Six periods of this hockey isn't enough

USA and Canada decide the Four Nations on Thursday,

Jaccob Slavin

There is a 51st State, after all. It is called Hysteria and was ratified in Montreal last Saturday.

It is populated by fans willing to liquidate their IRAs to buy hockey tickets, and by players who are tested for performance-enhancing drugs but not rabies. Never mind the fact that the NHL will be back to official business on Saturday. First comes Thursday, in Boston, the United States vs. Canada playing for the title of Four Nations Faceoff. No trophy required. The sight of each other is enough.

The U.S.-Canada rivalry on the women’s side is well-appreciated. But the men feel it too, even though Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett will be Florida teammates again by the weekend, not international pugilists. It’s an antagonism that bubbles up from the ranks of the youth, and gets fanned in every continental tournament. Hockey is more essential to Canada than any sport, or almost anything else, is to the USA, and for years the best Americans were derided as weekend college warriors, continually buckling to the pressure of Canadian kids hardened by junior hockey. When the pros came to the Olympics, Canada beat the USA in Salt Lake City, Vancouver and Sochi. But the quality of the games were so staggering, particularly in Vancouver, that no one really picked up on the hate. For one thing, the mere fact they were playing such rarefied hockey served to unify both teams. Hockey’s bigwigs seethed over the tournaments because they weren’t getting much of a cut, and their stars didn’t seem to care if they got hurt in pursuit of the cause. They loved the stuff, at least compared to the charms of a Wednesday night in Buffalo.

But nobody will be surprised if the Americans win this, primarily because of the layers of talent, and also because it had already happened last Saturday. After the Tkachuk brothers picked fights with Canadians in the first six seconds and another brawl happened three seconds after that, Team USA spread quicksand on the Montreal ice that was only circumvented once, on Connor McDavid’s rush. That was the only goal Connor Hellebuyck gave up, and the Americans won, 3-1. The asterisk was the absence of Cale Makar, Canada’s top D-man, but he came back Monday in a win over Finland, and he’ll be ready Thursday. One should expect the Tkachuks to return, too. USA defenseman Charlie McAvoy was in a Boston hospital earlier in the week, and Canadian defenseman Shea Theodore is definitely out. Otherwise, no more shuffling. Play your hand.

The Russians could have won this thing but they’re still lepers because they invaded Ukraine (yes, they actually did), and the other European countries aren’t here because the NHL wanted to fit all this into a week, like a proper All-Star break. Sweden lost two overtime games before it beat the USA, which had already qualified for the title game. Finland lost twice but snipped Sweden, which made for some nods and hearty toasts in Helsinki. Still, both Scandinavian teams served as the wallpaper.

The USA-Canada game Saturday drew over 10 million viewers in North America, a five-year high for any hockey game that wasn’t a Stanley Cup final, and the contrast between that zealotry and the aimless commerce of the NBA All-Star Game was jarring. As was NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s reaction when someone suggested the obvious, a USA vs. The World basketball event. Silver called it “old fashioned.” Strange, since basketball hasn’t tried it yet.

Why do they still fight? More to the point, why is the hockey commentariat so giddy about it? Well, a lot of it is Kabuki theater, but there’s a place for that. Matthew Tkachuk was so amped for his first international game of this magnitude that he called out Brendan Hagel before the puck dropped, and then Brady Tkachuk did the same with Bennett. It’s a pressure release, and it’s also a message, to teammates every bit as much as opponents: We will do whatever’s required. The Tkachuks, in today’s vernacular, dragged the Americans into the fight, and it was no coincidence that their father Keith, who scored 538 NHL goals, did the same thing in a 1996 World Cup win over the Canadiens. With all the emotions lying on the ice with the gloves and helmets, the teams played tape-to-tape hockey most of the rest of the night. They had been cleansed. Because of that, we got a game that glowed.

Without Makar, Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo, who was ruled out before Four Nations started, the Canadians had trouble getting through center ice, and a sloppy change led to Dylan Larkin’s game-winning goal. Larkin has 12 power play goals for Detroit this year and was on neither of the USA power-play units when the tournament began. That’s depth, and yet there’s eliteness here, too. To tie the game 1-1, Jack Eichel swooped in on a backcheck, carried the puck through two zones and put it precisely on the stick of Jake Guentzel, who didn’t miss. Eichel’s flight set him apart, as the rest of hockey’s greats skated beneath him.

When Canada did get organized, there was no escaping Jaccob Slavin, the Carolina defenseman who is as quiet like a bomb detonator. He doesn’t do visible things like score or take penalties. He just plays long minutes, blocks shots, and uses his stick to liquify the scoring chances of others. Slavin was asked if he knew the fighting was coming and replied, “They don’t tell the Lady Byng winner those things,” referring to the award for gentlemanly conduct that he’s won twice. In Slavin’s first 36 playoff games, he committed no penalties at all.

Hellebuyck might be the biggest reason to bet America. He’s closing in on a second consecutive Vezina Trophy for the Winnipeg Jets, who lead the NHL in scoring and preventing scoring. Canada is having trouble growing goaltenders these days, and Jordan Binnington, the starter here, has the 39th best save percentage in the league. But Boston’s building is also where Binnington wrapped up the 2019 Stanley Cup for the St. Louis Blues. That’s a weak hope but it’s something. Marty Brodeur isn’t shuffling through that door.

As for our inescapable political hijinks, no one can estimate how tariff talk has contributed to the disrespecting of the Star-Spangled Banner, or to the general belligerence. Provided Europe is intact in a year’s time, the best of the best will play Olympic hockey in Italy. Sitting down will be challenging and inadvisable, anthem or not.