The United States chose dependable veterans over younger alternatives in picking its roster to compete against Canada, Sweden and Finland in the 4 Nations Face-Off, the first international tournament featuring the NHL’s best players in nearly a decade.
Chris Kreider of the New York Rangers and Brock Nelson of the rival Islanders were among the final 17 players chosen, with USA Hockey prioritizing experience from world championships and other events over future potential. General manager Bill Guerin said the depth of talent to choose from was a testament to the grassroots growth of the sport in the U.S.
“It was extremely challenging to get to a final roster,” said Guerin, the Minnesota Wild's general manager. "Hockey in our country is strong and continuing to get better, and this team is no doubt a reflection of that.”
Dallas' Jason Robertson, 25, Utah's Clayton Keller, 26, and Buffalo's Alex Tuch, 27, and Tage Thompson, 28, were among the forwards left off. Kreider and Nelson, the oldest players on the team at age 33, have extensive history playing at the world championships.
The youngest player is also the only one with Olympic experience: 22-year-old Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber, who played at the Beijing Games in 2022 when the NHL pulled out late because of pandemic-related scheduling issues. Winnipeg's two-time Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck, Dallas' Jake Oettinger and Boston's Jeremy Swayman were the slam-dunk choices in net at a position with an embarrassment of strong depth, with Vancouver's Thatcher Demko injured and unavailable.
Canada has no sure answer in goal and chose a pair of Stanley Cup champions, St. Louis' Jordan Binnington and Vegas' Adin Hill, along with Montreal's Sam Montembeault. The country that won the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and the past two Olympics without NHL talent built a team outside the net that fits two-time Cup-winning coach Jon Cooper and includes Lightning players Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel and Brayden Point.
“This event is an important part of the process as we continue to build teams that can be successful on the international stage," Cooper said. “We look forward to our group gathering in February and competing for a championship.”
Finland also went heavy on recent championship winners, picking Florida’s Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Niko Mikkola and Colorado’s Artturi Lehkonen
“It’s big value,” said Finland general manager Jere Lehtinen, who was also in charge of the team that won gold at the 2022 Olympics without NHL talent. “You have a few players who have won and have been in tough situations through their careers, so when it comes to a tournament like that, it’s a quick tournament. You have to be ready right away.”
Sweden, much like the U.S., skewed older with its selections.
The Swedish Hockey Federation opted for veteran experience on defense with Edmonton’s Mattias Ekholm and Minnesota’s Jonas Brodin, to go along with young Buffalo captain Rasmus Dahlin. Up front, the Swedes did not overlook youth, choosing Anaheim’s 19-year-old center Leo Carlsson and Detroit’s 22-year-old winger Lucas Raymond among their forwards.
“We went with an experienced group,” Sweden general manager Josef Boumedienne said. “We’ve got a few really good young players that did not make the roster, but we decided with a short tournament like this, basically do-or-die games in every single one of them, we went with a little more experienced group and we have a lot of leadership qualities in our group that we were excited about.”
The Finns took some role players in piecing together a team in front of Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros, including Montreal's Joel Armia and San Jose's Mikael Granlund, who's having something of a career renaissance with the Sharks.
“As a young player in Finland, that’s one of the biggest things you can have in a hockey career, to play for your country,” Granlund said this week. "I’ve always just actually loved those moments and I’ve had good success on the national team. It’s really cool and, having the 4 Nations, that’s best against best, so that’s special.”
Among the final decisions, Sweden left off Hampus Lindholm to bring Brodin, citing the Boston defenseman's injury and tight timeline as the reason. Finland put Patrik Laine on the roster that had to be locked in earlier this week before the scoring winger made his season debut Tuesday night for Montreal.
“We’ve been talking with him and knowing where he’s at,” Lehtinen said. “Overall, there’s two months before the tournament starts, so there’s a lot of games before then and I think it’s enough time to get him in good game shape and playing well.”
Toronto's Jani Hakanpää got the nod on the blue line even though he has only played in two games this season coming off a knee injury. Finland only had the choice of 10 defensemen to pick from.
“We know that we don’t have too many D-men who’s playing in the NHL,” coach Antti Pennanen said. “But still, we have a good back end: strong and big, and they are able to play against top forwards.”
The United States and Canada are set to unveil their choices later Wednesday. The round-robin tournament with the top two teams facing off in the final is taking place from Feb. 12-20, with the first half in Montreal and second half in Boston.
This is the first country versus country men's tournament in the sport with the best players involved since the World Cup of Hockey in 2016. The hope was to stage the event this past winter, but questions over how to handle Russian players given that country's war in Ukraine pushed it to 2025 and reduced the teams involved to these four.
Each country's first six players were named in late June: Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Matthew Tkachuk, Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy and Adam Fox for the U.S.; Point, Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Brad Marchand for Canada; Mika Zibanejad, William Nylander, Filip Forsberg, Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson and Gustav Forsling for Sweden and Saros, Aleksander Barkov, Mikko Rantanen, Sebastian Aho, Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell for Finland.
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New York Islanders center Brock Nelson (29) and St. Louis Blues center Brayden Schenn (10) battle of the puck during a face off in the third period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in New York. The New York Islanders won 3-1. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)
Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson (71) skates past Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele (55) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
Colorado Avalanche left wing Artturi Lehkonen (62) celebrates after scoring during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo, N.Y., Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
Florida Panthers' Jesper Boqvist, second right, celebrates his goal with Eetu Luostarinen (27), Evan Rodrigues (17), Nate Schmidt (88) and Anton Lundell (15) during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C., Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shocked the nation when he declared martial law and called in troops to secure the National Assembly building where parliament sits.
The announcement sent citizens streaming to the streets on a cold December night to call for Yoon to resign and martial law to be lifted.
The subsequent hours were tense with cameras capturing the moments of anger, bravery and defiance before Yoon was forced to back down. Here’s how it played out:
Leaning forward on a lectern, President Yoon tells a national television audience he is declaring martial law, giving his government sweeping powers to prevent anti-government demonstrations, ban political parties and control the media.
He tells the audience it is needed “in order to defend the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces.”
With his hands firmly rested on either side of the stand, Yoon gravely reads a statement accusing the opposition of sympathizing with North Korea, claiming “anti-state forces” have been “wreaking havoc and are the main culprits of our nation's downfall." He doesn’t back his claims with direct evidence.
“This measure is necessary to justify our constitutional order of freedom,” Yoon says.
As martial law takes effect, crowds begin gathering outside the National Assembly where riot police are stationed to hold them back.
As the crowds build, so do the security forces, with busloads of police arriving and military transport helicopters bringing in troops.
As one armored military vehicle approaches, a small group of protesters surrounds it, refusing to let it pass, as they yell at the soldiers buttoned up inside. Police arrive at the scene en masse, clearing the protesters and then running alongside the vehicle to keep the route open as it finally continues on its way.
Outside the Assembly, protesters wave signs and chant slogans, such as “Martial law is invalid" and “Yoon Suk Yeol step down!" Some turn their attention toward the military and police, chanting “Withdraw! Withdraw!”
As three helicopters pass overhead, one woman looks up and says sarcastically: “Isn’t this a historical moment?”
While in South Korea, the president has the prerogative to declare martial law, a parliamentary vote can end it.
Lawmakers begin streaming to the National Assembly as soon as they learn of Yoon's move, hoping that enough of them could get inside the security cordon to establish a quorum and hold a vote.
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election, begins livestreaming his journey.
In his car, the Democratic Party politician urges Koreans to converge on parliament to help lawmakers get inside, saying: “The National Assembly must vote to lift martial law.”
“There is a very high possibility that the military will be mobilized to arrest members of parliament,” he says. “Please come to the National Assembly. Though it’s very late, it’s up to our citizens to protect this country. We will also risk our lives to protect the democracy of this country.”
Close to the end of the nearly 23-minute livestream, Lee gets out of his car and shaky video footage shows him going over a fence to get onto the grounds, then heading inside.
At 11:28 p.m., the South Korean military announces controls on the media and the suspension of political activities but takes no immediate steps to enforce the proclamation.
By around midnight, the number of lawmakers who arrive at parliament exceeds 150, meeting the quorum requirement, but many who reach the building after police and soldiers get there struggle to access the main chamber.
As lawmakers try to get inside to hold their vote, scuffles break out at the entrance to the National Assembly between the crowd of people and heavily armed soldiers.
In one dramatic confrontation, Democratic Party spokesperson Ahn Gwi-ryeong, a former television news anchor, grabs the rifle of a soldier in full battle gear, pulling at it as she screams, “Let it go!” and “Aren’t you ashamed?”
As the two grapple with one another, the soldier breaks away from Ahn and raises the loaded rifle toward her as he steps backward. Ahn grabs its barrel briefly before the soldier retreats further, and she yells, “Aren’t you ashamed?” at him as he leaves.
Parliamentary speaker Woo Won-shik is able to get into the main hall of the Assembly and opens the session in which lawmakers introduce the motion to revoke martial law. The 67-year-old was earlier seen climbing over a fence to get into the Assembly’s building.
Lawmakers vote 190 to 0 to lift martial law and minutes after, security forces begin leaving the National Assembly building.
Yoon returns to the lectern in his second national address of the night, telling Koreans that parliament has voted to end martial law and that he has ordered the withdrawal of the military forces he deployed.
He reiterates his accusations against the opposition, however, saying that he requests “that the parliament immediately ceases the reckless actions that are paralyzing the functions of the state, such as repeated impeachment, legislative manipulation and budget manipulation.”
At about 4:30 a.m., martial law is officially lifted, following an emergency meeting of Yoon's Cabinet.
Rising reported from Bangkok.
People gather in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
People gather to demand South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol step down in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (Kim Do-hoon/Yonhap via AP)
People gather to demand South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to step down in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (Kim Do-hoon/Yonhap via AP)
A National Assembly staff sprays fire extinguishers to block soldiers entering the main hall of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (Jo Da-un/Yonhap via AP)
South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, center, speaks at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (Kim Ju-hyung/Yonhap via AP)
In this photo taken from video released by South Korea's National Assembly Speaker's Office on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik delivers his speech. (South Korea's National Assembly Speaker's Office via AP)
South Korean martial law soldiers try to enter the National Assembly compound in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (Cho Jung-woo/Newsis via AP)
Military vehicles are surrounded by people outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A man shouts to demand South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to step down in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A helicopter flies over the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Police officers stand guard in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
In this photo provided by South Korea Presidential Office, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a press briefing at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (South Korea Unification Ministry via AP).
