4 Nations notes: Injured Americans return
Some updates ahead of Thursday night's big Canada-U.S. game
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As Canada and the United States gear up for their highly anticipated rematch, here are some updates for the 4 Nations Face-Off final on Thursday night in Boston.
Two of the U.S.'s three injured forwards were back at practice today.
Auston Matthews (upper body) and Matthew Tkachuk (lower body) both missed the Americans' meaningless round-robin finale against Sweden on Monday, while Brady Tkachuk (lower body) called it a night after crashing into the net in the first period. Matthew Tkachuk also sat out the final 12 minutes of the U.S.'s 3-1 win over Canada on Saturday night after he and Brady instigated two of the three fights in the opening nine seconds of the game.
It sounds like they'll all play on Thursday. Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk both practiced today, with the latter indicating he's good to go and the former declaring there's "no way" he'd miss the final. Brady Tkachuk did not practice today, but head coach Mike Sullivan said he expects him to play while Matthew Tkachuk said his younger brother is "saving everything he has for tomorrow night and I'm very confident he'll be at his absolute best."
Charlie McAvoy remains hospitalized.
Yesterday, Sullivan confirmed that McAvoy (who happens to be his son-in-law) won't play in the final due to the injury that kept the defenceman out of Monday's game against Sweden.
The head team doctor for the Boston Bruins, McAvoy's NHL team, said today that McAvoy hurt his right shoulder last Thursday against Finland. "Increasing pain" led McAvoy to seek treatment from the Bruins' medical staff after the tournament shifted from Montreal to Boston, and the Bruins' doctors diagnosed an infection in the shoulder in addition to a "significant injury to his AC joint."
McAvoy, who played Saturday against Canada and put a big hit on Connor McDavid with his right shoulder, underwent a procedure to clean up the infection yesterday and remained in the hospital as of this morning, according to the Bruins doctor.
WATCH | Canada beats Finland to secure rematch with U.S. in 4 Nations final:
Quinn Hughes is in limbo.
After confirming that McAvoy was done for the tournament yesterday, Sullivan created a stir by announcing that Hughes was on his way to Boston as a potential emergency replacement. The reigning Norris Trophy winner was among the U.S. team's initial six picks back in June, but he pulled out after missing the Vancouver Canucks' last four games due to an injury.
It turned out that Hughes was not on his way to Boston at all. He practised with the Canucks in Vancouver a few hours after Sullivan's comments.
It appears Hughes does not want to fly across the continent unless there's a real chance he'll play on Thursday. Tournament rules state that teams may call up and dress a replacement player only if they dip below six defencemen or 12 forwards, and the U.S. still has six healthy blue-liners after McAvoy's exit. So, Hughes would only be allowed to play if another American defenceman becomes unavailable because of injury or illness. "I want to play," Hughes said. "But, from what I can understand, the rules are the rules."
U.S. general manager Bill Guerin said today that the team is still working on bringing Hughes out to Boston in case of emergency.
WATCH | Tempers flare between Canada, U.S. in 4 Nations round-robin play:
Canada is healthy-ish.
Top defenceman Cale Makar returned Monday from the illness that kept him out of Saturday's tilt with the U.S. and saw a team-high 23:57 of ice time in Canada's 5-3 win over Finland. But the Canadians remain without two of the country's top four blue-liners after Alex Pietrangelo pulled out prior to the 4 Nations with an unspecified "ailment" and his Vegas Golden Knights partner Shea Theodore suffered a tournament-ending wrist injury in Canada's opening win over Sweden.
There was some doubt about Sidney Crosby's status heading into the 4 Nations after he missed the Pittsburgh Penguins' last two games with an upper-body injury. But the 37-year-old captain has been terrific, setting up three goals in the opener and notching a goal and an assist against the Finns to give him a tournament-high five points.
Canada is "playing for the flag, not the cameras."
Forward Brandon Hagel delivered that barb yesterday, adding "we don't have any group chats going on." The comments were a not-so-subtle dig at the Tkachuks, who texted their teammates about their plans to drop the gloves at the start of the game, according to Brady.
Hagel (vs. Matthew) and Sam Bennett (vs. Brady) fought the Tkachuk bros more or less to a draw despite giving up more than 20 and 30 pounds, respectively, in their matchups.
The Americans want Donald Trump at the game.
Guerin, the U.S. GM, went on Fox News on Monday and told the hosts it would be great if the tariff-threatener-in-chief showed up in Boston on Thursday night. "We would love it if President Trump was in attendance," Guerin said.
Since his inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump has already attended the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500.
