4 Nations Face-Off blog: Jake Guentzel

Jake Guentzel of the United States will keep a blog throughout the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20.

In his first entry, the Tampa Bay Lightning forward writes about the U.S. players having dinner with "Miracle on Ice" hero Mike Eruzione, former NHL star Mike Modano and Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau's father, Guy; going from playing for Tampa Bay to the United States; playing on a line with Auston Matthews and Jack Hughes; and how he is preparing for his team's opener against Finland at Bell Centre on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS).

Our dinner Monday was obviously a really cool experience, just to have some of the USA greats there, and Mr. Gaudreau. Just to have that experience with some of the past guys that have meant so much to this country in the hockey world, it was a really cool touch. I think that’s the kind of things that we will look back on and have a lot of memories, seeing what those guys went through and how they got the game here.

We played here at Bell Centre on Sunday with Tampa Bay. I just left the rink and met some guys and watched the Super Bowl together as a team. Obviously we had the team dinner last night. So we've been trying to get together and gel as fast as you can. It's what you have to do at a tournament like this, come together as fast as you can. So it's been good to get to know the guys. This is my first opportunity to play alongside a lot of these guys, and it's been a lot of fun.

Jack and Auston are just unbelievable players, superstars in this League. So for me, it's just try to get open, get them the puck as much as possible and enjoy the opportunity.

As for my game, being able to watch guys, just the tendencies, watching guys and learning from guys. I think that's the biggest thing, knowing what you are going to learn. These guys see the game a different way than I do and think the game differently, so I can't wait to learn from them and play with them. We obviously can't wait.

We have two days before our first game. So after this Media Day, it's kind of a chill day. And then once tomorrow hits, it's kind of getting ready. It's going to be an all-business day. I've got my family coming in tomorrow, so that will be fun to see them. And it's going to be a good time.

I won't change my approach for this tournament. You don't want to change too much. I think you have to stick with what you are accustomed to. As a player, a lot of these guys are pretty superstitious kind of people that kind of run the same way, so I'm going to try to do that. Just a good routine and you don't really want to go away from your routines.