Boston Bruins

TD Garden Selected As Host Site For 4 Nations Face-Off

Published

2 weeks ago

June 8, 2024

The city of Boston is widely recognized as a hotbed for the sport of hockey, and it will now get its chance to shine on the international stage after TD Garden was named a host site for the 4 Nations Face-Off next February.

The first ever #4Nations Face-Off is headed to Montreal and Boston, February 12-20, 2025. pic.twitter.com/U2QrHy6FLD

— NHL (@NHL) June 8, 2024

The 4 Nations Face-Off is an international tournament that will be played under NHL rules and consists entirely of NHL players representing the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland.

The first four games of the round-robin tournament will be held at Bell Centre in Montreal, beginning on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, before it shifts to TD Garden for the final three games on Monday, Feb. 17, concluding in the championship game on Thursday, Feb. 20.

“Just two iconic cities, and we thought it was important to have some exposure in Canada and a venue in Canada as well as a venue in the United States,” said NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly to reporters ahead of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final in Sunrise, Florida on Saturday.

“Obviously, we have 32 franchises, so we could have put it anywhere, but those are the two that kind of rose to the top, and both of the clubs were very cooperative and very excited about hosting.”

The 4 Nations Face-Off is the return of best-on-best international competition to the NHL for the first time since the World Cup Of Hockey in 2016. However, the tournament has come under scrutiny for not including other hockey-crazed countries.

In particular, Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak was let down after his native Czechia was not invited to participate.

“It’s a huge disappointment,” Pastrnak told Conor Ryan of Boston.com back in February. “I don’t know much I can say. Definitely not happy about it. 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.”

After the Czech national team won the IIHF Men’s World Championship last month, Pastrnak took a not-so-subtle jab at the NHL for leaving his country out.

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Among the players expected to participate in the 4 Nations Faceoff are Bruins captain Brad Marchand for Canada and defenseman Charlie McAvoy for the United States. Bruins general manager Don Sweeney is already confirmed to be the architect for Team Canada.