2025 NHL All-Star Game.[5] Bettman stated that NHL players would play in the 2026 Winter Olympics and the 2030 Winter Olympics, after they had not been allowed to play in the 2018 Winter Olympics or the 2022 Winter Olympics.[1][3] Bettman also stated the league would host the next World Cups of Hockey in 2028 and 2032, with the most recent edition having been held in 2016.[3][6][7]
| Rank | Change* | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  1 | Canada | 4150 |
| 2 |  1 |  Finland | 4080 |
| 3 |  |  Russia | 4050 |
| 4 | | United States | 3940 |
| 5 | 4 |  Germany | 3835 |
| 6 | 1 |  Sweden | 3800 |
| 7 | |  Switzerland | 3775 |
| 8 | 2 |  Czech Republic | 3735 |
| 9 | 1 |  Slovakia | 3690 |
| 10 | 1 |  Latvia | 3610 |
At the time of the tournament's announcement, all participating teams were ranked highly by ice hockey's worldwide governing body, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF): Canada (1), Finland (2), United States (4), Sweden (6).[9] Germany, while ranked fifth, did not have enough NHL players to create a roster.[10][9] Though they had enough NHL players to create a roster, Russia and Czechia—ranked third and eighth, respectively—were not included in the tournament.[8][10] Russia was not included in the tournament due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.[11][12][13] Czech forward David Pastrnak called the omission of Czechia a "huge disappointment", though he said he understood there was limited time to organize the tournament.[14][15] 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 countries.[16]
Venues
Bell Centre (2013), capacity: 21,105[17]
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.[19] The league confirmed on June 8 that the venues would be Bell Centre in Montreal and TD Garden in Boston,[20] after months of reports by various media sources.[14][21][22][23]
Tournament structure
Two practice days, February 10 and 11, will be held prior to the tournament. From February 12–20, seven total games will be played.[19] The tournament will be held in a round-robin format, with teams winning three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime or shootout win, one point for an overtime or shootout loss, and zero points for a regulation loss. Each team will play three games, and the two teams with the most points will advance to a one-game final.[19]
Games will be played on NHL-sized rinks, following NHL rules.[19] For round-robin games, overtime will be held in a 10-minute, 3-on-3 sudden-death period, followed by a three-round shootout. In the final, overtime will be held in consecutive 20-minute, 5-on-5 sudden-death periods.[19]
Teams
Teams will each consist of 23 players: 20 skaters (forwards and defencemen) and 3 goaltenders.[19] Players are selected by their respective governing bodies: Hockey Canada, the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association, and USA Hockey.[19] The tournament is restricted to players who have a 2024–25 NHL contract and are on an NHL roster as of December 2, 2024.[24] Because the NHL does not have an agreement with the IIHF for the 4 Nations Face-Off, the tournament cannot include non-NHL players.[10][13]
The NHL stated that six players from each team would be announced in the summer, with the remaining roster being selected "later in the year".[19] On June 28, 2024, the NHL announced six players on each team's roster.[25]
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.[26] Both were also named assistant general managers for the 2026 Olympic team.[27] On June 25, Jon Cooper was named Canada's head coach for both the 2026 Winter Olympics and the 4 Nations Face-Off.[28]
Finland
For the 4 Nations Face-Off, Finland's head coach is Antti Pennanen.[29] Tuomo Ruutu is assistant coach. Jere Lehtinen is the general manager, and his assistants are Mikko Koivu and Jarmo Kekalainen.[30][31]
Sweden
United States
In February 2024, Bill Guerin was announced as general manager of the US team for the 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics.[32] In May, Mike Sullivan was named head coach of the team for both competitions.[33]
Schedule
Round-robin
| February 12 8 p.m. | Canada | v | Sweden | Bell Centre, Montreal |
| February 13 8 p.m. | United States | v | Finland | Bell Centre, Montreal |
| February 15 1 p.m. | Finland | v | Sweden | Bell Centre, Montreal |
| February 15 8 p.m. | United States | v | Canada | Bell Centre, Montreal |
| February 17 1 p.m. | Canada | v | Finland | TD Garden, Boston |
| February 17 8 p.m. | Sweden | v | United States | TD Garden, Boston |
Final
| February 20 8 p.m. | v | TD Garden, Boston |
Media rights
In Canada, the tournament will be televised by Sportsnet in English, and TVA Sports in French. In the United States, TNT will have the round-robin games on February 12 and 17, ABC will air the February 15 doubleheader, and ESPN will air the United States–Finland game and the final.[20]