For the first time since 2016, the NHL’s best will take part in a best-on-best international tournament as the 4 Nations Face-Off gets underway on Wednesday night.
Canada, Sweden, Finland, and the United States will play each other in a round robin format before the top two teams remaining in the table will play for the 4 Nations Championship.
Four members of the Philadelphia Flyers will be participating in the tournament. Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim will be skating for Team Canada, Sam Ersson is one of three goalies for Team Sweden, and John Tortorella is on the coaching staff for Team USA. Rasmus Ristolainen was initially tabbed to play for Team Finland before his injury sidelined him.
TRAVIS KONECNY
(Heather Cattai/Heather Barry Images, LLC)
Konecny is projected to play on Canada’s fourth line alongside Lightning forwards Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli. Konecny could also see time on Canada’s second power play unit. He practiced with that group on Tuesday after missing Monday with an illness.
Konecny leads the Flyers in goals (22), assists (39), points (61), power play goals (8), and is tied for the team lead in game-winning goals (3).
TRAVIS SANHEIM
(Heather Cattai/Heather Barry Images, LLC)
Sanheim is slated to serve as Canada’s extra defenseman and will likely sit out their opening matchup against Sweden, but he could draw in for future games.
Sanheim has recorded 6 goals, 21 assists, and is averaging 24:33 of ice time per game with the Flyers. No Flyers defenseman has produced more offensively than Sanheim, and his ATOI leads the team and is 14th across the NHL.
SAM ERSSON
(Heather Cattai/Heather Barry Images, LLC)
Ersson is ranked third on Sweden’s goalie depth chart behind Minnesota’s Filip Gustavsson and Ottawa’s Linus Ullmark. He took extra reps in morning skate on Wednesday and may not dress or play in the tournament unless the other goalies struggle or there’s an injury.
Ersson is 16-10-3 with a .896 SV%, 2.84 GAA, and 2 shutouts this season with the Flyers.
JOHN TORTORELLA
(Heather Cattai/Heather Barry Images, LLC)
Tortorella is an assistant coach on a staff led by Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan for the Americans. The Flyers bench boss last served as an assistant for Team USA on their World Cup of Hockey squad in 2016.
Tortorella’s Flyers are 24-26-7 and 7th in the Metropolitan Division at the moment. They closed out their pre-4 Nations slate with a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Penguins on February 8th.
HOW DOES THE TOURNAMENT WORK?
All four teams will play each other once in a round robin setting. Six games total will be played in the round robin. 3 points will be awarded for a regulation win, 2 points will be awarded for an overtime win, and 1 point will be awarded for an overtime loss. At the conclusion of the round robin, the top two teams in the table will play in a winner-takes-all Championship game.
SCHEDULE
WED 2/12 – Canada @ Sweden, 8:00pm ET at Bell Centre, Montréal, QC
THU 2/13 – United States @ Finland, 8:00pm ET at Bell Centre, Montréal, QC
SAT 2/15 – Finland @ Sweden, 1:00pm ET at Bell Centre, Montréal, QC
SAT 2/15 – United States @ Canada, 8:00pm ET at Bell Centre, Montréal, QC
MON 2/17 – Canada @ Finland, 1:00pm ET at TD Garden, Boston, MA
MON 2/17 – Sweden @ United States, 8:00pm ET at TD Garden, Boston, MA
THU 2/20 – Championship Game, 8:00pm ET at TD Garden, Boston, MA
HOW TO WATCH
All games will be broadcast on TNT, TruTV, ABC, and ESPN in the United States, and Sportsnet and TVAS in Canada. Games will be also be streamed live on Max and ESPN+.
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