4 Nations Face-Off Live Blog: Canada vs. Sweden

7:48 p.m. ET

We are getting closer to puck drop and this place is buzzing.

The first time they showed Connor McDavid on the jumbotron during warmups a huge cheer went out.

For housekeeping purposes, it appears forward Sam Bennett, defenseman Travis Sanheim and goalie Sam Montembeault are the scratches for Canada and forward Leo Carlsson, defenseman Rasmus Andersson and goalie Samuel Ersson are the scratches for Sweden.

By the way, not only are we anticipating this game tonight we are prepping for a monster snowstorm tonight in Montreal. They are talking about 1-2 feet of snow.

Team NHL.com has walked to the Bell Centre from our hotel each day, but we have already scouted out taking the Metro, which is a fancy word for subway.

7:30 p.m. ET

Warmups have begun; Canada and Sweden are on the ice and the anticipation is building.

Jordan Binnington led Canada onto the ice while Filip Gustavsson did the same for Sweden. The cheers for Canada were quite loud as you would expect.

By the way, in case you were wondering, Canada is actually the road team for this game, meaning Sweden will get the last change, which could be big in a game that is expected to be tight.

I'm not sure if this is a good omen for Canada, but playing in the media dinning room a few minutes ago was "Money, Money, Money" from Sweden's own ABBA.

And right before the teams took the ice, "Dancing Queen" from ABBA played.

I promise, I'm not the Bell Centre DJ.

Speaking of the media dinning room, throughout these three game days and nights in Montreal, we are going to keep count of how many hot dogs or "chien chauds" NHL.com senior director of editorial Shawn P. Roarke will eat. We're at 1 and counting. On the bus ride to the rink today he asked out loud if a person could die from hot dog poisoning. I think we're about to find out.

7 p.m. ET

We are about an hour away from the start of the 4 Nations Face-Off and I think it’s safe to say it’s like Christmas Eve in this town – heck this entire country -- with the excitement and anticipation at an all-time high.

The players are ready, the fans are ready. This is going to be epic.

Don’t believe me, just ask the players. NHL.com columnist Nick Cotsonika wrote today about just intense and meaningful this tournament will be.

And if you love international best-on-best hockey, you got more good news Wednesday with the NHL and NHLPA officially announcing the World Cup of Hockey 2028. Here is our story.

As for the game Wednesday, the biggest news so far for the home country was the announcement of Jordan Binnington as the starting goalie for Canada on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see how much leash he gets. If there is one question mark about Canada in this tournament, it’s the goaltending. Let’s see if Binnington repays the faith of the management team.

As for Sweden, they are without Jacob Markstrom of the New Jersey Devils, leaving their goaltending a bit in limbo. This morning we found out that Filip Gustavsson of the Minnesota Wild will start for Sweden.

The fans are starting to get out of the cold and file into the building and the countdown has begun. I’ll be back in a little bit.