For the first time since 2016, fans will get to witness a best-on-best tournament with players from the National Hockey League representing their countries, called the 4 Nations Face-Off.
With this new tournament, the NHL will opt out of hosting an all-star skills/games weekend for the first time since 2010, which was canceled due to the Winter Olympics. With a new and unique tournament, the NHL looks to gain more interest from fans across the world. The lack of attention to the NHL All-Star Games resulted in players opting out of the All-Star weekend to rest, or because they believed there was no point in competing. Fans voiced their opinions on the lack of competitiveness from the players and that it was “a waste of a week”.

4 Nations Face-Off will start Wednesday, February 12th, through Thursday, February 20th, 2025. The teams that will be competing include: Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States of America. Each team will play in a round-robin format, which means that each team will play each other. After this, the two teams that have the most points will advance to the championship, which will be held on February 20th. Regulation-winning teams will earn three points in the standings, while the loser gets none. If the game goes to overtime, the winning team will receive two points in the standings, while the losing team will receive one.

The 4 Nations Face-Off will be held in Boston, U.S. at the TD-Garden, as well as in Montreal, Canada at the Bell Centre. The first game of the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off will be in a star-powered matchup between Canada and Sweden on February 12th, 2025 in Montreal at 8:00 PM Central Standard Time on TNT and HBO MAX.
Fans will be on the edge of their seats as these four teams filled with the world’s best players go toe-to-toe in this year’s 4 Nations Face-Off.