As of Monday, February 10, the NHL is on a two-week break as the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off is taking place. This international competition is serving as a replacement for the traditional NHL-All Star game, seeing many of the best players in the league represent their country — specifically Canada, Finland, USA and Sweden. But how, when and where can you watch 4 Nations action? We’re here to help.
From Wednesday, February 12, through Thursday, February 20, the four teams will play three round robin games each to determine the top two that will then play in the championship game. Among some of the participants hoping to earn bragging rights for their country are NHL stars Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon for Team Canada; Sebastian Aho, Aleksander Barkov and Patrik Laine for Team Finland; Elias Petterson, Victor Hedman and Erik Karlsson for Team Sweden; and the Tkachuk brothers (Brady and Matthew), Auston Matthews and Connor Hellebuyck for Team USA.
4 Nations games will be available on both TV and streaming, so here are all the details you need to know on how to watch the 4 Nations tournament.
How to watch 4 Nations in the US
Just like they do for the NHL regular season, ABC, ESPN and TNT are going to be the broadcast homes for the 4 Nations Face-Off in the US; when games are on TNT they will be simulcast on truTV. Each game will also be available to stream; ESPN Plus when ABC/ESPN is the broadcast network and Max when TNT has got the game.
ABC, ESPN, TNT and truTV are all available to consumers through a traditional pay-TV provider and/or live TV streaming services like Fubo (ABC, ESPN), Hulu with Live TV (ABC, ESPN, TNT, truTV), Sling TV (ABC in select markets, ESPN, TNT, truTV) and YouTube TV (ABC, ESPN, TNT, truTV). ABC is the only one of these options that can be received via a TV antenna.
In terms of the streaming service, both are available to sign up for as standalone subscriptions. ESPN Plus is also available directly through Hulu with Live TV and can be paired with Disney Plus and Hulu through the Disney Bundle. Max, meanwhile, can be an add-on to YouTube TV and Prime Video.
How to watch 4 Nations in Canada
Those in Canada looking to watch 4 Nations will have two options to do so. All games are going to be available on both Sportsnet or TVAS.
How to watch 4 Nations from everywhere else
If you're going to be away from your normal TV setup but still want to watch 4 Nations, you might run into some problems. Thankfully, you can solve this exact issue with a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
A VPN lets you change your IP address to that of the area of what you want to watch, meaning you can tune in to your favorite show, game or other content even if you're not there. Our favorite is NordVPN, which is the No. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar.
How to use a VPN to watch any stream
- Download the app at NordVPN
- Choose the location of the streaming service you want to watch (UK, US, etc)
- Navigate to the streaming service and start watching!
4 Nations TV schedule
Here is the schedule for the entire 4 Nations tournament and the US networks/streamers they are airing on:
Wednesday, February 12
- Canada vs Sweden, 8 pm ET/5 pm PT on TNT, truTV & Max
Thursday, February 13
- United States vs Finland, 8 pm ET/5 pm PT on ESPN & ESPN Plus
Saturday, February 15
- Finland vs Sweden, 1 pm ET/10 am PT on ABC & ESPN Plus
- United States vs Canada, 8 pm ET/5 pm PT on ABC & ESPN Plus
Monday, February 17
- Canada vs Finland, 1 pm ET/10 am PT on TNT, truTV & Max
- Sweden vs United States, 8 pm ET/5 pm PT on TNT, truTV & Max
Thursday, February 20
- Championship game, 8 pm ET/5 pm PT on ESPN & ESPN Plus
4 Nations format
The 4 Nations Face-Off is a round-robin tournament. Each team will play three games, one against each opponent. Teams earn three points for a win in regulation, two points for a win in overtime/shootout, one point for a loss in overtime/shootout and no points for a loss in regulation. The games will be played in accordance with NHL rules.
The two teams with the most points from the round-robin games will advance to the final, where the winner will be the 4 Nations Face-Off champion.
4 Nations locations
The 4 Nations tournament is taking place in Montreal and Boston. The first two games for each team (taking place from February 12-February 15) will be played at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The final round-robin game on February 17 and the championship game on February 20 will be played at TD Garden in Boston.
4 Nations teams
Here are the full rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off:
Team Canada
- Forwards: Sam Bennett, Anthony Cirelli, Sidney Crosby, Brandon Hagel, Seth Jarvis, Travis Konecny, Nathan MacKinnon, Brad Marchand, Mitch Marner, Connor McDavid, Brayden Point, Sam Reinhart, Mark Stone
- Defense: Cale Makar, Josh Morrissey, Colton Parayko, Travis Sanheim, Shea Theodore, Devon Toews
- Goalies: Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill, Sam Montembeault
Team Finland
- Forwards: Sebastian Aho, Joel Armia, Aleksander Barkov, Mikael Granlund, Erik Haula, Roope Hintz, Kaapo Kakko, Patrik Laine, Artturi Lehkonen, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, Miko Rantanen, Teuvo Teravainen
- Defense: Henri Jokiharju, Esa Lindell, Olli Maatta, Niko Mikkola, Rasmus Ristolainen, Urho Vaakanainen, Juuso Valimaki
- Goalies: Kevin Lankinen, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Juuse Saros
Team Sweden
- Forwards: Viktor Arvidsson, Jesper Bratt, Leo Carlsson, Joel Eriksso Ek, Filip Forsberg, Adrian Kempe, Elias Lindholm, William Nylander, Gustav Nyquist, Elias Pettersson, Lucas Raymond, Rickard Rakell, Mika Zibanejad
- Defense: Rasmus Andersson, Jonas Brodin, Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Ekholm, Gustav Forsling, Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson
- Goalies: Samuel Ersson, Filip Gustavsson, Linus Ullmark
Team USA
- Forwards: Matt Boldy, Kyle Connor, Jack Eichel, Jake Guentzel, Jack Hughes, Chris Kreider, Dylan Larkin, Auston Matthews, J.T. Miller, Brock Nelson, Brady Tkachuk, Matthew Tkachuk, Vincent Trocheck
- Defense: Brock Faber, Adam Fox, Noah Hanifin, Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy, Jaccob Slavin, Zach Werenski
- Goalies: Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, Jeremy Swayman
