4 Nations Face-Off teams 'jump right in' with little time to spare before the tournament starts

BROSSARD, Quebec (AP) — The last time Jon Cooper coached an international tournament featuring the NHL's best players, the 2016 World Cup of Hockey came with a training camp and a slate of exhibition games to get ready.

The 4 Nations Face-Off has none of that. Cooper's Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland took the ice Monday for each team's first practice knowing there's no time to spare. Canada and Sweden get just two practices and a game-day morning skate before playing each other, and the lack of a ramp-up period puts an emphasis on developing chemistry right away.

“This one we have to jump right in,” Cooper said. “Being in these situations, it’s not always the best players that win. It’s the best team that wins. And I think the team that jells the quickest and kind of plays for each other, especially in such a short tournament, will have the advantage.”

Establishing that advantage began Sunday night with team Super Bowl parties. The Philadelphia Eagles crushing the Kansas City Chiefs turned out to be background noise for bonding.

“Unfortunately the Super Bowl wasn’t too close of a game, but we still had a great time and it was good to see everyone,” Sweden captain Victor Hedman said. “Some of the guys I barely got a chance to hang out with before. No, it’s been great. Now you have to switch gears and focus on this and kind of put everything else away.”

All four rosters are full of Stanley Cup champions and All-Stars, but Canada's first practice stood out for the incredible amount of talent on the ice at the same time. The top power-play unit includes Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Sam Reinhart.

That's what U.S. coach Mike Sullivan means when he says, “They’re all dream teams.” His group and Finland get some extra prep before their opening game Thursday night in Montreal, but the principles of figuring it out fast still apply.

“Becoming a team is the biggest challenge,” Sullivan said. “It’s going to take more than talent to win. I think a big part of it is becoming a team in the true sense of the word, and that’s the challenge. We’re going to try to do our best. It’s everything from the chemistry on the ice with our line combinations, defense pairs, whatever it may be, to accepting and embracing roles.”

Advantage, Finland? The small Scandinavian country of 5.5 million people might not have big-name talent that jumps off the page, but playing the same style of hockey as a national team has the chance to be a major benefit.

“Finland is known for being together,” captain Aleksander Barkov said. "Growing up in the Finnish system, the national team system, you kind of know how to play. But the most important thing (is) we play together no matter what the systems are. Everyone’s going to give their best, and that’s why Finland has been successful and it’s no different here.”

Finland was the only of the four teams to hold an optional skate — “a recovery practice day,” according to coach Antti Pennanen, who said they “wanted to save energy for the games.”

Canada and U.S. practices were high-energy and fast-paced with players whipping the puck around like kids getting together for the first time after summer vacation. That was actually more a result of being in midseason form, another difference from the World Cup in ’16 that took place in the fall.

“It’s tough not to go 100%,” Reinhart said. “You’ve got guys flying around like that, so I think everyone’s kind of amped. Everyone’s excited, and that’s what you want out of guys.”

Coaches also want to foster familiarity, with players getting used to each other even after playing on teams around the NHL.

“You already felt the chemistry right off the bat in practice, and that was nice,” Sweden's William Nylander said. “We’re just going to go out and play. It’s not too much thinking. Just do your thing.”

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United States Austin Matthews and teammates take part in a 4 Nations Face-Off hockey practice in Brossard, Quebec, on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States' Austin Matthews skates past goaltender Connor Hellebuyck during 4 Nations Face-Off hockey practice in Brossard, Quebec, on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

CORRECTS LOCATION TO BROSSARD NOT MONTREAL Canada players, from left, Connor McDavid, Sam Reinhart, Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby talk on the bench during 4 Nations Face-Off hockey practice in Brossard, Quebec on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. Canada will face Sweden on Feb. 12. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

U.S. players Jake Sanderson, left and Brock Faber talk during a 4 Nations Face-Off hockey practice in Brossard, Que., on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada's Connor McDavid, left, speaks with Sidney Crosby, second from left, as they work drills with teammates Nathan MacKinnon, third from left, and Sam Reinhart (13) during a 4 Nations Face-Off hockey practice in Brossard, Quebec, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada players practice for the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament in Brossard, Que., on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. Canada will face Sweden on Feb. 12. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States' Austin Matthews, second from left, Jack Eichel, left, and Jack Hughes, right, speak with coaching staff during during a 4 Nations Face-Off hockey practice in Brossard, Quebec, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States' coach Mike Sullivan speaks to his team during a 4 Nations Face-Off hockey practice in Brossard, Quebec, on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Pete Buttigieg returned to Iowa with some subtle and not-so-subtle messages about what has changed since he ran in the state's 2020 Democratic presidential caucuses.

His speech Tuesday included mentions of his adopted twins, a boy and a girl, and how he explained to his daughter the different nicknames for the American flag. He talked of flying into the Cedar Rapids airport after visiting while President Joe Biden's transportation secretary to oversee the facility's expansion. And having left the state in 2020 as a youthful candidate not quite 40 years old, Buttigieg was now sporting a burgeoning beard.

His speech sounded like he was preparing for a second White House bid. Buttigieg gave a strident critique of President Donald Trump's administration while demanding Democrats make their agenda clear and reach out to people who disagree with them.

“We are being tested on nothing less than whether the United States of America is in fact the freedom-loving people that we believe and know ourselves to be,” Buttigieg told an audience of more than 1,000 in his first public political appearance since leaving the Biden administration in January.

It was a return to where Buttigieg emerged as a national political figure six years ago, when the millennial former South Bend mayor rose among a class of better-known Democrats to finish atop the Iowa caucuses in 2020. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders also finished near the top as well in a glitch-plagued contest, and The Associated Press did not call a winner, given remaining concerns about whether the results as reported by the party were fully accurate.

“It feels really good to be back in Iowa,” Buttigieg said at the outset of the town hall-style meeting, with many in the audience sporting slightly worn Buttigieg 2020 campaign caps and T-shirts. “Anyone can come to Iowa just before an election's coming up. I wanted to make sure I got a chance to talk to the people I got to know five and six years ago, and the people I’m just getting to know.”

The combination rally and policy chat toggled between questions about the future of the Democratic Party, both nationally and in Iowa, after three consecutive elections where Donald Trump has carried the once-competitive swing state.

A man began by saying, “I caucused for you six years ago,” to which Buttigieg replied politely, “Thank you.”

The man responded, “It's a treat to hear someone speak in complete sentences," prompting an explosion of applause and a standing ovation. “I do my best,” Buttigieg answered with a quick head nod.

As much as an indictment of the first months of the second Trump administration, Buttigieg argued Democrats' reemergence as a leading national party must come with a concise telling of what they support.

“There's this theory that we should just hang back and let them screw up. I disagree,” he said. Buttigieg acknowledged Democrats need to revisit some of their policy principles without naming any.

But he pivoted quickly to note, "We need to be in touch with our first principles, what we would be doing if we were in charge.” Among them, he argued, was to restore a federal right for a woman to receive an abortion, he said, prompting a 30-second standing ovation.

Buttigieg, a former intelligence officer in the Navy Reserves who served in Afghanistan, was headlining an event sponsored by the Democratic political organization VoteVets, which is focusing on Trump's cuts to federal agencies and how they affect veterans and military families.

A number of other potential 2028 contenders are traveling the country in the early days of the second Trump administration.

Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s recent joint rallies have drawn large crowds around the country, including in Republican-led Western states. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker recently called for mass mobilization of Democrats at a speech in New Hampshire, and Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland and Tim Walz of Minnesota plan stops in South Carolina at the end of May.

An audience member asks a question of former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg during a VoteVets Town Hall, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Cliff Jette)

The audience applauds former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg during a VoteVets Town Hall, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Cliff Jette)

Ava Jones of Iowa City, a traumatic brain injury survivor and currently battling stage four Hodgkins lymphoma, asks former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg a question about the impacts of cuts to medical research and educational institutions during a VoteVets Town Hall, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Cliff Jette)

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg answers questions from the audience during a VoteVets Town Hall, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Cliff Jette)

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg answers questions from the audience during a VoteVets Town Hall, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Cliff Jette)

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg listens to a question from the audience during a VoteVets Town Hall, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Cliff Jette)

Brenda Masters of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, greets former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, wearing a t-shirt she made while volunteering for Buttigieg during the 2020 Iowa Caucus, during a VoteVets Town Hall, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Cliff Jette)

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaks during a VoteVets Town Hall, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Cliff Jette)