The 4 Nations Face-Off has been nothing short of thrilling. With a bit of controversy surrounding the tournament's format, player injuries, and 'gimmicky' appearance, some fans were skeptical of the event.
Now, with the tournament about half over, it's safe to say those fans were wrong. Now, are their opinions valid? Sure, everyone's entitled to their own opinion. But this event has filled its purpose almost perfectly, that being an appetizer of what's next to come for international hockey.
After some of the best hockey games we've seen played in the last decade taking place earlier this week, the tournament shifts from Montreal to Boston to wrap up the group stage and declare a winner in the final.
With the United States having already punched their ticket to the championship game, Team Canada takes on Team Finland as they both hope to join the Americans and fight for a chance at gold.
4 Nations Face-Off Preview: Canada vs Finland
The path for both teams is easy, win in regulation and you're in the finals. A loss in regulation? Your tournament is over.
If the game goes to overtime and/or a shootout, things get a little more complicated. If CAN/FIN requires an extra frame, Team Sweden can make the finals with a regulation win over USA. But that is the only way the Swedes can advance to the final. Both Canada and Finland have their fate in their own hands.
The two teams have not played each other in a best-on-best event since the 2006 Winter Olympics, where Finland defeated Canada 2-0. In other big-name hockey tournaments, like the WJC, Canada has had Finland's number recently, winning their last six matchups.
Both teams have suffered regulation losses to the Americans already, and would get a chance at revenge in the championships.
Head to Head Stats:
Both teams so far have identical records, going 0-1-0-1, earning two points each. Both teams gained their only win so far in a 4-3 OT victory over Sweden, with each team also losing in regulation to the Americans.
Each squad has scored five times in their two games, with Canada having the better goal differential, being at -1 to Finland's -4.
While the stats on paper show these two teams are fairly similar, on paper, the edge clearly goes to Canada. The red and white has a much deeper forward group and defense corps than the Fins, while in net, it is quite close and could go either way.
It's going to be another great game Monday afternoon, and if there's one thing people have learned from international hockey, never underestimate Finland.
Canada - USA Recap:
Before I end off here I quickly give my thoughts on the Canada - USA game from Saturday night.
Canada had chances, and credit to the States for locking it down, but scoring only once is not good enough. Need more from Mackinnon, Reinhart, Marner. The roster is built fairly well, I would've like to see one more puck-mover on the back end, though. Binnington has been fine, but not amazing, I would've loved to see Thompson on this team.
Despite the loss, it was still a very entertaining game, and as a Canadian fan, my hope is we get to see a rematch in the finals, where Canada can get revenge and take down the States in their own barn.
Update
Canada defeated team Finland by a score of 5-3 Monday afternoon to set up a much anticipated Canada vs USA final on Thursday.