The Four Nations Cup is a tournament held every year around early November. Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the USA are the four teams who compete in the tournament. Shocker, I know. Canada has won four of the last six tournaments. It is a chance for players to gain international experience, against the best competition, before the World Championships in March and April.
Many players make their international debuts here. This year, the tournament is being held in Sweden. Each team will play three games in the round robin, before playing in the gold or bronze medal game. The round robin opens today, and the gold medal game will be held on Sunday.
Schedule
| Round | Date | Visitor | Home | Location | Start time |
| Preliminary | Wed Nov 4 | Canada | Finland | Sundsvall Energi Arena, Sundsvall | 10:00 AM EST |
| Preliminary | Wed Nov 4 | Sweden | United States | Sundsvall Energi Arena, Sundsvall | 1:30 PM EST |
| Preliminary | Thu Nov 5 | United States | Canada | Ånäshallen, Kovland | 1:00 PM EST |
| Preliminary | Thu Nov 5 | Sweden | Finland | Njurunda Ishall, Njurunda | 1:00 PM EST |
| Preliminary | Sat Nov 7 | Sweden | Canada | Sundsvall Energi Arena, Sundsvall | 7:00 AM EST |
| Preliminary | Sat Nov 7 | Finland | United States | Sundsvall Energi Arena, Sundsvall | 10:30 AM EST |
| Bronze | Sun Nov 8 | TBD | TBD | Sundsvall Energi Arena, Sundsvall | 5:00 AM EST |
| Gold | Sun Nov 8 | TBD | TBD | Sundsvall Energi Arena, Sundsvall | 8:30 AM EST |
The teams
Canada
There are many familiar names on Canada’s roster. Marie-Philip Poulin will captain the team, while Natalie Spooner, Meghan Agosta, and Lauriane Rougeau have been named alternate captains. All of them have competed in multiple Olypmic games. Other notables include Jennifer Wakefield, who has been playing with Boras HC, a Swedish men’s Division 2 team.
The youngest player on the roster is 17-year-old Sarah Potomak, who is a freshman with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. Other players who look to be making their National Team debuts include Sarah Nurse, and Sarah Lefort. Other Sarahs on the team include Sarah Davis and Sarah Edney. If you were to draw a Venn diagram of Canadian hockey players named Sarah, and Sarahs on the Team Canada roster, it would be a circle, probably.
This roster is a pretty good mix of youth and experience. It is good to see so many new faces playing for Canada internationally, especially as many of the old regulars on the National Team have already begun retiring. You can see Canada’s entire roster here.
USA
Canada and the U.S. have played each other for the gold medal 17 times in the 19-year history of the tournament. Chances are that will yet again be the case this year. There are many familiar names on their roster, including Hilary Knight and Brianna Decker.
The majority of their players play in the newly formed NWHL, while six more play for the Minnesota Whitecaps. Their roster skews a bit older than Canada’s, with only two college players, but they do have 17-year-old Presly Norby, who was added to the roster yesterday as a replacement for the injured Emily Janiga.
You can see Team USA’s roster here.
Sweden
The host country has had three third-place finishes in the last four years. Most of their players play in the Swedish women’s league, Riksserien. One, Maria Lindh, plays for the University of Minnesota Duluth. Their youngest player is Hanna Olsson, who is 16 years old. You can take a look at their roster here.
Finland
Finland’s team is backstopped by Noora Raty, one of the best goaltenders in the game. Most of their roster plays in SM-sarja, a Finnish women’s hockey league. They also have two players in the NCAA, one playing CIS hockey, and another playing in Russia. You can see find their roster here.
How to Watch
You can stream all of the games here. A month-long subscription will cost around $12 CAD, a pretty good deal for eight games.
