The pressure is off the charts. The 4 Nations Face-Off has been absolute chaos, and Team Canada was on the edge of disaster just hours before their high-stakes showdown with Team USA. With the tournament already draining teams to their core, Canada found itself in a full-on defensive meltdown. But just when it seemed like all hope was lost, the NHL and NHLPA pulled off a wild, last-minute roster exception on Friday, February 14, that could flip the script.
Sidney Crosby and his squad were already feeling the heat after losing Shea Theodore for the rest of the tournament. Canada dropped the big news on Wednesday night, February 12—Theodore was out. Then, just when things couldn’t get worse, Cale Makar missed Friday’s practice with an illness, leaving Canada with only five healthy defensemen. The stakes? Sky-high. And with Team USA waiting to pounce, this wasn’t just a setback—it was straight-up panic mode.
The 4 Nations Face-Off rulebook had one strict policy: no injury replacements unless a team fell below the minimum roster limit. Canada? Stuck. Or so we thought. On Thursday, February 13, they hit up the NHL and NHLPA, asking if Thomas Harley could fly out to Boston on standby. Then when Makar’s availability looked doubtful, Canada went all-in, pushing for Harley to join them in Montréal. Boom. Just like that, they found their loophole, and the rulebook suddenly had some wiggle room.
Now, Team Canada has seven defensemen in the city. That doesn’t guarantee Makar will be ready to roll, but at least they’re not walking into battle with a gaping hole on the blue line. The NHL and NHLPA made it clear—this wasn’t a rule change, just a response to extreme circumstances. No way were they about to let Canada play with only five D-men, especially with weather and travel chaos lurking. Every team wanted bigger rosters before the tournament even started, but the NHLPA shut that down. Canada? They just gamed the system.
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