NHL stars put rivalries aside for common goal of winning 4 Nations Face-Off

MONTREAL — Connor McDavid watched Sam Reinhart crush his dream of hoisting a Stanley Cup last June.

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The Edmonton Oilers captain is more than happy to push any hard feelings aside for the common goal of striking gold for Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“It’s easier than you would think,” McDavid said Tuesday. “We’re after the same thing, we’re on the same team together here for two weeks and coming together for the same job. I have a pretty good relationship with everybody that’s here.”

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McDavid and Reinhart — the Game 7 hero in Florida’s run past Edmonton to capture hockey’s ultimate prize — joined Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner on Canada’s top line this week.

Reinhart expects everyone to be pulling in the same direction when Canada opens the tournament against Sweden on Wednesday night at Montreal’s Bell Centre.

“Once the puck drops, it’s easy,” said Reinhart, who played on McDavid’s wing at the under-18 championships in 2013. “The first thing you think about is you’re thankful to have these guys on your team instead of competing against each other.

“He’s the best player in the world, so it’s a matter of trying to find my game and how I can help him, how I can utilize his speed … we’re certainly excited about the possibilities.”

NHL players are getting a taste of high-level international hockey for the first time in nearly a decade after missing the last two Olympics.

The United States and Finland — the nations meet Thursday night — are also taking part in the tournament that begins with a round-robin and ends with a final in Boston.

Cherishing the opportunity to share the puck with their country’s best is a common theme in each locker room.

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“You’ve got the best players in the world in your locker room,” U.S. centre Jack Hughes said. “It’s a lot of fun to look around and see them like a good breath of fresh air.

“I’ll be excited to get back to New Jersey when the time’s done here, but I was really looking forward to this and I’m excited about being here.”

Much of the American team has a long history of playing with one another in the U.S. National Team Development Program.

“When you’re playing against them you’re trying to win, you’re competitors,” forward Brady Tkachuk said. “But now being teammates, it brings us back to when we were all together and having fun. There’s a friendship that’s important here.”

Erik Karlsson said it’s important to focus on playing for Sweden, instead of opening old playoff wounds.

“It’s a little bit awkward sometimes when you talk about certain things,” said the defenceman. “But I think overall everyone’s just excited to be here and most of us know each other from some part before, so it’s just positive more than anything.

“Everybody is just pretty focused on Team Sweden and that’s the main discussion in the room.”

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Finnish centre Sebastian Aho lost to captain Aleksander Barkov when Florida swept division rival Carolina in the 2023 Eastern Conference final. But the longtime friends have no issues putting their rivalry aside when it comes to playing for Finland.

“After the series you shake the guy’s hand, and you move forward,” Aho said. “That’s how you (get rid of) the bad blood. You give everything you can during the series, and then you shake his hand … it hurts to be on the losing side but that’s how you kind of move forward.”

NO RUSSIA

Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Nikita Kucherov won’t be joining their fellow faces of the league in Montreal and Boston.

Hockey powerhouse Russia was excluded from the event amid the country’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

“It’s difficult,” Canada captain Sidney Crosby said. “I know that they love to compete, and obviously internationally they’ve had the opportunity before and take a lot of pride in it, so I’m sure it’s not easy not being a part of it.”

The International Ice Hockey Federation has banned Russia from events through at least the 2025-26 calendar.

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PLAYING FOR KEEPS

Canada forward Nathan MacKinnon said he was surprised that some outsiders are questioning how invested players will be in the one-off tournament.

“We’re treating this like Olympics or treating it like the World Cup,” said the reigning Hart Trophy winner as NHL MVP. “This is like four Game 7s. It’s crazy people were wondering if it was gonna be like an all-star game — pretty crazy people are actually asking that.”

‘JUST ANOTHER GAME’

American forward J.T. Miller knows he’ll be under the microscope when he and former teammate Elias Pettersson of Sweden face off next week.

A long-rumoured rift with Pettersson led to Miller’s exit from Vancouver when the Canucks traded him to the New York Rangers last month. Miller insists he’s treating their upcoming encounter like business as usual.

“It’s definitely something that you guys build up. I’m sure it’s more exciting for you guys,” Miller said. “It’s just another game for us.”

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