An avid hockey fan sits down to watch the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament. As the game goes on, the fan is interested in the amount of action and pride the players are showing. They begin to feel the tournament should replace the NHL All-Star game permanently due to its success. Because of its success, the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament should permanently replace the NHL All-Star game.
The 2025 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament replaced the traditional NHL All-Star game this season where teams played one round-robin game against each opponent, with the top two nations advancing to the final. The United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden competed in the entertaining tournament from Feb. 12 though Feb. 20 in Montreal and Boston. The tournament was meant to ease the players playing for their national teams for their return to the 2026 olympics, something players have not played in since the 2014 olympics. As the tournament went on, fans and players alike seemed to really enjoy the experience, unlike the recent decline of the annual All-Star game the NHL has held. This tournament really has the chance to bolster the game of hockey as a whole, and this tournament was a major success.
The first reason why the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament should replace the NHL All-Star game is because the NHL All-Star game’s format is not entertaining whatsoever. Ever since the 2016 season, the NHL changed the format of its All-Star game from a traditional five-on-five Western versus Eastern conference matchup to a four team three-on-three format with the teams being based on the four divisions within the league. Watching three-on-three hockey often becomes very boring at times, and fans no longer pick the players they want to see play in the game. The decision to move away from fan selected players has alienated many fans to no longer watch the All-Star game, and the game itself has seen very sharp declines in viewership the past five years.
According to Sports Business Journal, “The [2024] NHL All Star game drew just under 1.4 million viewers on ABC on Sunday afternoon from Toronto, down 7% from last year. The 4 nations tournament this year drew 16 million people to watch the championship game between the United States and Canada.”
The second reason why the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament should replace the NHL All-Star game is because fans and players showed an immense sense of pride playing in the tournament that didn’t exist in the NHL All-Star game. Within seconds of the United States playing Canada, there were multiple fights breaking out on the ice, and it was clear the players cared about representing their countries. In recent years, the All-Star game has been missing players with pride when participating, and it seems that players, especially the goalies, do not care about playing in the game, as the games are often high scoring with very little effort being put in by both teams. According to the New York Post, American Player Dylan Larkin said before playing team Canada, “You get nervous. You get nervous energy. Each guy has their own way of dealing with that. I’l try and treat as much as possible like a normal game, even though it’s going to be really hard tonight and tomorrow’s pregame.” The fans and players’ pride when watching the games was obvious, as Canadian fans also booed the American National Anthem pregame during the round-robin game.
The final reason the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament should replace the NHL All-Star game is because the game increases competition and meaning to the sports among players that can bolster the sport. In recent years, the NHL has been the least popular sport among the four major sports leagues in the United States. While this is because of a variety of issues, adding a majorly watched event should, as the 4-Nations tournament has the potential to, increase viewership of the NHL heavily outside of the tournament itself. It would be smart if the NHL got rid of its poorly viewed All-Star game and replaced it with a national tournament such as the 4-Nations to bolster fan enjoyment, rather than to keep feeding its fans boring events.
While some Hockey fans think the NHL All-Star game should be kept because it gives the league’s players a nice break and honors the best players in the league, this point is incorrect because the majority of NHL fans would agree that the All-Star game is now meaningless. The game’s current format is also a major turn-off for many fans, and unless those issues are fixed, it is likely the game will continue to struggle in the coming years.
Watching hockey as a fan should be something that is action packed and entertaining. The 4 Nations hockey tournament included both of these things to a very high degree, unlike the NHL All-Star game. Because of this, the 4 Nations tournament should replace the NHL All-Star game.