The NHL and NHLPA have locked in the schedule and location for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off next season.
Commissioner Gary Bettman, deputy commissioner Bill Daly, and NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh spoke on the tournament on Saturday ahead of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, confirming it would kick off at the Bell Center in Montreal before concluding at TD Garden in Boston and would run from February 12-20.
The event will mark the first in-season international tournament for NHL players since the 2014 Olympics and will feature teams from the United States, Canada, Sweden, and Finland.
Montreal will host the first four games of the seven-game round-robin tournament, while Boston will host the final three, including the championship game.
The entire 4 Nations Face-Off schedule also was announced, with games to be broadcast exclusively in North America by The Walt Disney Company (ESPN/ABC), TNT Sports, Sportsnet and TVA Sports.#4Nations: https://t.co/fLmzyiCaHS pic.twitter.com/mBqMVVcHb2
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 8, 2024
“Just two iconic cities,” Daly said, “and and we thought it was important to have some exposure in Canada and a venue in Canada as well as a venue in the United States,” Daly said. “Obviously we have 32 franchises so we could have put it anywhere but those those are two that kind of rose to the top and and we worked with both of the club. They’re both very cooperative, both very excited about hosting, so we’re looking forward to being there stay over there.”
Each country will name the first six players on their 23-man roster on June 28, the first day of the 2024 NHL Draft, with the remaining players announced at a later date. All participants must be under NHL contract.
“The players are just absolutely thrilled about this and the opportunity to get international competition again, kind of as a pre-tournament to the Olympics, which is going to be great,” Walsh noted.
Bettman told reporters at this year’s All-Star Weekend that the league intends to eventually host a World Cup of Hockey tournament in 2028 after players compete in the 2026 Olympics. This event, however, will instead replace what would have been the 2025 All-Star Game, limiting the tournament to just seven games and four teams.
“It’s still an extended period of time; we didn’t want to make it too extended and so we figured pure round-robin with a final,” Daly noted Saturday. “That was the thinking.”
Bettman later addressed the question of adding more teams: “There are two issues. One is, as Bill just mentioned, how long a break we were prepared to take for a tournament which is in-season, and secondly we wanted for this tournament, as we get ready for the Olympics and the World Cup, we wanted this to be all NHL players and these these four countries fit the bill better than any of the others.”
A year after the 4 Nations Face-Off, NHL players are set to return to the Olympics for the first time in over a decade at the 2026 Milan Games.
Here’s the full press release from the NHL:
Montreal and Boston to Host 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025
NEW YORK/TORONTO (June 8, 2024) – The National Hockey League (NHL) and National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) today announced that the Bell Centre in Montreal and TD Garden in Boston will serve as the host venues and cities for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February 2025, which will feature international tournament play between NHL Players from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States. In addition, the NHL and NHLPA today announced the 4 Nations Face-Off schedule of games, which will be broadcast exclusively in North America by The Walt Disney Company (ESPN/ABC), TNT Sports, Sportsnet and TVA Sports.
The 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). All games in the 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. The two teams with the best tournament record will then advance to a one-game Final. Below is the complete schedule.
In addition, the official event logo was unveiled today from the Stanley Cup Final in Sunrise, Fla. (see above and attached).
Home of the Montreal Canadiens, the Bell Centre opened in Montreal in 1996 and has previously hosted games during the World Cup of Hockey (1996, 2004, and pre-tournament in 2016), NHL All-Star Weekend (2009), the NHL Draft (2009, 2022), and the Stanley Cup Final (2021).
TD Garden is the home to the Boston Bruins and the NBA’s Boston Celtics. The venue opened in 1995 and was the host of the 1996 NHL All-Star Weekend, three Stanley Cup Finals (2011, 2013, 2019), and four NBA Finals (2008, 2010, 2022, 2024).
The first six players from each team are expected to be announced Friday, June 28. Additional information, including ticket on-sale details, will be announced when available. Fans can sign up to receive information and updates at https://www.nhl.com/events/2025-nhl-4-nations-face-off.
