Tkachuk brothers, Auston Matthews expected to suit up in 4 Nations ...

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With Charlie McAvoy on the shelf, Quinn Hughes makes his way to Boston

Published Feb 18, 2025  •  4 minute read

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Team USA must overcome injuries to bring home the title at the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off — but help is in on the way.

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As if the task weren’t difficult enough, the American squad has been hit hard by its share of bumps and bruises as it prepares to face Team Canada in the final on Thursday night at the TD Garden in Boston.

Not only did Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk leave the club’s 2-1 loss to Team Sweden on Monday night, but the U.S. already was without Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews, Florida Panthers alternate captain Matthew Tkachuk and defenceman Charlie McAvoy.

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Sullivan told reporters in Boston on Tuesday that he fully expects Matthews, along with Brady and Matthew Tkachuk, to play in the final against Canada — but not all the news was good.

The Boston Bruins announced on Tuesday that McAvoy won’t play in the final.

“Charlie was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital on Monday to undergo testing related to an upper-body injury sustained during the 4 Nations Face-Off and is currently being evaluated by Boston Bruins head team physician Dr. Peter Asni,” the Bruins said.

Vancouver Canucks blueliner Quinn Hughes, who was unable to suit up in the tourney, was en route to Boston because of the injury to McAvoy.

“We’re taking each day as it comes. We’re just going to take it one day at a time. we’ll see what potential options will be available for the championship game and make decisions accordingly from there,” Sullivan said.

The National Hockey League says Hughes can’t suit up unless an American player is injured, but the flu has been running through the dressing rooms at this tourney, so you never know.

In addition, the Americans were short on players in the final game against Sweden, so Sullivan may use 11 forwards and seven defencemen for this one.

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That doesn’t mean the Americans won’t miss McAvoy.

“Just his leadership. He’s such a phenomenal teammate,” defenceman Noah Hanifan said. “He’s a great hockey player with the physicality that he brings and how hard he plays every shift. That’s contagious for every player on the team and we’re going to miss that a lot on Thursday.”

The States won’t let injuries be an excuse as it prepares to face its arch-rival for the second time in less than a week after the Americans scored a 3-1 victory over Team Canada on Saturday night in Montreal.

That game started with the Tkachuk brothers kicking off the night with two fights in three seconds, then J.T. Miller dropped the gloves six seconds later to make sure Canadians knew the Americans came to play.

Brandon Hagel, Sam Bennett and Colton Parayko, respectively, were willing participants in the planned attack.

“What I did was for the flag, not the cameras,” Hagel said on Tuesday. “That’s a part of Canada that we have in there. We don’t need to initiate anything. We don’t have any group chats going on.

“We’re going out there playing our game and then giving it everything and doing it for our country. We don’t need to initiate everything, we’re just going to play as hard as we can and do it for the flag on the chest.”

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Hagel was confident this best-on-best would bring out the best.

‘I was thinking to myself laying in bed the night before the (first) game, ‘If this is going to be like an all-star type of thing, then I’m going to be so out of place because I’m putting my head through a wall tomorrow.’ That was my mentality,” Hagel added.

Coach Jon Cooper says this game will add another layer to this great rivalry.

“We came here for this purpose and now it’s win one more game,” Cooper said. “It just happens to be against the team that beat us after the fireworks that went off on Saturday night, so I think it should be a pretty good made-for-TV event.”

The American players, who want to show the rest of the hockey world that they are the top nation in the game, know Canada will be a tough test.

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“They’re a heck of a team and it was such a great game Saturday, and we’re gonna have to match that compete level and be ready for those guys,” U.S. forward Dylan Larkin said.

“They’re gonna be extremely hungry. And they don’t want to lose two to us, and they want to win as well. It’s going to be a competitive hockey game. I think there’ll be some nerves, but I hope it’s that level that it was in Montreal.”

Captain Sidney Crosby said, given what happened Saturday, this will be an intense matchup.

“You look at the last game and the intensity, both teams got to know each other pretty well quickly. It’ll be a great challenge,” Crosby said.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

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