4 Nations Face-Off Trophy Proves No One Does Hardware Like Hockey

The NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off tournament gets underway Wednesday night with Canada taking on Sweden and it means months of anticipation will come to an end and we'll finally get to see what this new tournament looks like.

Tuesday was Media Day ahead of the tournament, and the NHL had the new trophy teams will be playing for on display.

I'm not going to lie, it's a beauty.

That bad boy doesn't have a name at the moment, and the winning team will also receive gold medals.

Now, I think it's worth noting that this is likely going to be a one-off trophy. There will be no 4 Nations tournament next season because NHLers will be heading over to Italy for the 2026 Olympics in Milan and Cortina.

Then in 2028, the league plans to bring back the World Cup of Hockey which will then continue every four years, meaning that starting in 2026, even years will have some kind of best-on-best international tournament (either World Cup or Olympics) while the odd years will have All-Star Games.

And still, the league went all out on a trophy that may only ever get handed out once.

This just furthers a point I've always made: no one does hardware like hockey.

Of course, the big dog is the Stanley Cup. It's the most iconic trophy in all of sports and there's nothing quite like watching players with Grizzly Adams beards hoisting it above their heads come June.

But hockey doesn't have one trophy that is a beauty. The Conn Smythe Trophy is better than any other championship trophy in North American pro sports. So are a lot of the NHL's annual awards as well as the Prince of Wales Trophy and the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl.

We'll see in a little over a week who will get to skate this brand new 4 Nations Face-Off trophy when the winner is crowned after the championship game on February 20 in Boston.