There’s no sign on the outskirts of town that reads, “Welcome to Boston: The Birthplace of Guys Punching Each Other,” but there probably should be, which makes it a perfect place to stage the most anticipated best-on-best hockey game since forever—or at least 2010. But even with what amounts to home-ice advantage, the U.S. team may have its hands full come Thursday night.
While the Americans are still riding high after their grueling 3-1 beatdown of the Canadians over the weekend, the injury bug has sunk its fangs into a bunch of starters. Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy checked in to Mass General Hospital on Monday to undergo tests for an undisclosed upper-body injury he sustained during an earlier 4 Nations Face-Off game, and has been ruled out for the rematch.
Meanwhile, forwards Matthew Tkachuk and Auston Matthews sat out the team’s otherwise immaterial 2-1 loss to Sweden out of an abundance of caution, and Brady Tkachuk left the game in the middle of the first period after crashing into the cage.
The Tkachuk brothers, who were involved in the two of the three fights that broke out in the first nine seconds of Saturday night’s grudge match, are expected to play in the championship game. Matthews is also a probable starter, although U.S. coach Mike Sullivan allowed that the 27-year-old is the most “nicked up” of the three.
The ferocity of the 4 Nations tourney has turned the concept of a bloodless, anodyne All-Star break on its ear. And while the Bruins obviously can’t be thrilled to lose their star blueliner so soon after his last injury—McAvoy sat out seven games between Jan. 11 and Jan. 30—the players are happily risking life and limb during what’s supposed to be their midseason break.
Massachusetts native Jack Eichel promised that fans were “going to see desperate hockey” when the puck drops at the TD Garden, while fellow Bay Stater Matt Boldy acknowledged that the U.S. team was wicked psyched to square off against Canada again for the title. “That’s the matchup you want,” Boldy said after Monday’s loss to Sweden. “For us. For them. I’m sure, for TV. For everything. It’s the most exciting game.”
Alexa, play Free Bird.
Canada’s stars are equally fired up. Sam Bennett said he expects “more of the same” from what he called “the greatest rivalry in hockey,” and coach Jon Cooper predicted that Thursday night’s game “should be a pretty good made-for-TV event.”
That both sides of the border mentioned the TV element suggests that the enthusiasm for the NHL’s new tournament isn’t lost on anyone. Outside the arena, some 4.4 million stateside viewers watched the first U.S.-Canada scrap, a number that puts the standard All-Star Game deliveries to shame. Per Nielsen, the most-watched ASG of this century was the 2004 edition, which averaged 2.68 million viewers.
More to the point, Saturday night’s outing beat out the first six games of last year’s Stanley Cup Final. And if those numbers are any indication, Thursday’s return to hostilities could give the NHL its biggest TV audience since Game 7 of the 2019 Blues-Bruins Final, which averaged 8.72 million linear viewers on NBC. Streaming impressions boosted that already hefty TV figure to 8.91 million; to date, St. Louis’ 4-1 win stands as the league’s fourth most-watched game on record.
An average delivery of anything above 8.16 million viewers will would mark one of the 10 biggest NHL games of all time.
However things shake out on the ice and across the Nielsen dials, Sullivan said fans can expect a “great celebration of hockey.” And while ESPN’s competitors aren’t emptying the net during Thursday’s primetime window—fresh off the NBA All-Star break, TNT/truTV will counter with Celtics-Sixers—hockey has a chance to shock the world up there in Boston.
If the U.S. can knock Canada off the throne for the second time in five days, it’ll be a huge stateside win for the sport, the league … and whoever’s still around to cash Lynyrd Skynyrd’s royalty checks. After all, there’s nothing media partners love more than a little extra surplus value, and while there’s no deal in place to bring 4 Nations back in 2027, the networks are eager to capitalize on the odd-year availability between the international events scheduled between 2026 and 2032. (Next year’s midwinter break coincides with the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, which will mark the first time the NHL will send its players to the quadrennial event since 2014.)
The attendant ratings impact of all this international intrigue is worth keeping an eye on. The NHL’s seven-year, $4.5 billion rights deal with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery expires at the end of the 2027-28 season.
(This story has been corrected to remove a reference that said the 4 Nations tournament was slated to return in 2027.)
