Player Of The Tournament 6 Nations

[Jordan Tucker]

Theevent runs from Feb. 6-10 and features the best U18 hockey players from Czechia, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. The teams will compete in a round-robin schedule throughout the week.

The players have gotten the message. Forward and team captain Brodie Ziemer (Hutchinson, Minn.) has been trying to instill a consistent mentality to his teammates each day during practice.

The U18s have had success in international play, winning the Four Nations this past November. In addition, as members of the U17s, this group won the U17 World Challenge, the Four Nations and the Five Nations tournaments last year.

"Just the opportunity to do that is a dream come true," McDavid said Friday. "I've been vocal about this and I feel that it's important for hockey as we continue to try and grow our game internationally and at home."

McDavid, 27, last represented his country at the 2018 IIHF World Championship in Denmark where Canada finished fourth. He has not been a part of a best-on-best tournament since playing with Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

The in-season 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off will consist of a total of seven games played during a nine-day period from Feb. 12-20, along with two practice days, Feb. 10-11, and will be held in two yet-to-be named North American cities, one in Canada and one in the United States.

McDavid was on the stage along with Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews, representing the United States, Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho, representing Finland, and Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson, representing Sweden when NHL Players' Association executive director Marty Walsh and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made the announcement prior to the 2024 NHL Skills presented by DraftKings Sportsbook at Scotiabank Arena, the host venue for the 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend.

The Commissioner also announced the NHL will return to Olympic participation, starting in 2026 in Milan, Italy, and again in 2030, with the host for the 2030 Olympics expected to be chosen later this year by the International Olympic Committee.

"Our intention in terms of an international calendar is to go to the Olympics in 2026, two years later play the World Cup, and two years after that go to the Olympics in 2030, and two years after that play a World Cup," Bettman said. "That's the cycle we want to get on."

McDavid has led the charge trying to get NHL players back on the international stage in a best-on-best format. The World Championship is held annually at the same time as the Stanley Cup Playoffs, preventing top players from various countries from participating.

"I think it's a great thing, an exciting schedule, something people can look forward to every two years, every second year," McDavid said. "I know it's something the four of us [on stage] are super pumped about."

Each team at the 4 Nations Face-Off will be comprised of 23 NHL players (20 skaters, three goalies) selected by each National Association: Hockey Canada, Finnish Ice Hockey Association, Swedish Ice Hockey Association and USA Hockey.

Players must be under an NHL contract for the 2024-25 season and on an NHL roster as of Dec. 2, 2024. All roster announcement dates will be made by the NHL and NHLPA, with each of the participating National Associations selecting its initial six players this summer, prior to selecting its complete roster later in the year.

"We view this event as a building block to a larger World Cup, an important tournament to the players," Walsh said. "These guys on this stage, every one of them either talked to me or Ron [Hainsey, NHLPA assistant executive director], personally saying, 'We want to get international hockey back in the NHL,' and with this series, we have an amazing opportunity."

All games in the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off will be played in accordance with NHL rules on NHL-sized rinks. Each team will play three tournament games in a traditional round-robin format, with teams earning three points for a win in regulation, two points for a win in overtime or a shootout, one point for a loss in overtime or a shootout, and no points for a loss in regulation.

The two teams with the best record will advance to a one-game final. The overtime format for round-robin games will be 3-on-3 sudden death for a 10-minute period, followed by a three-round shootout. The overtime format for the one-game final will be full strength sudden death through successive 20-minute periods until one team scores.

"It means a lot, obviously, at any level to represent your country. It's a big honor," Matthews said. "At a world stage like the Olympics or 4 Nations [Face-Off], competing against the players and their respective countries, I think it'll be great for the players and great for the sport and the fans. I think we'll really enjoy it."

The NHL is sending its players back to the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014, formally committing to the next two men's ice hockey tournaments in an agreement with the International Olympic Committee.

The announcement was part of a larger international schedule rolled out by the NHL and the NHLPA that includes a four-team midseason tournament called the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025, with games played in the U.S. and Canada.

"We know how important international competition is to our players. We know they love and want to represent the countries from which they're from," said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Friday at the NHL All-Star Weekend. "We think this is a great stage for the best on the best, in the best sport."

The Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games are scheduled to be held Feb. 6-22, 2026, in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The 2030 Games don't officially have a host, but France is considered the front-runner.

IIHF president Luc Tardif said it will be a "team effort" between the IIHF and the IOC to figure out how to pay for those costs, and that the Olympic committees and sport federations of each country will help foot the bill.

The NHL participated in five consecutive Olympics starting in 1998. The streak was broken when the NHL opted not to send players to the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics. That was due to a change in terms with the league's agreement with the IOC and also because "the overwhelming majority of our clubs" were "adamantly opposed" to disrupting the 2017-18 season for the Olympic Games in South Korea, according to Bettman.

The 2020 Collective Bargaining Agreement formalized a commitment by the NHL and the NHLPA to participate in both the 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics, with that participation "subject to negotiation of terms acceptable to each of the NHL, NHLPA, and IIHF (and/or IOC)."

"We made it. It was not easy. That's really important. Two years of work and really intense for the last six months. We learned to work together," said Tardif. "We have a new process. Outside the Olympic Games, why not work further [together]?"

In addition to the Olympics, the NHL and NHLPA are holding the 4 Nations Face-Off, a four-team tournament in February 2025 featuring teams representing the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland. It will be held in one city in the U.S. and one city in Canada.

The 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off will consist of a total of seven games played over a nine-day period from Feb. 12 to 20, along with two designated training/practice days (Feb. 10 and Feb. 11). Each team will be comprised of 20 skaters and three goalies, selected by each national association: Hockey Canada, Finnish Ice Hockey Association, Swedish Ice Hockey Association and USA Hockey.

Players must be under an NHL contract for the 2024-25 season and on an NHL roster as of Dec. 2, 2024. All roster announcement dates will be made by the NHL and NHLPA, with each of the participating national associations selecting its initial six players this summer, prior to selecting its complete rosters later in the year.

All games in the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off will be played in accordance with NHL rules. Each team will play three tournament games in a traditional round-robin format, under the following points system: 3 points for a win in regulation time; 2 points for a win in overtime/shootout; 1 point for a loss in overtime/shootout; and 0 points for a loss in regulation time.

Bettman said this is the start of an international schedule that would see NHL players participate in an international tournament or World Cup of Hockey and then the Olympics every two years. The hope is to play the next full World Cup in 2028. The last World Cup of Hockey was an eight-team event held in Toronto in 2016.

Russia's status for the Olympics and the World Cup remains uncertain. The IIHF has banned teams from Russia and Belarus from international tournaments since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including the 2023-24 season.

** As always, if your team was scheduled to play in events in order to meet the requirement to participate that were canceled for ANY reason, those events will still count toward the requirement to participate. As this was no fault of your own. **

A manager or team representative is waiving all rights to protest and or question tournament officials if they do not check in or attend the manager meeting. We will not be responsible for a team and its coaches if they mis-understand or mis-interpret a rule and are in violation of any rule that penalizes their team or a player.

Please remember to print your packet, roster, Nations Five Tool rules, maps, rules reference sheets and extra forms at the state tournament web site. Extra copies will not be available at tournament HQ during the event.

The Nations League Finals took place in June 2019 and was contested by the four group winners of League A. The four teams were each drawn into a five-team group (rather than a six-team group) for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying group stage, thereby leaving the June 2019 window available for the Nations League Finals.[4]

The competition was played in a knockout format, consisting of two semi-finals, a third place play-off, and a final. The semi-final pairings, along with the administrative home teams for the third place play-off and final, were determined by means of an open draw on 3 December 2018.[5]

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