TORONTO, CANADA - NOVEMBER 08: Jeremy Roenick poses for a photo opportunity during media availability at the Hockey Hall Of Fame on November 08, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The \'Class of 2024\' will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on November 11. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Jeremy Roenick expects Team USA to win Four Nations
Hockey Hall of Famer Jeremy Roenick believes USA Hockey has surpassed Hockey Canada as the premier hockey country in the world.
USA is coming off back-to-back World Junior championships, but in February, best-on-best hockey will return at the 4 Nations Face-Off. USA, Canada, Sweden, and Finland will all go up against one another, in a small preview ahead of the 2026 Olympics.
Heading into the tournament, Roenick believes the USA is the team to beat and is the top hockey country in the world.
“There’s a lot of people that are picking Americans in this Four Nations Cup,” Roenick said in an interview with Heavy.com. “But, I think if you’re going to ask who the powerhouse in the world is in hockey, I think you’ll get a lot of people nowadays say Canada’s kind of lost a little bit of their edge and that the USA, if not equal, it might be pulling ahead. I know there’s a lot of people in Canada that don’t like me saying that, but the stats don’t lie.
“So I think it’s going to continue to grow from what I’m hearing what USA hockey is planning to do in terms of building more programs and more schools for the young kids to develop in. I think the US program is only going to get stronger,” Roenick added. “And like I said, I would not surprise me seeing Canada kind of taking their foot off the gas and America really, really trying to improve it. USA is going to have a very solid stance as the best hockey nation in the world.”
Canada won the 2014 and 2010 Olympics, which were the last two best-on-best tournaments, but Roenick thinks the times have changed.
NHL Expansion Helped USA Turn into Hockey Powerhouse
A big reason why Roenick thinks the USA is the hockey powerhouse ahead of the 4 Nations is due to NHL expansion.
The Hockey Hall of Famer says the NHL going into states like Florida, Texas, and California has only helped produce more talent throughout the country.
“Well, with the NHL going into all these what they call sunshine states, the very untraditional hockey areas like LA, like Anaheim, like Florida, Tampa,” Roenick said. “It has opened up a whole new opportunity for kids to play the game…
“From what I’m hearing what USA hockey is planning to do in terms of building more programs and more schools for the young kids to develop in,” Roenick added. “I think the US program is only going to get stronger. And like I said, I would not surprise me seeing Canada kind of taking their foot off the gas and America really, really trying to improve it. USA is going to have a very solid stance as the best hockey nation in the world.”
USA is tied with Canada for the best odds of winning the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Jeremy Roenick Playing in LPGA Event
Roenick will be returning to play at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions on January 30-February 2.
The tournament is an LPGA event that also features celebrities and Roenick says he’s excited to be playing alongside side of the best female golfers in the world.
“It’s it’s nice to meet different people from different sports. And then it’s our opportunity to compete, right? It’s competition,” Roenick said. It’s being able to get out there and do the things that we used to do and test yourself, especially not in our element, right? So it’s not like it’s hockey for me. It’s golf. But we still have that competitive juice that has to get has to get out there.
“And there’s no better place to do it hen in these big tournaments, especially one with LPGA. How could you not love going playing with the best female golfers in the world? I got to play at Lydia Coe last year, Brooke Henderson. I mean, for me, it takes a lot of the pressure off of the tournament that we’re playing in, because we’re in awe of watching these amazing women play golf right next to us,” Roenick concluded.
The tournament will take place at Lake Nona Golf Course in Orlando, Florida.
Cole Shelton Cole Shelton covers the NHL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has covered pro and college sports since 2016, including bylines at BJ Penn, USA Today, SB Nation, Rotowire, Canadian Baseball Network and more. More about Cole Shelton
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