Trump call fuels tension ahead of Canada, U.S. final at 4 Nations Face-Off

BOSTON — Team USA general manager Bill Guerin popped on Fox News Monday, saying he’d love for President Donald Trump to fly to Boston to attend the 4 Nations Face-Off final against Canada. 

You know, the country the leader claims he wants to turn into the 51st state.

Trump won’t be inside the arena for Thursday’s politically charged hockey game. But, yes, he did call the American coaches and players at morning skate to wish them luck over Guerin’s cellphone, which the GM placed on speaker.

Did he mention wanting to annex Canada during the call, the way he did in his social-media post about the game?

Yes. 

“A little bit,” Guerin relayed to The Athletic’s Michael Russo. “But I would just try to focus on the message that he was giving us. I’ve said it before: We’re here to play hockey. This is not a political forum. This is a hockey tournament. And he’s just trying to be supportive in the best way that he could, and we appreciate it.”

Not a political forum, eh?

Here’s Noah Hanifin: “Hopefully we can get the win tonight for our country and for Trump.”

And J.T. Miller: “It was so awesome to get his support. It’s a pretty big deal for him to take time out of his schedule to talk to us for five minutes. It’s just another one of those things where we’re kind of pinching ourselves this tournament.”

And Kyle Connor: “It’s cool that he’s paying attention and he’s there for support. And it means a lot to a lot of guys here.”

And Brock Nelson: “Pretty incredible… For him to take time out of his day, wish us luck and talking about just enjoying the moment… It’s pretty special and something I’ll remember forever.”

Several players in both rooms declined to dig into the topic, though Canada’s Mitch Marner acknowledged, “sure,” the red team would be using that phone call as bulletin board material.

Brad Marchand — who has been vocal in asking that the anthems not be booed — said a ton with a little: “It’s much larger than just a game.”

U.S. coach Mike Sullivan described the call as “a distinct honour” and framed it as another indication of the tournament’s growing reach and escalated interest in the sport.

“We have a locker room full of full of proud Americans,” Sullivan said. “And when the President of the United States takes the time out of his busy schedule to say a few words to our guys, I know it meant a lot to every one of us.”

One man’s honour is another’s disrespect.

And while Team Canada is trying its damnedest to separate sport from everything else, the coaches and players have about as much control over that as the weather.

“I’m a hockey coach. Am I aware of what’s going on around the world? I am. I think when you’re in the position we’re in, to make a country proud, to make a country be able to stick its chest out a little bit farther, that’s rewarding. And we understand that,” Jon Cooper said.

“But — and I’m probably going to speak for the U.S. team — before that puck drops, I don’t think anybody will be thinking outside of this hockey game, other than winning that game.

“Do we all know what it means? We do. But that hasn’t entered our locker room. These guys are just all in it for each other and knowing that there’s an outcome we want, but there’s a process we need to go through to get that outcome. 

“And when it’s all said and done, if we pull this off, we’ll know what this will have meant for everybody at home.”

Cooper cooking up one heckuva speech

Coach Cooper has been “cooking up” his championship pre-game speech for 12 months now, yet he’s needed to make a series of edits based on how the action has unfolded over the past 10 days.

“Everybody should be proud, and the U.S. team included, in how their passion and want and will to win and compete on such an organic level has galvanized not only the political world, the sports world, everybody,” Cooper said.

“I’m not sure, at this point, not much needs to be said by me. We’ve built for this moment. We wanted to be in this moment. Now we’re here, and they know what they have to do to finish it off.”

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Drew Doughty has been in the league for 17 years. He’s never had a coach quite like Cooper.

“His meetings are always different. He has, like, different words and stuff, and he keeps you engaged when he’s talking,” Doughty says. “And then off the ice, he’s just a great guy, and I really enjoy him. Very good coach. Very direct on what he wants us to do.”

What are his pre-game talks like? 

“That’s where he gets you,” Doughty says. “I don’t even really know how to explain it, but he just keeps you, like, dialled into it the whole time — even if it drags on long. Sometimes other coaches can lose you a little bit, but he doesn’t lose anyone in the room. He’s got some special way. I don’t know what he’s doing, but he’s good at it.”

Could Kyle Connor get scratched?

Kyle Connor is a 30-goal man seven times over but has yet to shoot one in the net at 4 Nations, mustering a single assist and a minus-1 rating.

The American sniper skated just 8:32 in Saturday’s win over Canada and looks lost as a bottom-six winger. Chris Kreider, who was scratched for the first two games, is better suited to that role.

Connor was the last forward off at morning skate and said afterward he didn’t know if he’d be in Thursday’s lineup.

How does Connor assess his game? 

“It’s been fine,” he replied.

What does his coach think?

“Kyle’s had a mixed bag,” Sullivan said. “Obviously, we’d like to see him score. But he’s had moments when he’s been an impact player for us, and there’s been other moments where we’d like to see him get inside a little more and make more of an impact.”

Sullivan is still contemplating which winger to scratch. 

Connor is on the bubble. Another candidate is Brock Nelson.

4 Nations Face-Off MVP power rankings

1. Connor Hellebuyck, G, USA: The Americans haven’t lost a game the reigning Vezina champ has started (2-0, .957), and now Josh Morrissey’s Canadian teammates are asking him to reveal weaknesses. If Hellebuyck can indeed win the big one, he’s the favourite.

2. Sidney Crosby, C, CAN: The oldest player in the tournament has been Captain Clutch, icing the must-win over Finland and setting up three goals in the OT victory over Sweden. Crosby co-leads the tournament in scoring (1-4–5).

3. Zach Werenski, D, USA: Arguably the least-discussed stud of the tournament, the Blue Jackets’ Norris candidate leads everyone in assists (five) while logging more than 20 minutes a night. If the Americans get this done without Quinn Hughes, Werenski will be a huge reason.

4. Connor McDavid, C, CAN: The most dynamic player in a sea of them, Canada’s most-used forward has two goals, two assists, seven shots, and a chance to rebound from a gutting Game 7 last June.

5. Jake Guentzel, LW, USA: He’s played for both head coaches, is logging nearly 21 minutes per game, and is tied with another MVP candidate (Nathan MacKinnon, our No. 6) for the tournament lead in goals — none bigger than the five-hole snipe past Jordan Binnington in Montreal.

One-Timers:

• Seth Jarvis will draw into Canada’s lineup for Travis Konecny. 

That’s great news for the winger’s childhood hockey buddies, who piled into an SUV and drove 30 hours from Winnipeg after their flights got cancelled.

“Shows how crazy Canadians are,” Jarvis says. “This is probably the biggest game of my hockey career.”

• McDavid has been waiting 10 years for this. He says best-on-best every other year is great — and enough. These four games have been incredibly “taxing,” he said, pointing to the multiple injuries that have arrived before the NHL’s stretch run.

Even McDavid doesn’t want best-on-best to be an annual event. That’s good news for the all-star game, which isn’t going anywhere.

• Not that the players need extra motivation, but only winners of the 4 Nations Cup will receive a monetary bonus. The runners-up will only get an appearance fee, the same as Sweden and Finland.

That’s a switch from the 2016 World Cup, where silver medallists Team Europe also got a bump.

• Boston native Noah Hanifin, flashing a wide grin, estimates he’ll have 50 to 60 friends and family members in the barn Thursday: “It’s a lot, man.”

• Jon Cooper: “Any time you are in a position to win, don’t apologize for winning. You win as much as you can, as many times as you can.”

• Before answering questions Thursday, Sullivan acknowledged legendary Penguins broadcaster Mike Lange, who died Wednesday. He was 76. 

“Some of my greatest memories in hockey have Mike’s voice accompanied with those, and he certainly means the world to all of us in Pittsburgh,” Sullivan said. “We wish his family thoughts and prayers. Mike will be missed in Pittsburgh.”

Team Canada’s projected lineup:

Point – McDavid – Stone
Crosby – MacKinnon – Reinhart
Hagel – Cirelli – Marner
Marchand – Bennett – Jarvis

Toews – Makar 
Morrissey – Parayko
Sanheim – Doughty

Binnington starts
Hill

Team USA’s projected lineup:

Tkachuk – Eichel – Tkachuk
Guentzel – Matthews – Hughes
Miller – Larkin – Boldy
Kreider – Trochek – Nelson

Werenkski – Faber
Slavin – Fox
Hanifin – Sanderson

Hellebuyck starts
Oettinger

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