Before the puck dropped on the 4 Nations Face-Off final between the United States and Canada, it was clear that the NHL and NHLPA created a big hit with its return to best-on-best competition.

Players on both sides called Thursday’s game in Boston the biggest of their lives.

Coaches marveled at the speed and pace on display all throughout the tournament, and the 3-2 overtime win for Canada in the final was no exception.

A replacement for the NHL All-Star Game? No way.

“Anybody that thought they were going to come in here and see an all-star game was sorely, sorely mistaken,” Canada and Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper said prior to the title game. “This has been anything but. It’s been all stars, but it has not been an all-star game.”

The fans responded in a major way, with the round-robin games drawing an average of 4.6 million viewers across North America. A whopping 10.1 million watched last Saturday’s initial U.S.-Canada clash, marking the largest audience for a non-playoff game since the fourth-ever Winter Classic in 2011 at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field.

The tournament was a who’s who of NHL stars, featuring 28 different Stanley Cup-winning players, 16 winners of major league awards and six former No. 1 overall draft picks. 

The likes of Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby—now a six-time champion in international best-on-best play—finally got back on the grand stage, doing anything possible for their respective nations.  

Really, how could fans not respond?

“Just from a hockey purist or a hockey fan in general, it’s hard not to get excited about what we’re witnessing,” said U.S. coach Mike Sullivan, who is typically behind Crosby’s bench with the Penguins. “It’s all of the things you hope for in sports, and that’s why we love it. (The sport is) on display right now and I have to believe this tournament is going to have a lasting impact.”

Of course, it was a shining showcase of young talents like Sweden’s Leo Carlsson, the Anaheim Ducks’ No. 2 overall pick two years ago, and 22-year-old American defenseman Brock Faber of the Minnesota Wild.

And while it was not hard to imagine recent No. 1 overall picks like the Chicago Blackhawks’ Connor Bedard and San Jose Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini donning the maple leaf sweater in a future tournament like this, the real winners were those watching in awe.

In some ways, it was 1980’s Miracle on Ice all over again in terms of an impact on the sport as a whole.

“It’s pretty cool to think about the next generation and how much this might mean to them,” said U.S. goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner for the Winnipeg Jets.

After two Olympic Winter Games without NHL participation, the players—like Canadian forward and Florida Panthers alternate NHLPA rep Sam Reinhart—have advocated for this type of return for years. 

What a return it was. And what an appetizer for Milano Cortina 2026 it was, too.

“It only helps the game; it only helps the league,” Reinhart said. “We both respect what each side is doing from a league and a player standpoint. We both want to push the needle forward, and that’s what an event like this is doing. Certainly a win-win.”

The international flavor will not be over following next year’s Olympics, as the NHL and NHLPA have already announced initial plans for the return of a World Cup of Hockey in 2028. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman expects at least eight teams to participate in that tournament, with games possible outside of North America.

What else is on the horizon for the NHL remains to be seen. If another event like the 4 Nations Face-Off comes around, though, hockey fans certainly would not mind. 

And there’s no doubt that players would fall in the same boat as well.

“It would be hard for anybody who watched this tournament not to get excited about participating in it. If you love hockey, it would be hard not to get excited about this,” Sullivan said. “It was just an incredible privilege to be a part of it, quite honestly. And the hockey might have been the best hockey that I’ve ever been associated with. It certainly was the fastest, without a doubt. 

If anything has stood out over the past couple of weeks, it’s that best-on-best is the best.