Avs Trio and Canada Win 4 Nations Thriller

Crosby shines, Mack scores, and Cale/Devon play... a lot.

As you can see, we took a few days off here around “Dater on Avalanche.”

Following the win in Edmonton, the players have some time off, so why can’t we?

Dater is doing Dater things, while this break actually fell during my busiest time of year at work, so it’s been good to step away from writing for a few days. But I figured I would break our radio silence with a brief write-up during my time home with two young kids screaming ‘Wicked’ songs while building legos on this lovely snow day…

First off: the atmosphere at the first 4 Nations game in Montreal was electric. The pre-game stuff set the tone with Mario Lemieux’s appearance in his home province, while Toronto and Team USA captain Austin Matthews was met with less-than-warm wishes from the crowd who will doubly root against him. You could feel the energy of the building through the TV.

That game was exactly what the NHL had in mind from anthems to the OT winner. Exciting hockey with energy that can be conveyed to an international audience of fans and non-fans alike.