Canada will win 3-2.
That’s the prediction from Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube for the final score in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game on Thursday night in Boston.
One way or the other, Berube figured it’s going to be a close game between Canada and the United States. Perhaps.
“I’m sure it’s going to be a tight game,” Berube said on Thursday after the Leafs held an optional practice at the Ford Performance Centre. “You think it would be anyhow, but you never know.
“Everybody thought the Super Bowl was going to be tight (and it was not, as Philadelphia beat Kansas City 40-22). It’s why we have to play the games.”
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The subplot, of course, for Leafs Nation is the matchup involving Leafs captain Auston Matthews and his usual right winger, Mitch Marner. Neither has anything close on his National Hockey League resume (sorry for the reminder) as the title game.
One will come home floating, we presume. The other, you would think, will use the loss as some sort of motivation for the Leafs’ last 27 games of the 2024-25 regular-season schedule.
Will it be weird for the Leafs to see Matthews, the captain of the U.S., and Marner go head-to-head?
“Not really,” defenceman Chris Tanev said. “I don’t think so. I think they’re probably excited about it, to be honest. It’ll be a good test for for both teams.”
Tanev, Jake McCabe, Morgan Rielly and their families vacationed together during the break and the three Leafs watched the Canada-U.S. game, won 3-1 by the Americans, last Saturday.
“That first 10 seconds that everyone was talking about the last matchup (when there were three fights), it’s good stuff,” McCabe said. “It’s U.S.-Canada bad blood.
“I dropped my daughter off at school (on Thursday). There were some kids wearing Canadian jerseys and I should have chucked a USA jersey on her. It’s fun. It’s fun to talk about. It’s fun to feel the buzz around it.”
McCabe, who was captain of the U.S. world junior team in 2013, winning the gold medal in Ufa, Russia, is glad for the exposure the tournament has received in the U.S.
“Hockey has been the talk in the States and how successful the tournament has been,” said McCabe, a native of Eau Claire, Wisc. “It’s great to see as a fan of the game and growing our sport. That’s what we’ve been saying as players for a while now, is the best way to grow our sport is to be in the Olympics and showcase our best talent, best-on-best.
“I give a lot of credit to the guys playing in this tournament. Here I was sitting on the beach (last week), and they’re grinding away.
“The best players in the world are working their butts off and showing a lot of pride for their own country. It has been phenomenal all around.”
Tanev, a Toronto native, had a similar view.
“The Canada-U.S. game was incredible, probably the best game I’ve watched in some time, in any sport, not just hockey,” Tanev said. “A lot of people are talking about it. It’s great for the sport.”
Berube liked the work that the Canadian line of Anthony Cirelli between Marner and Brandon Hagel did in the win against Finland on Monday.
“They all work,” Berube said. “They’re all real good defensively. They all check well and they create chances off their work.”
Berube has confidence that Jordan Binnington can get the job done in net for Canada on Thursday night and provide enough saves to ensure victory. Berube would know, having coached the St. Louis Blues to the Stanley Cup in 2019 as Binnington recorded a .914 save percentage in 26 playoff games.
“He has always been a big-game goalie, for us anyhow, when I was there,” Berube said. “Going through the playoff run that year, Game 5 in Winnipeg, big win. Game 7 against Dallas at home, big win. Game 7 in Boston (to win the Cup), big win. He has done really well in big games.
“He has played pretty well. Goals go in, right? But he has made some big saves at big times for Canada.”
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