Eichel dialed in on helping U.S. top Canada in 4 Nations final in Boston

BOSTON -- When Jack Eichel represented the United States at Bell Centre in Montreal last week, his father, Bob, beamed with pride to see him on the ice with the best players in the country.

Imagine how he’ll feel when the United States plays Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game at TD Garden on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, Disney+, SN, TVAS).

“It’s numbing,” Bob Eichel said before watching the Americans practice Wednesday. “I was shocked in Montreal. I turned to one of my buddies, and I said, ‘Geez, he’s running the power play for USA. It’s like a dream come true.’ But now it’s in Boston.”

Boston is the Eichels’ hometown, TD Garden is a place where Jack has experienced many big games, and Jack has compared this to a Game 7, calling it maybe the biggest game he has ever played.

“I’m sure for a lot of us, this probably would be the biggest game of our lives,” Jack said after practice Wednesday. “It’s for a championship, and I think you’re just representing so much more when you have your nation’s colors on. The fact that it’s U.S. versus Canada, I think, just wearing the red, white and blue, that probably makes it what it is.”

Jack grew up in the Boston area, played for the Boston Jr. Bruins and spent the 2014-15 season at Boston University, winning the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in NCAA men’s hockey.

The center assisted on the winning goal by defenseman Matt Grzelcyk when Boston University defeated Northeastern 4-3 in overtime to win the Beanpot tournament at TD Garden, and he had an assist in BU’s 4-3 loss to Providence in the NCAA title game at TD Garden.

On June 12, 2019, after Jack’s fourth season with the Buffalo Sabres, father and son were having lunch at Burtons Grill & Bar. The Bruins were playing the St. Louis Blues in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden that night. Father’s Day was four days away.

“He goes, ‘You want to go to Game 7?’” Bob said. “And I said, ‘Yeah.’”

Jack snagged great seats in the lower bowl behind one of the nets. Father and son saw Grzelcyk play for the Bruins and Jack’s former Sabres teammate Ryan O'Reilly play for the Blues. After St. Louis’ 4-1 win, they stopped to see O’Reilly amid the celebration.

That helped fuel Jack’s fire to win. He finally made the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 2022-23, his eighth NHL season. After the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final, he returned to his house in Las Vegas in a “WESTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS” hat. His parents were sitting by the pool.

“I go, ‘Nice hat,’” Bob said. “And he whipped it at me. I caught it. He looked at me and said, ‘I want the real one, the Stanley Cup one.’”

He got it. The Golden Knights went on to defeat the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final. Jack led the playoffs in scoring with 26 points (six goals, 20 assists) in 22 games.

Now he has a chance to win a best-on-best tournament -- in Boston, in this building.

It has been a long time coming. Jack spent two years at the USA Hockey National Team Development Program and has played for the United States in several international tournaments. But this is the first best-on-best tournament since the World Cup of Hockey 2016 in Toronto, where he competed for Team North America, a team of 23-and-under stars from Canada and the United States.

“It’s been a while since we’ve played this sort of format and represented our countries in a best-on-best tournament,” Jack said. “I think everyone wants to represent their country as best as possible, and you’re willing to do anything. I think that’s where you see a lot of the emotion come from.”

Jack is tied for third in points in the 4 Nations Face-Off with four assists in three games, including an assist on Jake Guentzel’s tying goal in the United States’ 3-1 win against Canada in Montreal on Saturday. He’s averaging 20:30 of ice time, second among U.S. forwards behind Guentzel (20:54).

“He’s so focused,” Bob said. “Went to dinner with him last night. He’s just dialed in. Someone sent over a tray of shots, and he just went, ‘No, we can’t take those.’”

Was it a Canadian?

“No, it was a Swede,” Bob said with a big laugh. “It was Rasmus Dahlin. He played with him in Buffalo.”

Jack wants to take his best shot at a championship.

“It means a lot whenever you represent your country,” Jack said. “We’re here in Boston. I think it means a lot. How do you grasp that? I don’t know. It’s the biggest hockey game we’ve played in.”