
It’s not quite The Olympics, but The Four Nations Tournament is an international competition and it’s fast approaching. Due to the geopolitical state of the world – the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine – The NHL cannot currently put together a full World Cup of Hockey. However, The League is trying to appease its players’ desires by getting back to some form of international play and that’s how The Four Nations Tournament was born.
In February of 2025, from the 12th to the 20th to be precise, The NHL will host the first-ever Four Nations Tournament. The four competing countries are Canada; Sweden; Finland; and The USA. Even though this is considered by many to be a watered-down version of The World Cup of Hockey, it is still an intriguing competition and we’re sure the action will be plentiful once the puck is dropped.
So, since the event is just over three months away and the jersey designs dropped roughly a week ago, Blittner’s Blue Line decided to catch up with Team USA General Manager, Bill Guerin to get some of his thoughts on how he’s putting the team together.
*Editor’s Note: Questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity.
HOW DO YOU BALANCE BEING THE GM FOR TEAM USA AND THE WILD?
Guerin: “I have great people around who help with the Wild and great help with Team USA people who I trust and believe in. They have great hockey minds; whenever you’re in a position like this, you never do things alone. It’s always a team effort. Like I said, I just have great people, who are around me all the time. So that’s how I do it.”
WHAT STYLE DO YOU WANT TEAM USA TO PLAY?
Guerin: “It’s kinda like how I feel about the Wild or any team that I think could be successful. You have to be able to play any style of hockey. You have to be able to play in tight, checking games. You have to be able to score goals at opportune times. You have to be able to kill penalties and you have to have good goaltending. It’s all those things that go into championship teams. You have to have really good balance.”
HOW CAN YOU PREPARE THE PLAYERS WITH SUCH LITTLE PRE-TOURNAMENT TIME?
Guerin: “That’s something we’ve talked about and there’s virtually no practice time. You look around and see the guys who have played in big games, who have gone far in the playoffs, who’ve won championships, who have good hockey sense and versatility. They can play multiple positions because yeah, we’re going to hit the ground running. A lot of this is gonna be the players being able to think their way through and gelling together at the right time.”
WHEN DO YOU EXPECT TO KNOW YOUR FULL ROSTER?
Guerin: “We’ll probably know it the day before (it’s due). We’ll use every second that we can to pick the team.”
CAN YOU IDENTIFY ANY PARTICULAR PLAYERS WHO YOU WANT ON THE TEAM?
Guerin: “There are a lot of players who we want to be on Team USA. It’s just a matter of, for us, there are so many good players now and that’s one of the beauties about this. The player pool for the US has grown over the last few years. It’s just a matter of finding the right mix.”
AUSTON MATTHEWS IS ONE OF THE TOP AMERICAN PLAYERS IN THE NHL, WILL HE BE THE TEAM CAPTAIN?
Guerin: “Auston Matthews is a veteran now. All these guys are really. There’s gonna be a few young guys probably. But that’s a decision we’re gonna make down the line. Again, it’s one of those things, most of the players in this tournament, no matter what team, probably most of ’em wear a letter with their respective NHL teams. So we’ve got some good people to choose from.”
photo by Sportsology