The opening game of the 4 Nations Face-off was as expected — fast, intense and full of high-skilled plays.

I’m still dumbfounded by those who questioned how intense these games would be. The players — the star players — have pleaded for the opportunity to challenge themselves against the best players. Last night didn’t disappoint and I expect the remaining six games to be just as intense.

1. Finland’s decimated blueline makes them the long shot to win, but the Finns have always found ways to be competitive. Now that the tournament is on, the naysayers after being proven wrong about the intensity, have moved to “this isn’t the Olympics.” Thanks for that insightful view.

Here’s the reality: The pace of the games and the skill level of the players on these four teams will be the same next February at the Olympics. The quality of play won’t differ. Of course, the buildup and aura surrounding the Olympics with elite athletes in different sports leads to more people covering the event, but the actual hockey play will be the same. Actually, it will be a bit worse, since the quality of skill of the other countries isn’t as high. There will be more countries, but more doesn’t equal better. There will be 12 teams in the Olympics, and at the 2014 Olympics, the final four were Finland, Sweden, USA, and Canada. I’d expect those four will be semi-finalists again in 2026, especially without Russia participating.

I don’t get why so many hockey fans have tried to downplay the 4 Nations. The best players from four of the top five nations are playing and last night showed how intense the games will be. It will be the same at the Olympics. Bigger stage, sure, but the actual games won’t be any more intense or fast than what you watch the next week. Enjoy it.

2. I loved the 10-minute 3×3 overtime. I really hope the NHL considers moving to 10 minutes in the future. The best player in the world is in favour of that. “I think it’s a great kind of trial run,” Connor McDavid said after the game.  “It is something I think the players liked, the fans liked it. It felt a little more like it’s in our hands. I don’t think anyone really wants it to go to a shootout, so good thing we were able to find one there.”

3. While we are discussing OT, I’d love to see them go 10 minutes but also incorporate an over-and-back rule. Once you cross centre ice with possession of the puck, your team can’t loop back to your side of centre. We see too much wasted time with players “regrouping” and doing nothing in the neutral zone. That change combined with the 10 minutes would make OT even more electric.

4. Put me down as a “No” for the Oilers acquiring Ryan Donato. He’s having a career year with 19 goals in 53 games. He’s averaging the most TOI/game of his career at 15:03, has the most goals (19), most EV goals (16) and the most assists of his career (18). That is great for him, and he’s earned a raise this summer. But he isn’t what the Oilers need. He’s not a top-six winger. He’s played 673 minutes at 5×5 this season and the fewest have come against Elite talent courtesy of PuckIQ.com. 

He’s played 218 vs. Elite, 219 vs. Grit and 235 vs. Middle. He’s been outscored 11-5 vs. Elite, is 10-10 vs. Grit, and has outscored middle 13-7. The Hawks are a bad team, so being outscored vs. top players isn’t a surprise. However, in his past five seasons in San Jose, Seattle (2) and Chicago (2), he’s been outscored 55-40 and heavily outshot.

His style of play is similar to Jeff Skinner, and while this season he is scoring more, historically he hasn’t been nearly as productive as Skinner. Donato isn’t overly physical, he isn’t a strong defensive player, and he doesn’t play with an edge. He has zero goals in 19 career playoff games.

5. Right now, the Oilers have too many similar wingers in Skinner, Arvidsson, Brown, Janmark, RNH and Kapanen. None are really physical. Edmonton needs a winger with a different skill set than what they currently have — someone with skill and a physical presence. Good teams have diversity up and down the lineup. Not every player has to be a banger. They don’t all have to be big or fast, but you need different types of players to win. For me, Donato doesn’t bring anything the Oilers don’t have. He is scoring more than most of their wingers right now, so I can see why some would be interested in him, but he’s never scored at this pace prior. Will it continue, and will it continue in the playoffs? If you add him to replace one of the bottom-six wingers who play a similar style, then maybe, but I don’t see him as a top-six player on a Cup contender.

6. Evander Kane brings a different element. He’s physical. He’ll intimidate. He’ll chirp. But will he be ready to play in the playoffs? If he is ready, Stan Bowman and Kris Knoblauch should approach the playoffs as though he’ll be in their bottom half. If he manages to shake off the rust and play well enough to get promoted to the top two lines, that would be great, but I think it would be a utopian plan to think they can plug and play him in their top six to start. He’s coming off major surgery that repaired both abductors, two hernias and two abdominal tears. He hasn’t played a game since June 10th, 2024. It will be over 10 months between games when he returns. I have no doubt he’ll be physical and be able to impact the game that way, but having the touch, timing and stamina to play a top-six role will be a major challenge.

7. Tough break for Shea Theodore. He was injured last night and is out for the rest of the tournament, which is only one-week maximum. No word yet on how much time he will miss for Vegas, but it is a big loss for Canada. Theodore is an excellent defenceman, and Canada missed him. Travis Sanheim will draw in, and he’s been very good for Philadelphia. Sanheim has 23 even-strength points while Theodore had 29. Vegas is the third-highest scoring team 5×5, while Philly is 19th. Sanheim is a very good replacement option for Canada.

8. Injuries can happen at any time. Miro Heiskanen is out month-to-month for Dallas after being injured on January 28th. It sucks for Theodore and Vegas (if he misses significant time), but injuries are part of the game and if the 4 Nations wasn’t on, we’d still see injuries in the regular season. The opportunity to play best-on-best outweighs the risks of a rare injury. Gilbert Perrault (fractured ankle in 1981), and John Tavares (torn MCL in 2014) are the only two serious long-term injuries by a Canadian player at the Canada Cup/World Cup/Olympics. They are rare.

9. In my recent article about John Gibson, Kevin Woodley did a great job breaking down low-slot line plays and broken plays and how Gibson fared compared to the Oilers goalies. Some readers asked about rush chances and how Gibson compares to Skinner. Woodley was gracious enough to send me this response:

Just more context to digest when discussing if the Oilers should acquire a goalie. The most overlooked aspect is the relationship between the goalies. I know some believe that doesn’t matter, but I believe it does, and when goalies are in a good culture/environment their odds of success increase.

10. Sweden’s third-period comeback just made the 4 Nation tourney much more intriguing. A Canadian regulation victory over Finland wouldn’t guarantee them a berth in the final. There are scenarios where Canada could have two wins, but only five points, and USA and SWE could also have two wins, but more points if they win in regulation. The 3-2-1 point format means two wins aren’t the same and I love it. In a short tournament, it matters more. I wouldn’t want to see it in the NHL regular season, as it would just create more separation of points, and lower the intrigue in playoff races.

If we used a 3-2-1 system for last season, the same 16 teams would have made the playoffs…

Tampa would have finished third based on more regulation wins, but would teams have played differently had they known about the three points for a regulation win? In the West, it would have been…

Winnipeg and Dallas would have swapped first-round opponents, assuming teams played exactly the same with the international point system. All the 3-2-1 does in the regular season is create more of a gap between teams. I think it would make the regular season less interesting, not more.