U.S.-Canada hockey game will be victory lap for NHL

The intrigue: In an era when top talent sitting out All-Star Games to avoid injury has become a tradition, the round-robin tournament's first U.S.-Canada contest featured three fights in the first nine seconds.

• Reporters later learned Team USA's J.T. Miller and brothers Brady and Matthew Tkachuck pre-planned the scrums.

Stunning stats: The tournament, which also featured teams from Sweden and Finland, drew some of the NHL's best ratings in a decade.

• More than 4.4 million viewers tuned in on ESPN for last week's U.S.-Canada contest — the most for a non-Stanley Cup Final game since 2019, the network said.
• The U.S.-Finland game drew more ESPN viewers (1.5 million) than last year's All-Star Game (1.4 million).

Meanwhile, the NBA's All-Star Game shake-up appears to have flopped with fans.

• Warriors star Draymond Green even dissed the format during an on-court interview.

How to watch: The U.S.-Canada rematch for the tournament title starts at 8pm ET at TD Garden in Boston on ESPN.

What's next: For now, this tournament is a one-off — the league's regular All-Star format returns next season.

• The real global hockey event comes next year when NHL players are competing in the Olympics for the first time since 2014.
• That tournament will also feature the world's top Russian and Czech players, who were snubbed from the 4 Nations Face-Off.