So good news and bad news for Washington Capitals and NHL fans. First the bad news, no NHL All Star Game. But there is also some good news! The NHL is sending their players to the 2026 Winter Olympics and it's a long time coming.
Earlier in the month NHL Public Relations announced the 4 Nations Face Off. This mini international tournament will feature the following countries: USA, Canada, Sweden, and Finland. Per their press release it'll be held in two North American cities, one in Canada and one in the United States.
Fans can sign up and receive more 411 at https://www.nhl.com/events/2025-nhl-4-nations-face-off. The tournament will consist of a total of seven games played over a nine day period from Feb. 12 to the 20th along with two designated training/practice days on Feb. 10th and 11th. This annoucment came from the 2024 All Star weekend in Toronto from Commissioner Gary Bettman, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh and NHL All Stars Connor McDavid, Sebastian Aho, Elias Pettersson, and Auston Matthews.
This will be pretty cool and it kind of reminds us of the World Cup of Hockey in 2016 which actually was held partly in Washington in the same barn the Caps play at what was then called the Verizon Center. Fans got to see their heroes in Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie represent their own country.
But overall it's a different level in international tournaments no matter the sport. Whether it's the FIFA World Cup or even the World Baseball Classic, professional athletes take great pride in representing their country. I remember 2010 seeing USA being oh so close to winning the Olympic gold medal and everyone being mad when Canada won. I shut off the TV right away. Just hope we don't have to do that next time.