"Slap in the face": Andy Strickland slams league for 4 Nations Face-Off excluding likes of Kucherov, Draisaitl and other 

By Abhishek Dilta

Modified Feb 08, 2024 07:26 GMT

In a recent segment of "The Cam and Strick" podcast, co-host Andy Strickland slammed the NHL for its 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, which will take place in February next year.

The league announced last week the addition of a new event, the 4 Nations Face-Off, for the 2024-25 season. It is going to be an international event featuring players from four countries: Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden going against each other from Feb. 12-20, 2025.

Strickland expressed his disappointment that some of the world-class players, such as Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak and Leon Draisaitl won't be able to participate in the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament only because their countries are not included.

On the pod, Strickland said:

"You've got Kucherov leading the NHL in scoring. Pastrnak is obviously one of your biggest and brightest superstars. Roman Josi is one of your best defensemen; you've got four of your top eight goaltenders, probably in the NHL right now, being European or being from Russia.

"Hey, listen, last time I checked Russian, Czechia players, they all paid their dues to the NHLPA. This is an NHL and NHLPA event. I've talked to a number of agents, NHL executives, and players I texted as well. People are pissed off about this. It's a slap in the face, man. It's so unnecessary."

Strickland added:

"When you look at how many countries make up the National Hockey League, you're going to stop the league. You're just going to stop it and only have four countries participate in the tournament? It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Draisaitl cannot participate, what?"

The tournament will follow a traditional round-robin format. A team will receive three points for a regulation win, two points for a shootout/overtime win, one point for a defeat and zero points for a regulation loss.

Each of the four countries taking part in the tournament will be comprised of 23 players selected by their respective hockey associations. The games will be held in two cities, one each in the US and Canada.

David Pastrnak expressed disappointment about countries excluded from the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament

Along with the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, the NHL also announced the participation of players in the 2026 Winter Olympics and the 2030 Olympic Ice Hockey Tournament.

While there was optimism about the other tournaments, the announcement of the Nations Face-Off tournament certainly did not appear to please Boston Bruins star David Pastrnak.

The Czech native expressed his disappointment about the exclusion of countries from taking part in the international event. According to NHL insider Mark Lazarus, Pastrnak said:

"Guys from the countries excluded from next year's Four Nations tournament are 'sad and pissed,' but he understood the quick turnaround makes a larger tournament more challenging."

Lazarus added that they are looking forward to the Olympics and World Cups.