The NHL has long been behind the other major North American sports in terms of ratings, viewership, and fans.
The NFL, NBA, and MLB have all surpassed the NHL in almost every way, which has been a growing concern for the league.
Luckily, Gary Bettman just pulled off one of the biggest successes in league history.
This year's Four Nations faceoff tournament has proven to be an extremely competitive and exciting event, drawing attention from fans across the world.
The game between the United States and Canada alone garnered more than 10 million viewers across North America, making it one of the most watched games in the last decade.
And that was just a round robin game! Ultimately, that contest did not even have that big of an outcome on the result of the tournament as Canada and the US will play again for the trophy.
Imagine how many fans will be tuning in on Thursday, if ten million tuned in the last time these two teams faced each other!
Furthermore, there is even more hype and drama leading up to the finale as Superstar American defenseman Quinn Hughes is reportedly set to join the team after missing the round robin.
Hughes is one of the very best defenseman in the entire world and his presence alone should make the game more exciting, but the fact that he is coming in as an injury replacement in the eleventh hour makes it even more tantalizing.
All of this would seem to point to the Four Nations faceoff finale being one of the best games of hockey we have seen in a very long time.
You certainly will not want to miss it, so be sure to tune in at 8PM EST on Thursday to see the two juggernauts compete for the glory.