A Penguins Fans' Guide to the Four Nations Faceoff

With the Big Game behind us (thankfully), the true sports lovers can turn their attention to more compelling events like March Madness, MLB Opening Day, and the fanatic finish to the NHL season.

This year hockey fans have an international tournament built right into the NHL regular season - the Four Nations Faceoff. This marks the first time NHL players have been allowed to participate in an in-season international tournament since 2016.

The United States, Canada, Sweden, and Finland national teams will feature stars from around the NHL, and the Penguins have some key players representing their countries this season.

Team Canada

The headliner for the Penguins is that Sidney Crosby will captain Team Canada once again, a team he has led to international tournament wins every time he's worn the "C".

Crosby missed the last two Penguins' games before the break, but it seemed as though the decision to rest against Philadelphia was his own.

Sid has been practicing with the Penguins during his absence, but this sight should give Pens fans a lot of encouragement regarding his health.

Team Sweden

Two Penguins will don the blue and yellow - Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell.

Karlsson was named an Assistant Captain for the Swedes, and Rakell was a late addition to the roster in response to an injury to William Karlsson.

The International Ice Hockey Federation has Sweden ranked 6th overall in the world, the lowest of the four teams in the tournament.

The Venues

Two arenas will be used for the Four Nations Faceoff - the Bell Centre (home of the Montreal Canadiens) and TD Garden (home of the Boston Bruins).

The Format

The beginning of the tournament will be a round robin format where each team will play the other three teams one time.

A regulation win is awarded three points, an overtime or shootout win nets two points, and an overtime or shootout win will get one point. Zero points will be awarded for a regulation loss.

At the end of the round robin portion, the two nations with the most points will match up for a one-game championship. Winner takes all.

Overtime in round robin will be an extended 10 minute 3-on-3 game with a shootout coming at the end of the overtime period. For the final, it's 5-on-5 until someone wins. Golden goal. I'm sure Penguins fans and Team Canada fans alike are very familiar with that terminology.

Final Details

Both the United States and Finland will not have Penguins representation in the tournament.

The Penguins don't currently have a Finn on the roster, but the Americans include Noel Acciari, Matt Grzelcyk, Kevin Hayes, Blake Lizotte, Matt Nieto, Ryan Shea, and Alex Nedeljkovic.

Reading that list, I think the United States did fine with their selections (except for Chris Kreider; should have replaced him with King Kevin Haysey).

This tournament is going to be unlike anything we've ever seen in a decade.

We've got the Tkachuk brothers on team USA, team Canada with Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby on the same line, Team Finland with new Carolina teammates, Mikko Rantanen and Sebastian Aho, and Team Sweden with an incredible blue line.

Drama always abounds in international hockey tournaments, and we're going to see former disgruntled teammates like J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson face off against each other for the first time.

Simultaneously, we'll get the chance to live our wildest dreams by watching long-time rivals wear the same uniform and team up.

There are so many storylines for the Four Nations Faceoff, and whenever those country colors appear on the jerseys, the players won't walk out of that arena until they are victorious...or they fall on the field of battle.

Puck drop to start Round Robin is Wednesday, February 12th at 8pm EST between Canada and Sweden - a matchup between Sid and EK65 and Tricky Ricky.