By almost any measure, Saturday night’s USA-Canada 4 Nations Face-Off game proved a huge success for the NHL.
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo begs to differ.
The game drew huge ratings on ABC, averaging 4.4 million viewers and peaking at 5.1 million. That made it the most-watched NHL event outside the Stanley Cup Final since 2019. The USA won, 3-1, in a game that featured three fights in the first nine seconds. The physical play also generated enormous buzz on social media.
Russo wasn’t feeling the love Monday, calling out problems with the game on his SiriusXM Radio Mad Dog Sports Radio show.
“Two things I did not like about the game, and I know everybody thinks it’s one of the greatest games I’ve ever seen. Uh uh,” Russo said. “Canada only had 22 shots on goal, they put very little attack on in the third period. … It wasn’t a free-for-all game. The first period was great, the game flattened out after that significantly. To me, and I’m not a hockey aficionado — I don’t pretend to be — but I’m a sports aficionado, I did not sense drama in the third period of that game.”
But those three fights to open the game really irritated Russo. For those who missed the brawls:
THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA OPEN UP THEIR FOUR NATIONS GAME WITH THREE FIGHTS IN THE FIRST NINE SECONDS! pic.twitter.com/Y7fLhccJ5K
— The Sports Place (@offsportsplace) February 16, 2025
Russo called out the fights as “fake” and “prearranged.”
“I don’t like things that are pre-orchestrated,” Russo said. “I don’t like things that have a fakeness or WWE feel to them. They had three fights in nine seconds, they all texted each other before the game … to have three fights in nine seconds. I know the fans in the arena loved it, I know the fans at home got emotionally into the game right away.
“That to me was a joke. That was fake. ‘Let’s all drop the gloves and kill each other in the first nine seconds of the game. It wasn’t organic. It was pre-arranged. It was not something that came through a rugged hit, a dirty play, physicality in the course of 60 minutes … they set that up before the game. That’s fake. I didn’t like that.”
The Funhouse X account found Russo’s comments amusing.
A man who could not name three NHL players at gunpoint will now explain to us why the USA-Canada hockey game sucked the other night. pic.twitter.com/futiIcVYQ3
— Funhouse (@BackAftaThis) February 17, 2025
No matter Russo’s take on the game, the NHL will gladly take the great TV ratings and buzz it created.
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.