MONTREAL — Marc Pierre was playing for the Binghamton Senators 11 years ago when the NHL season ended for the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
“So no, I don’t think I was on the radar for this tournament,” the Canadian forward said with a laugh.
He is on Canada’s radar ahead of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Games, which begin a year from Tuesday, February 11, 2026, and that alone will influence Stone and all those competing for their respective countries at the Games. Face to face of the 4 Nations.
“You’d be lying to yourself if you didn’t really want to play well in this tournament to keep your name on the radar for the Olympics,” Stone said. “I’ve had the chance to play with some Olympians from my era, whether it’s (Erik) Karlsson representing Sweden and (Alex) Pietrangelo representing Canada, and they talk about how special this is. They talk about it so much. I want to do everything I can to be a part of this team in 2026.”
The 4 Nations showdown is here and now, the first best-versus-best competition since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, the tournament that Canada, Sweden, Finland and the United States want to win for their national pride, for their international supremacy and for their bragging rights.
It starts Wednesday, when Canada faces Sweden at the Bell Center (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS). This continues through the championship game at TD Garden in Boston on February 20.
Not a single player, coach or executive here is looking beyond what’s right in front of them, but everyone knows what will happen next year, when the NHL returns to the Olympics for the first time since 2014.
Everyone here knows that what happens in the next nine days could influence who plays in Italy a year from now.
“This tournament is great; I have the opportunity to go there and prove that I have my potential for this tournament,” said the Canadian forward Brandon Hagel said. “I mean, look, there’s 23 of us getting the opportunity to prove ourselves. It might not mean anything, but it could mean something.”
That “something” means everything to players here who have never experienced a best-on-best tournament, and even to those who have.
“I went to the World Cup in Toronto (in 2016) and it was a fun tournament, it was great, but there was nothing like it after that,” the Swedish defender said. Mattias Ekholm said. “Here it’s pretty clear. Next year it’s the Olympics and it’s go time. I’m not saying this tournament won’t be. It definitely will be. But next year you might be playing for a gold medal. It increases the intensity and the urgency of wanting to win and obviously wanting to show your national team coaches and everyone that you belong.”
