Count me in the group of people who was worried that a mid season tournament featuring only four countries, playing for the "Four Nations Cup," was going to ultimately feel like a bloated All Star game. I have never been more happy to be wrong.

From the first Canada vs Sweden game, it was clear that there was going to be at least a fairly competitive feeling to these games and that fans were going to be rewarded with some entertaining hockey.

Then came Canada vs USA in the round robin... with three fights in the first 15 seconds of the game, fans of hockey across the world got a taste of the international best on best that we have been lacking for a decade. After the scraps were out of the way, the hockey itself was a high intensity affair. McDavid kicked things off with a goal but Team USA were the eventual victors with a 3-1 win. All anyone could talk about after that game was what it was going to be like when the two teams faced off in the championship game.

Things started in that championship game very much like their first matchup; an early Canadian goal followed by the Americans pushing back and going up 2-1. This time however a Sam Bennett, assisted by Marner (who had a great game) tied things up and forced over time.

Two players for Team Canada will deservedly get all the recognition for the OT win. The first is Jordan Binnington who made at least four highlight reel saves in overtime to keep the game going on. The Canadian goaltending was heavily criticized throughout this tournament but Binnington stood tall and outdueled this year's Vezina winner in Connor Hellebuyck.

The second player is obviously Connor McDavid who added another notch in his future Hall of Fame career by scoring the OT goal to propel Canada past the United States. I am not going to get political in this blog but needless to say there has been far more discourse than usual between Canada and what should be our closest ally in the United States. Recent events have brought Canadians together in a time where it's more important than ever to be proud to be Canadian. Watching both sides play, it was clear both Canadian and American players desperately wanted to win this thing. On paper, McDavid scoring the 4 Nation Faceoff winner might not match up to Crosby's Golden Goal. But after a decade of not being able to see true best on best, try telling any Canadian that this moment wasn't special.

---

Back to the Edmonton Oilers.

We are right back into the rest of the NHL season on Saturday as the Oilers have a back to back, facing off against the Flyers, followed by the Capitals. They continue this 5 game road trip against the Lightning, Panthers, and Hurricanes. After being teammates with Hagel, Point, Bennett, and Jarvis we are right back to these guys hating each others guts.

The NHL Trade Deadline is March 7th and the Oilers will certainly be buyers. The question will be what areas Stan Bowman is going to target. It certainly seems like the team would like to add another impact forward but we might be seeing an internal option get a chance.

NHL teams have been back to practicing over the past few days and during this time we have seen Matt Savoie practicing with the big club on a line with Podkolzin and Draisaitl. The 21 year old Savoie was acquired from the Sabres in exchange for Ryan McLeod in the summer and has played all season in the AHL going 13-24-37 in 45 games. He is third on the team in goals and second in points; not bad for his first full professional season. Savoie is a highly skilled offensive playmaker who not only plays a fast game, but can use that speed defensively. Coach Knoblauch has confirmed he will play on Saturday. The Oilers play 7 games between now and the trade deadline. How quickly he adapts to some high intensity NHL games will be a thing to keep an eye on. Here is the forward group I would like to see for a bit:

Skinner-McDavid-Hyman
Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Savoie
RNH-Henrique-Brown
Kapanen-Janmark-Perry

It's good to be back. Thanks for reading.

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