HC Jon Cooper gives insight into Canada's locker room discussion on political tension ahead of 4 Nations' final

By Tushaar Kuthiala

Modified Feb 20, 2025 19:44 GMT

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Team Canada coach Jon Cooper downplayed the recent geopolitical tension between Canada and the USA, which is coloring the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off final between the two nations.

Senior NHL writer Greg Wyshynski posted Cooper’s response to a question about US-Canada relations on X (formerly Twitter).

“Team Canada's Jon Cooper on whether the geo-political issues between his country and the U.S. has entered the locker room," Cooper said. “Other than the talk of (Canada becoming) the 51st state and then somebody saying, ‘Wow, we'd have one hell of a hockey team.’”

The geopolitical face-off between the historic allies stemmed from US President Donald Trump's threats to impose tariffs on Canadian imports to the USA. Trump has repeatedly said he wants to turn Canada into the 51st US state, even jokingly suggesting that hockey legend Wayne Gretzky would make a great “Governor of Canada.”

"I was with Wayne Gretzky," Trump said in January. "I said, 'Wayne, would you like to be the governor of Canada?’ I can't imagine anybody doing any better than Wayne. Wayne was not too interested. But I think he probably would have liked statehood. He's a friend of mine. He's a great guy. He's the great one. We call him The Great One, right? He's a great hockey player."

The two hockey teams had a fiery encounter on Saturday during the round-robin stage of the tournament. The USA won a technical defensive battle 3-1. However, the headlines were stolen by the three fights within the first 10 seconds of the game.

USA forward Matthew Tkachuk, along with his brother Brady and USA center J.T. Miller dropped gloves against Canada’s Brandon Hagel, Sam Bennet and Colton Parayko.

“The message we wanted to send is, ‘It’s our time right now,’” Matthew said after the game, via NHL.com.

Canada HC Jon Cooper hails 4 Nations Face-Off

The ongoing 4 Nations Face-Off tournament has smashed viewership records for hockey, easily surpassing the All-Star and NHL regular season numbers. Team Canada coach Jon Cooper hailed the tournament as being responsible for the revival of international hockey.

“Nothing’s done more for hockey in a decade than what this tournament’s done,” Cooper said on Wednesday, via RMNB.com

According to the NHL and its commissioner, Gary Bettman, the tournament is just the curtain-raiser for a whole slate of international hockey events, including hockey at the Olympics in 2026 and reviving the World Cup in 2028.