Thursday LNN: Four Nations, Facing Off
The gimmicky but fun tournament is officially underway!
- Two of the Four Nations faced off yesterday, with Canada taking on Sweden. Fans haven't been too excited about this gimmicky tournament, but game 1 was pretty cool. Canada absolutely dominated the first half of the game, but predictably their goaltending issues proved to be a real problem when Sweden came back and tied it. Marner got the overtime winner.
- Interestingly, our old friend Filip Gustavsson started in net instead of Linus Ullmark. It’s still the preliminary round, so we’ll see if Ullmark gets the call soon. Can’t say I’m all that mad about him sitting on the bench if it means he can avoid getting injured.
- The Tkachuks are apparently enjoying playing together!
- As I said, Canada's goaltending is their one big weakness. The Athletic ($) did a deep dive into why exactly Canada hasn’t been producing elite goaltenders.
- Team USA has been inviting Guy Gaudreau, the father of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, to their practices. Johnny would have definitely been on the Team USA roster, so I’m sure it’s an especially difficult time for the whole team and everyone who knew him. It’s really nice that Tortorella is including Guy, just as he does for Blue Jackets practices.
- The Four Nations tournament also brings us closer to the trade deadline, and it’s hard to tell what the Sens are going to do. TSN and The Hockey News look at some of the rumours surrounding the team .
- Ryan Hartman of the Minnesota Wild was assessed a well-deserved 10 game suspension for that dangerous hit on Tim Stützle before the break. The NHLPA has appealed the decision on his behalf, and that appeal will be heard tomorrow.
Ryan Hartman’s appeal hearing with Gary Bettman will go Friday here in Montreal.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 11, 2025
- Our friends at La Brigade hosted Le Droit writer Zakary Mercier for this week’s episode!
