In an NHL announcement that was fully expected, the city of Boston and TD Garden will host the final series of games for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament next season that will feature the US, Canada, Sweden and Finland.
The 4 Nations Face-Off will consist of a total of seven games played over a nine-day period from Feb. 12 to 20, along with two designated training/practice days (Feb. 10 and Feb. 11). The tournament will start at the Bell Centre in Montreal before heading to Boston for the final week of competition between four teams jam-packed with NHL stars.
That should make for some exciting times in the Hub in the middle of next season, but it’s also going to make it all the more frustrating for David Pastrnak for while it’s all going in in his home NHL city. The game-breaking right winger was very outspoken about his disappointment that Team Czechia was not included in the midseason international tournament, though it’s fair to question whether the Czech Republic could produce a full roster of NHL stars like the US, Canada, Sweden and Finland can surely do.
"It's a huge disappointment. I’m definitely not happy about it," said Pastrnak. "I understand that it's a quick turnaround. It's next year. They probably didn't have much time to make it a bigger tournament.
"But Czech isn't there. So it's always a lot of players left out. I'm not gonna watch the tournament, to be honest. So just happy that the Olympics got accepted [during the 2026 season]. Yeah, [but being shut out of the 4 Nations] definitely stings a little bit."
It was part of the impetus behind Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha hustling to Prague after their B’s playoff run was over to help Team Czech win the 2024 IIHF World Championships after the clear snub. Clearly it was still on Pastrnak’s mind after winning the gold medal as he made reference to it in his Instagram post about winning in his home country.
You knew the Four Nations snub was a big motivator for David Pastrnak and the rest of Team Czechia at the World Championships. He was understandably pissed about it when it was announced by the NHL. Pushed them all the way to a gold medal in front of the home crowd in Prague 🥇 pic.twitter.com/OzMNgseeHC
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) May 27, 2024
But all Pastrnak angst aside, it’s going to be an enjoyable preview of the Olympics a year ahead of the actual Winter Games. And it’s going to be that much more difficult for No. 88 to “not watch the tournament” when it’s being played in his Boston backyard.
Perhaps if this 4 Nations experiment ends up being successful, it will become a regular occurrence that they can eventually expand to 6 Nations or 8 Nations where Czechia can eventually snag an invite.
As it is, one can expect that Charlie McAvoy (and perhaps Jeremy Swayman) will suit up for Team USA and Brad Marchand could get the call for Team Canada. Perhaps Hampus Lindholm gets the invite for Team Sweden as well, so there will be some solid Black and Gold representation for the tournament set in Boston.
Each team will play three tournament games in a traditional Round Robin format, under the following points system: 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 two teams with the best tournament record will then advance to a one-game Final.
There will be two games at TD Garden on Monday, February 17 and the championship game for the tournament will also be held in Boston on Thursday, February 20.
For a city that hasn’t hosted an NHL All-Star game in nearly 30 years or an NHL Draft in recent memory either, the 4 Nations Face-Off finally makes Boston the center of the hockey universe again for a week in February next season.
ONE-TIMERS
*Sergei Bobrovsky put together a 32-save shutout for the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, essentially stealing the game for the Panthers in a 3-0 in over the Edmonton Oilers. He became the first goalie aged 35 years or older to record a shutout in the Stanley Cup Final since 37-year-old Tim Thomas pulled off that shutout trick twice for the Black and Gold in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final win over the Vancouver Canucks.
It's always worth mentioning any record that in any way involves the best goaltending season ever by an NHL goalie pulled off by one Tim Thomas during the 2010-2011 season where he should have won the Hart Trophy.
*Good luck to good guy Michael Penhollow as he leaves the Boston Bruins organization after being a video content machine for them over the last 10 years. It’s truly fitting that the Bruins just announced that Behind the B earned its fifth Emmy Award for Best Sports Program at the 47th Annual New England Emmys, as Penhollow has played a role in that like so much more of the Black and Gold’s compelling content over the last decade.
*Could the Boston Bruins trade Linus Ullmark to the New Jersey Devils for the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and then use that pick for Newburyport native and USNTDP stud Cole Eiserman? It checks out for a top-drawer skill player who could be one of their forwards of the future, and one that is planning to suit up for Boston University next season.
COLE EISERMAN RESTORES THE LEAD WITH A RECORD-BREAKING GOAL!
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 5, 2024
He sets a new all-time US National Team Development Program goalscoring record with 127. #U18MensWorlds pic.twitter.com/3lTFNXLkmj
It could set up for a player like the 17-year-old Eiserman to fall to that spot given how many highly-rated defensemen are expected to be selected at the top of the first round later this month.
*Great to see Big Zee in the crowd for Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks, and even better to see Zdeno Chara reuniting with Shaq for an iconic update of the photo of the two big men together that took place 10 plus years ago.
Just a couple tall guys reuniting.
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) June 7, 2024
📸: zeechara33/IG pic.twitter.com/4MfRloGPZQ
I’m just amazed he was able to squeeze in watching the basketball game in between all of the marathons that the 6-foot-9 physical marvel is running these days.