Rangers' Adam Fox and Bruins' Charlie McAvoy, friends since childhood, reunite for Team USA in 4 Nations Face-Off
Rangers' Adam Fox, left, and the Bruins' Charlie McAvoy
Adam Fox and Charlie McAvoy have been friends for nearly all of their lives. And while they are rivals in the NHL, with Jericho native Fox playing for the Rangers and Long Beach native McAvoy playing for the Boston Bruins, the two defensemen will be teammates on the USA squad for the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off in February.
They’re looking forward to it.
“I just can’t wait for the chance to play with Foxy again,” McAvoy said Thursday on a USA Hockey Zoom call with reporters. “Just like old times.”
“Whether it was Olympics or World Juniors or any time you get to watch USA Hockey, you always felt that pride in it,’’ McAvoy said. “It was certainly something that I strive for, [and] I know the same with Adam. And you know . . . the last time that we got to play together was the [2017] World Juniors and we were able to win gold. So I’m hoping we can get together and do something special again.”
The duo, who started playing together when they were 5 years old, were among the first six players named last summer to the U.S. team for the 4 Nations tournament, which will feature NHL players from the U.S., Canada, Finland and Sweden in a round-robin tournament that will take the place of the NHL’s All-Star Weekend.
Rangers teammates Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck will join Fox on the U.S. team and Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman will join McAvoy on the squad. Rangers forwards Mika Zibanejad (Sweden) and Kaapo Kakko (Finland) also will take part in the tournament, as will Bruins forwards Brad Marchand (Canada) and Elias Lindholm (Sweden).
Fox said he was excited to learn on Wednesday, when the four countries announced their rosters for the tournament, that Kreider and Trocheck would be joining him on Team USA.
“I think a big conversation point for this is the tournament happens pretty quickly, and [Kreider and Trocheck are] two great players and two people that will mesh nicely with the group, for sure,’’ Fox said. “So finding out you’re gonna see some people you’re really familiar with was nice to see, and definitely a big honor for those two as well.’’
The tournament, played in the middle of the NHL season, is meant to whet the appetite of hockey fans who are excited to have NHL players taking part in the 2026 Winter Olympics. NHL players have not played in the Olympics since 2014. They originally were supposed to play in the 2022 Olympics, but because of COVID-19 restrictions, the NHL decided not to send its players.
The 4 Nations tournament won’t include teams from international hockey powers such as Russia or Czechia or Slovakia, but the NHL is still billing it as the first best-on-best international hockey tournament since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
“I think everyone is super-excited, myself included,’’ Fox said of taking part. “I think any time you get a chance to represent your country, and you know, a lot of people I know have been itching for NHL players to have best-on-best. And being able to get back to that and throw on that [USA] sweater, I think it’s gonna be exciting. It’ll be competitive, and I’m definitely looking forward to it.’’
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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