Boston – The four-country showdown is giving the NHL the moment.
The Montreal portion of the Best On Best Tournament ended with an instant classic in Team USA's 3-1 victory in the final on Thursday, so everyone in the sports world seems to be talking to the finals at TD Garden in Beantown this week There are three games to close.
A new fan is tuned.
It seems everyone is invested.
Did you know that it was just an NBA All-Star weekend?
This is part of what it's all about: the growth of the game.
“People were marveling at the game,” Canadian coach John Cooper said of the US-Canada clash on Saturday. “I don't know what the TV rating is, but the audience had to be huge from a group of people texting me or talking about this game. All the combinations I think there was. Deniers, you can say anything you want about the fight, that sparked the game. Then both teams flexed and no one backed down. When a hockey game broke out and it was a great hockey game. I said [Saturday] At night, when you have the best hockey player in the world, not only try to score, but also check, this is what you get.
“So you don't know if it will be the last one, so you'll have a chance to score a potential score every time. The game is in a better place. [Saturday] There was a night game. ”
The NHL has announced that the tournament's opening night has provided the most viewed hockey television broadcasts on TNT Sports this season.
Sportsmedia Watch reported that Thursday's match between the US and Finland attracted the largest audience ever this season, attracting an average of 1.55 million viewers on ESPN.
It was also the most viewed non-playoff NHL-related game on any network since the 2023 Winter Classic.
And it's easy to see why.
Each game is a unique masterpiece of competition.
There's theatre, a timeless Sydney Crosby, the Tkachuk brothers' press conference, the history of Finland-Swedish rivalries, and actual hockey.
It's kind of funny when there's a real concern that NHL players don't care about this.
And then, hearing Charlie McAvoy erases Conor McDavid on the board and Patrick Lane claims Finland is now Sweden's “Big Brother” and Kale for his chance to play through illness. Watch the Battle of Makar.
Saturday's Finland Swedish Game was also the first NHL International Tournament contest to score three tied goals between Canada and the United States since Game 1 of the 1996 Hockey Finals.
This generation of hockey superstars have been deprived of representing their country for a long time, but they are now making the most of it.
The Bell Center had a special background, but the tournament itself was a riveting sight.
Not only have three of the four games so far received comeback victory, including both team USA wins, but the remaining three countries are still competing in the finals.
Canada decides if they defeat Finland in regulations or if they win overtime/fireball in combination with US Sweden's results other than Sweden's regulatory victory.
It will give fans on this side of the Globe the American and Canadian finals they have undoubtedly dreamed of.
“This isn't over,” McDavid said after Canada's stab wound loss to the US.
On the other side of Monday's day card, Finland was able to clinch under the same circumstances, making the reversal.
Finland, which first won Sweden in the NHL International Tournament since Robin in the 1991 Canadian Cup Round, is a tournament surprise after the Blue Line was destroyed by injury beforehand.
The only way the two game losers are working overtime is that they can beat the US in regulations and clinch whether the Canadian Finland game is determined by overtime or firefight.
“It's the same sentiment we have after the Canadian match, and it feels like we're there and we deserve to win,” Swedish captain Victor Hedman said 4-3 to Finland. He spoke after his defeat. “We feel we played a better game overall, but at the end of the day it's all about scoring more goals than our opponents.”
