Neal: Riveting final in 4 Nations Face-Off proves why All-Star Games are pointless

Best on best. It’s a format the hockey aficionados have craved for years. And their dreams finally came true this month with a 4 Nations Face-Off that was a smash hit, in more ways than one.

Canada prevailed Thursday in a riveting championship game with a 3-2 overtime victory over Team USA that already has the Stars and Stripes plotting revenge when the 2026 Olympics take place in Italy next February.

The tournament also provided us with a glimpse of what a world without All-Star Games would look like.

It would be … boffo.

Hockey is committed to allowing NHL players to compete in the next two Olympics — for the first time since 2014 — as well as a World Cup of Hockey every four years beginning in 2028.

Thank you.

Let’s hope the injuries suffered by a handful of players during 4 Nations play doesn’t force organizers to revisit their plans.

Instead of watching 12-11 All-Star Games in which there’s little incentive to play defense and goaltenders are treated like sieves, the 4 Nations Face-Off provided a glimpse of how midseason breaks can showcase the sport and take advantage of our patriotism. The PWHL interrupted its inaugural season last year for the IIHF Women’s World Championships, in which Canada also defeated Team USA.

Hopefully other sports leagues took notes last week.

The intrigue. The long-awaited resumption of the USA-Canada rivalry. Hockey owned the sports world for a week. Other pro sports league should follow suit.

Except for Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game, I can’t remember the last time I watched another All-Star Game from beginning to end. And I’m sure I’m not the only one. They are largely uninteresting events in which players avoid injuries and defense isn’t played. The NBA All-Star Game is mostly eyewash for sponsors — and an annual reminder that Mac McClung exists.

Some NBA players expressed interest in trying a USA-versus-the-world game instead of the current All-Star Game format. That could be an improvement, but you’d have to convince me the world stars would take the game seriously. A men’s and women’s World Cup of basketball, with games in the United States and Europe, scratches the itch for international best-on-best action while celebrating basketball’s global appeal. And basketball has a larger global audience than hockey.

The challenge would be getting buy-in from players who are part of a league that has allowed load management to become a strategy.

Football can’t be helped. It’s a sport in which more than 300 players land on the injured reserve list over the 18-week season. The punishment they endure makes a midseason event impossible. And the best part of the Pro Bowl games that were played in Hawaii were the parties during the week before the game.

The NFL has realized this. They stopped playing in Hawaii after 2015. The skills games are about the best the NFL can offer. I would even dump the flag football game. If there is no tackling or sacking, it’s a waste of time. Just name the team, have players make appearances during the weekend and commence with the skills challenges.

While baseball’s midsummer classic is the most watchable of the All-Star games, I have a suggestion for that week: Include the World Baseball Classic every four years.

The WBC is a melding of my favorite sport, baseball, and my favorite event, the World Cup. But holding the championship game during spring training — when pitchers are on strict pitch counts because they are building endurance for the regular season — doesn’t make sense.

Shutting down baseball for two-plus weeks also isn’t practical.

As a compromise, have pool play during spring training to determine the final four teams. Then pause the regular season the entire second week of July. Have the home run derby on Monday, the All-Star Game on Tuesday, the WBC semifinals on Wednesday and the championship on Thursday. Resume the regular season the following Monday, so that everyone gets at least a three-day break. Baseball’s global status would be celebrated like never before.

Team USA has won just once in five editions of the WBC, I must point out. Japan has won three times.

The 4 Nations Face-Off might never be held again as the NHL re-commits to the Olympics while embracing the World Cup of Hockey. But it won’t be forgotten, and it should force other pro sports leagues to follow the NHL’s lead and step on the international stage.