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The last time the United States faced Finland was a U17 international exhibition match played on April 10, 2017, at ZS Spisska Nova Ves in a 5-2 result. While it may not be relevant to the first 4 Nations match between the two sides, both teams USA and Finland will shoot to showcase their skill.
There’s a lot at stake in this World-Cup style hockey tournament, which is why we’ll give you the full rundown on the first match between USA and Finland, including what both sides are looking like before the game, key players that may have an impact, and overall team strategies, so stay tuned.
Team USA men’s hockey last played in the Beijing 2022 Olympics, 5th place behind upcoming opponents of Finland who’d take home the gold. They performed relatively well at the start of the tournament, placing in rank 1D at the top of group A with 9 points and advancing directly to the quarter-finals where they faced Slovakia, ultimately losing 3-2. The men’s team (non-youth) has not played in any matches since then, as all players included in this year’s 2025 4 Nations roster have been on heavy duty during the NHL season.
This year’s roster includes one of the few players from a very successful World U17 Men’s Hockey Challenge gold medal run in 2017 known as Brady Tkachuk, a forward for the Ottawa Senators with 21 goals and 23 assists so far this season. His brother, Matthew Tkachuk, forward for the Florida Panthers, rivals his stat line with 22 goals and 35 assists. The US will be content in knowing they’ve got a deadly arsenal up front for scoring goals, especially with Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor and his lethal 2024/2025 season currently with 30 goals and 39 assists.
They’ll be fortified at the back line as well, with superstar defender for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Zach Werenski, coming in with 17 goals and 42 assists, helping keep pucks out of the net, along with starting goaltender and #1 ranked in the NHL currently, Connor Hellebuyck for the Winnipeg Jets with 34 wins and 7 losses for his team this NHL season.
Team Finland’s performance in the Beijing 2022 Olympics was slightly better than Team USA’s, and even though they placed in rank 2D at the end of group play, Finland would beat Switzerland in the quarter-finals 5-1, advancing to the Semis vs Slovakia, where’d they achieved a 2-0 victory before taking home the gold medal for the first time in their history in a 2-1 final against Russia. If Finland keeps the same core and fundamentals from their championship-winning team in 2022, they will most likely find success in this 4 Nations tournament.
Similar to USA’s professional lineup, team Finland has a lot of this year’s top-performing NHL players, starting with Colorado Avalanche/Carolina Hurricanes forward Mikko Rantanen with 26 goals and 40 assists this season. His teammates, Sebastian Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes and Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers are also having exceptional seasons with 20 goals and 35 assists to 14 goals and 38 assists.
Finland will look to one of their top defenseman, Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars to help lock down their defensive line, although he’s still battling a knee injury and is on a month-to-month tentative play status. When it comes to keeping goals out of the net, it’ll most likely be Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen’s job as the last line of defense with his 20 wins and 15 losses this NHL season.
Finland will be at an all-time high mentality as they are the most recent prominent championship-winning team to beat, but that said, the United States has hand-selected some of the top-performing offensive and defensive players from the NHL this season, so they will have a lot more to work with on the ice.
Pound for pound, the United States goaltender, offensive line, and defensive line are all more solid in terms of raw stats from this NHL season, partially due to the fact the US most likely has a larger pool of players to select from compared to their Finland opponents. All-in-all, the USA should take this one, as it’s been a long time coming since we’ve seen US men’s hockey perform at its best at an international level, and what better way to showcase their potential than against the previous 2022 Winter Olympics gold medalists?
Liam has been a major sports fan and soccer player for over a decade, with a particular focus on major top-level soccer leagues, including the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and MLS. He has written numerous promotional articles for various top sportsbooks and continues to publish historical and factual sports articles covering the NFL, MLS, NHL, MLB, EPL and more.