Fights and anthem boos led to even casual hockey fans getting pumped up about Thursday's 4 Nations Face-Off championship.
ESPN reported that 9.3 million fans in the United States tuned into the final on Thursday night, the largest Nielsen rating viewership recorded in NHL history, which dates back to 1994. That figure is more than double the game last Saturday, which attracted 4.4 million people.
The previous record for Nielsen ratings was the 8.9 million who tapped into Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup final between the St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins, which, like Thursday's game, took place at Boston's TD Garden.
The 4 Nations Face-Off championship was most-watched hockey game since the 2010 Olympic gold medal game between Canada and the U.S. (over 27 million), but unfortunately for the Americans, Thursday night was déjà vu.
That gold medal game ended with a Sidney Crosby overtime goal for Canada, while on Thursday, Connor McDavid found the back of the net in overtime to give Team Canada the title.
With the victory, Canada moved to 14-4-1 against the U.S. in best-on-best format, with wins including the aforementioned 2010 contest, the 2002 Olympic gold medal game and the 2014 Olympic semifinal.
The Americans won Saturday's vicious contest, but they still have not won back-to-back games against the Canadians since 1996.
Nonetheless, the tournament, which many were afraid would not have much buzz, has energized the sport and was a rousing success.
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