Gretzky Sparks Controversy

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The recent 4 Nations Face-off finale between Team Canada and Team USA has been steeped in politics, with hockey fans wanting to keep politics out of sports. However, the lead up to the game was marked by controversy, including a misquoted article about USA GM Bill Guerin and the attendance of Wayne Gretzky at a private Donald Trump event. Gretzky, who is arguably the greatest hockey player of all time, was introduced as the honorary captain of Team Canada, but his appearance drew some ire on social media due to his association with President Donald Trump.

The Four Nations Face-off was a huge success, with the NHL reporting an average of 4.6 million viewers watching the six round-robin games across North America, a 226% increase on the last comparable competition. The USA-Canada game on Saturday averaged more than 10 million viewers across North America, more than any non-Stanley Cup Final game since 2014. The tournament served as a sort of appetizer for the upcoming Winter Olympics, and it was scintillating and far-removed from the usual middling effort that comes during normal All-Star games.

The games between the US and Canada were full of fireworks, from the three fights in the first nine seconds of Saturday's showdown in Montreal all the way to Canada's Jordan Binnington standing on his head in overtime of Thursday's final. The players were clearly invested in the tournament, with many saying it was akin to playing in a Stanley Cup Final game. The question that now looms over the NHL is whether to do this tournament again in the near future, with the 2025-26 season set to be interrupted for the Winter Olympics.

Here are the match scores for the 4 Nations Face-off:

• USA vs Canada: 4-3 (OT)
• Canada vs Sweden: 5-2
• USA vs Finland: 3-2
• Sweden vs Finland: 4-1

The tournament was a massive overachievement for both the NHL and hockey writ large, and it will be interesting to see if it becomes a permanent part of the sporting calendar. The NHL has some time to figure out whether it wants to lean into that success in the coming years.

The controversy surrounding Wayne Gretzky's appearance as Team Canada's honorary captain has sparked a wider debate about the intersection of sports and politics. While some fans want to keep politics out of sports, others see it as an opportunity for athletes to use their platforms to make a statement. The Four Nations Face-off has shown that hockey can be a powerful tool for bringing people together, even in the face of political tensions.

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