Just as it was uncertain that the IHLC would even be contended at the Four Nations Face-Off to begin with, necessitating a Finland win with less than a week before the tournament began, the IHLC will now be leaving North America, by virtue of Sweden‘s 2-1 round robin final victory over the United States, meaning that the IHLC will not be paired with the Four Nations title.

This is now the third instance in NHL international invitational history this has happened, with all three instances involving Tre Kronor. The first was at the inaugural Canada Cup in 1976, with Sweden similarly facing a finalist in the group round finale, this time Czechoslovakia. A pair of goals from Börje Salming late in the third clinched Sweden a 2-1 victory in Québec City, ensuring that the IHLC skipped the best-of-three finale between the Czechs and Canada, which Canada won in two straight.

The second was far more recently, at the most recent World Cup of Hockey in 2016. There, it was the Team Europe experiment, made up of NHL stars not from Sweden, Finland, Russia or Czechia, that upset Tre Kronor in the semifinals on a Tomáš Tatar overtime tally, meaning that Team Europe, not representative of a single international federation, faced off against Canada in the final. Canada, who defeated Europe in two straight in a best-of-three once again, held the IHLC by virtue of their semifinal win over Russia, but the finals did not count towards the IHLC.

The IHLC now goes back with Tre Kronor to Europe, where as of now their next international match is a four-game series against their border rivals Finland, set to begin on 17 April in Gothenburg. While the Four Nations Face-Off has provided some much needed best-on-best international excitement, unfortunately the final between the United States and Canada will not feature the International Hockey Lineal Championship as part of the crown.

Photo Credit: The Athletic – IIHF – HHOF – IOC