Madden Monday: NHL already seeing residue of 'Faustian bargain' with international play

Hockey’s 4 Nations Face Off was a big success. Now, what can the NHL do for an encore?

In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of TribLive and 105.9 The X says, so far, with its own product, things aren’t going great for the league.

“Even the fast teams look like they’re skating in molasses. That’s not anybody’s fault. It’s simply the way it is,” Madden said. “They’re adrenalized playing for their country. By the time the Stanley Cup Finals roll around, it’s 82 games. That’s three playoff rounds before you set foot on the ice for the final. So it can’t be as good, and it’s certainly not.”

Part of the issue is that you can’t replicate the stakes of a two-week international tournament like we saw with the 4 Nations and what we will see with the Olympics next year.

“It’s why I say that international hockey is a Faustian bargain for the NHL. There’s no proof the TV audience — 9 million for the Four Nations final — carries over to NHL games. It’s not seen by TV viewers as the same product,” Madden said. “NHL hockey is a really good brand. It’s just international hockey with the intensity, the flag waving, and what’s at stake; it is just different. It’s just better.”

As far as what format to take for future international competitions in non-Olympic years, when and where to play, and which countries will be involved, Madden admits that there just is no good answer right now. However, there is clearly an expectation from fans that the NHL will do something as a sequel.

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“I see some people (on) ESPN (say), ‘Why can’t they do this every year?’ Well, because you’d need to cancel the NHL season or bring a bunch of body bags because it is that physically taxing,” Madden said.

At least we know that the Olympics are next in 2026. Madden hopes that Team USA learned something from losing the 4 Nations final to Canada.

“They picked role players. You don’t pick role players at this level. You pick your 12 best forwards, your six best defensemen and then you make some stars into role players. The U.S. had a guy who did that great. Dylan Larkin is a top-six for Detroit. But he was a great 200-foot center in the tournament. I thought he did excellent,” Madden said. “Whereas a guy like Brock Nelson, who was brought in to be a role player, was just lost out there. I was embarrassed for how bad he looked.”

It’s not just roster construction, though. Madden says there is an attitude component that needs some adjustments from an American perspective too.

“In Canada, they have to win. In the U.S., well, we’ll just talk about the NFL Draft win or lose,” Madden said. “No matter how much they think it means in that U.S. dressing room, it does mean more in the Canadian one. There’s more pressure in the Canadian room. There’s more pride, dare I say, in the Canadian room. That doesn’t mean it’s lacking in the American room, but it’s Canada’s thing. It’s all that matters north of the border.”

Also, during the podcast, Madden and I talk about the Penguins’ poor goaltending, Alex Ovechkin, the Steelers’ offseason and much more.