NHL: Nashville Predators at Toronto Maple Leafs - Source: Imagn — Mitch Marner on making Team Canada's 4 Nations Face-Off roster - Source: Imagn

Mitch Marner makes his feelings known after making Team Canada's 4 Nations Face-Off roster

Modified Dec 05, 2024 06:00 GMT

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner expressed his excitement after being named in Team Canada's roster for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.

The 23-man roster, announced on Wednesday, features many of Canada's top NHL stars, including Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and Brad Marchand.

"It's going to be a lot of fun. I'm really looking forward to it," said Marner after the Leafs' 3-2 win over Predators on Wednesday.

"It's going to be a very cool moment. You always want to wear your colors and it's always a great honor to represent your country. I'm super excited for it and super honored."

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The 4 Nations Face-Off will be held between Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston. The tournament will be in a round-robin format, also featuring Finland, Sweden, Canada, Sweden and the USA.

Canada’s first matchup will be on Feb. 12 against Sweden at the Bell Centre in Montreal. They will remain in Montreal to face the US three days later.

The tournament will continue in Boston where Canada meets Finland on Feb. 17. The two best teams will face each other in the final three days later at TD Garden.

Auston Matthews discusses Mitch Marner's performance

Leafs captain Auston Matthews shared his thoughts on linemate Mitch Marner's exceptional performance in the Maple Leafs' 3-2 victory over Nashville. The dynamic duo reunited on line in the third period, which proved decisive, with Matthews finding the net twice, while Marner led the offense with three assists.

"Mitchy drives so much play for us, does so much for us on both sides of the puck.

"When you see that, it's really encouraging. It sucks not to be out there but, just the faith you have in the guys that go out there and compete every night. We've got a great team so we wanna keep it going."

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Playing again in the same line seems to have injected fresh energy into Toronto's lineup.

"It's easy. He's obviously an incredible player and really easy to play with. We've logged a lot of minutes together, so we always have that familiarity and chemistry," Matthews said.

Matthews mentioned that it was nice to immediately find that rhythm with Mitch Marner and maintain it throughout the period. Matthews thought that they had many strong shifts together, which led to good opportunities, eventually contributed to the big win.