It did not take long for the most highly-anticipated international hockey game in years to come to a head–nine seconds, in fact. After those nine seconds, the penalty boxes at the Bell Centre in Montréal, Canada were filled to the brim. The United States’ box featured the Tkachuk brothers–Brady and Matthew–along with J.T. Miller, while Canada’s housed Brandon Hagel, Sam Bennett, and Colton Parayko. All six players were assessed five-minute major penalties for fighting.

This was the second game for both countries in the Four Nations’ Face-Off tournament, the NHL’s 2025 replacement for the All-Star Game. Canada squeaked past Sweden in their opener with an overtime victory, 4-3, on the back of three Sidney Crosby assists, while the United States scored four third-period goals to defeat Finland 6-1 in their opener. Neither of those games would hold a candle to the intensity of the USA-Canada rivalry, especially during such a politically-charged time.

Canada had won 26-consecutive “best-on-best” international hockey games with Sidney Crosby in the lineup, stretching all the way back to February 2010, entering Saturday’s contest. The USA usually played second fiddle to their northern neighbors, but there was a feeling that this was the best American team in some time.

The three fights in the opening seconds of the game were merely a harbinger of things to come. The entire 60 minutes were a war. Skaters clad in red and blue alike were plastered into the glass all night. A huge hit on Connor McDavid immediately led to Jake Guentzel’s goal that tied the game at 1. Brady Tkachuk hit Drew Doughty so hard that Angels’ third-baseman Anthony Rendon needed hip surgery after watching it.

Beyond the physicality, the quality of the hockey itself was immaculate. When Canada was down 2-1 in the waning moments with their goalie pulled, they had six skaters on the ice: Connor McDavid (3x MVP, 5x NHL points leader), Sidney Crosby (2x MVP, 2x NHL points leader), Nathan MacKinnon (2024 MVP), Sam Reinhart (2024 Stanley Cup champion and 50+ goal scorer), Mitch Marner (3x NHL All-Star), and Josh Morrissey. That is an absolutely ridiculous group of players to have on the ice at one time.

Yet, the USA survived, largely due to the stellar play of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, the odds-on favorite to win the Vezina trophy for best goalie in the NHL, as he stopped 25 of the 26 shots he faced, many of which were high-danger chances. The United States went into Canada, beat them at their own sport, and ended a streak of 26-consecutive victories in “best-on-best” tournaments.

The most noticeable aspect of the Four Nations tournament thus far is the intensity. Whereas the annual NHL All-Star Game is a half-assed, 15-12 final score thing that no one cares to watch (or even play in, for that matter), this inaugural international tourney is the pinnacle of competitive spirit. You would never see players drop the gloves in an all-star game. The players actually care about this tournament. They care about the logo on the front of their sweater and the country that they represent. They really could not care less about representing their division in a random American (or Canadian) city in the middle of February in previous years, though.

All-star games, in general, are stupid. First of all, why are we selecting all-stars in the middle of the year? Is it only your performance in the first couple months of a season that counts? Take former Pirates’ pitcher Jeff Locke, for example. He made an all-star game in 2013. In his first 18 starts that year, he had a 2.15 ERA. Over the next eight, his ERA was 8.10, and he was so bad that he was demoted to double-A Altoona. The one thing about the NFL Pro Bowl that makes it better than the other all-star games is that it is played after the season, so there is some semblance of finality, at least.

The NBA All-Star Game was played yesterday. On a three-hour broadcast, only 42 minutes of actual basketball were played. The day before, one of the teams in the Skills Challenge was disqualified for cheating, as Victor Wembanyama did not actually make concerted attempts to hit shots. This is the product that the league displays for their all-star game.

In my opinion, the Premier League does it best. At the end of the season, they select a “Team of the Season” and simply give the players awards. No game needs to be played, no time needs to be wasted, no money needs to be burned. The best of the best get recognized, but they do not have to half-ass their way through a bullshit exhibition game.

I obviously would love to have the Four Nations tournament in lieu of the NHL All-Star Game every year, but that would likely cause it to lose its luster. Regardless, all sports should do away with the actual event itself–it is archaic, boring, and a joke. Stop wasting everyone’s time and money and laughing in our faces.