In lieu of traditional All-Star festivities, the NHL opted to put on an international best-on-best tournament this season. The resulting 4 Nations Face-Off has been a resounding success, attracting massive viewership and surprising cultural relevance, which has extended to the sports betting realm.

Sportsbooks across the United States report that the 4 Nations games thus far have outperformed average regular-season NHL contests. DraftKings says that its four most-bet hockey games of the season have been from the tournament, while FanDuel says that 4 Nations contests are averaging over six times as many bets as an average NHL game this regular season.

In particular, Saturday's first USA-Canada matchup -- an epic 3-1 victory for the Americans -- was, bar none, the most-bet hockey game of the season. FanDuel says that the contest saw 13 times more bets than all of the 3-on-3 games that made up last year's NHL All-Star event combined, and 11 times more bets than an average NHL game this regular season.

Caesars Sportsbook's head of hockey Karry Shreeve says that the book is handling "seven to 10 times" more money for each game, with the first North American rivalry showdown bringing in even more.

"That game we saw just as much handle as we would in a Stanley Cup game," Shreeve told ESPN. "I think there's a chance that for Thursday's final, we could get up to almost Game 7 numbers, which is just incredible in terms of what you're asking for in the middle of February for hockey. I mean this is completely unexpected and certainly unprecedented."

While the storied USA-Canada rivalry always raises the stakes, this year's iteration seems particularly heated given the long layoff of best-on-best action, "words that have been exchanged" between both teams, as well as "politically" motivated sentiments off the ice, per DraftKings sportsbook director Johnny Avello.

"I think that all throws a little fire into it," Avello told ESPN. "This is something that the fans love and these games are being bet heavily. This game Thursday is going to be a monster as far as betting is concerned, would outdo any All-Star Game."

With the elevated bettor attention and subsequent higher handle, bookmakers are putting their most diligent work into setting the lines for Thursday night's championship.

"The 4 Nations has been great from a betting engagement standpoint, particularly as fans look for marquee events coming out of football season," ESPN BET director of North American trading Adrian Horton said via email. "Thursday night feels like a Stanley Cup Final game from a trading perspective."

That means the books are expecting a low total. Shreeve points out that, during last year's playoffs, Game 7s were seeing only "three or four goals," as teams tend to tighten up when the stakes are highest. As such, Thursday's over-under has sat at a consensus 5.5 for much of the week and has only juiced further to the under (-135 at ESPN BET); BetMGM reports 30% of bets on the under, but 39% of the money.

Additionally, the money line has stayed remarkably close all week, with ESPN BET keeping the game a pick 'em at -110 for each side. USA is getting a majority of the action at major American sportsbooks, leading BetMGM trading manager Christian Cipollini to say, "Canada winning would be a good outcome for the sportsbook."

That said, there has been perhaps more support than expected for Canada: ESPN BET reports 46.1% of bets and 46.5% of handle backing the Canadians and BetMGM reports a 5% positive money split on their side. That tension, just as it should be felt on the ice in Boston, is keeping this betting line feeling truly championship-caliber.

"This almost has a Game 7 feel to it, which is absolutely incredible, and so we're going to treat it as such," Shreeve said.

BOSTON -- Other than the game itself, both Canada and the United States were talking about President Donald Trump hours before playing one another in the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off championship game.

Trump was a topic of conversation for both teams Thursday with many Team USA players speaking about the call they shared with the president with Team Canada sharing some of its thoughts about Trump once again stating that Canada would become the "51st state" in the country.

"It was awesome. It was one of the cooler experiences I've had," Team USA's Vincent Trocheck said of the Trump phone call. "Having the president of the United States call your team about a hockey game just seems kind of crazy but it's pretty cool."

Team USA and New York Rangers forward J.T. Miller echoed a similar sentiment.

"Pretty cool. It was so awesome to hear the support," Miller said. "It's a pretty big deal for us to take time out of his schedule to talk to us. It's just another one of those things where we're pinching ourselves this tournament. It's been really fun so far to see the support from everybody up to the president is pretty wild."

Miller said that Trump told the team to enjoy the moment and have fun with it with Team USA defenseman Zach Werenski saying he "kind of blacked out" because of the significance of the moment.

Team USA received a call from the President this morning to wish them luck ahead of tonight's #4Nations championship game. pic.twitter.com/he1kIgUVGW

USA Hockey (@usahockey) February 20, 2025

A reporter then asked Miller if Trump mentioned making Canada the 51st state.

"I don't think he brought that up," said Werenski, who plays for the Columbus Blue Jackets. "He left that one out."

Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier Thursday that he planned on calling Team USA while later adding that "on toward victory tonight against Canada ... will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important Fifty First State."

With political tensions already in place prior to the 4 Nations, those feelings have only amplified with hockey as its latest avenue. It started with fans on both sides booing during each country's respective national anthems.

It further escalated during the first Canada-U.S. game last Saturday. There were three fights in the first nine seconds of a contest which ultimately ended with the U.S. winning 3-1 in Montreal. The game itself became the talk of the North American sports landscape and only added to the anticipation of a potential rematch, something Canada secured Tuesday with a 5-3 win against Sweden.

Canada coach Jon Cooper was asked if the political discussion regarding the two countries has entered the dressing room.

"Other than the talk of [Canada becoming] the 51st state and then somebody saying, 'Wow, we'd have one hell of a hockey team,'" said Cooper, who is the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Cooper then further elaborated on the subject.

"Let's be honest, you'd never get what's going to be contested tonight," Cooper said. "The political side of things, we feel [that] for everybody on our side of things. But for us to come here and to be in that room, it's going to be more for us to win that game, then sit there and debate what the game means. We have to go out there and represent our country and make them proud. If we accomplish that, then I think we accomplish what we want to, which is to make Canadians proud."

ESPN's Greg Wyshynski contributed to this report.

The New York Islanders placed defenseman Dennis Cholowski on waivers on Thursday.

The Islanders have one open roster spot coming out of the break but might need two as they anticipate the return of defensemen Scott Mayfield (lower body) and Ryan Pulock (upper body) from injured reserve. Both participated in their third straight practice on Thursday ahead of the Islanders' next game Sunday against the Dallas Stars.

Cholowski, who turned 27 on Saturday, has three goals, seven assists, 10 penalty minutes and an average of 12:48 time on ice in 33 games this season.

The Detroit Red Wings selected him with the 20th overall pick of the 2016 NHL Draft. He was picked by the Seattle Kraken from the Red Wings' roster in the 2021 expansion draft.

He has 13 career goals, 27 assists, 38 penalty minutes, 147 blocks and 48 hits while averaging 16:47 of ice time in 150 games for the Red Wings (2018-21), Washington Capitals (2021-22), Kraken (2022) and Islanders (2022-23, 2024-25).

Inter Milan goalkeeper Yann Sommer has a broken right thumb ahead of key games in Serie A and the Champions League.

Inter said the Swiss 'keeper's injury was revealed in tests on Thursday and "necessary therapy will be decided in the coming days."

Thumb injuries can sideline goalkeepers for several weeks though no timetable was set by Inter for Sommer, who has started every Serie A and Champions League game this season.

The defending Serie A champion is second in the standings, trailing Napoli by two points, and travels to Naples at the end of next week. Inter first hosts Genoa on Saturday.

Sommer also could miss the Champions League round-of-16 games on March 4 or 5 then March 10 or 11. Inter will be drawn against Feyenoord or PSV Eindhoven when the pairings are made on Friday.

Sommer's backups are Raffaele Di Gennaro and Josep Martinez.

FRISCO, Texas -- Zack Martin, one of the most decorated offensive linemen in Dallas Cowboys history, opted to retire, sources told ESPN.

Martin met with owner and general manager Jerry Jones on Thursday to inform him of his decision, sources said.

Martin was a nine-time Pro Bowl selection in 11 years with the Cowboys. Only Hall of Famers Bob Lilly (11), Larry Allen (10) and Mel Renfro (10), along with Jason Witten (11), who is eligible for the Hall of Fame for the first time this season, have been named to more. Martin was a first-team All-Pro pick seven times, which is tied for the most in team history with Lilly and Hall of Famer Randy White.

Martin's seven first-team All-Pro selections also are tied with Hall of Famers Randall McDaniel and John Hannah for the most among guards all time, according to ESPN Research. The only player with more first-team All-Pro selections since Martin entered the NFL in 2014 is retired Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald (8).

Martin also had only seven accepted holding penalties in his career, equaling his number of first-team All-Pro nods.

A first-round pick in 2014, Martin started 162 games, missing more than one game in a season just twice: 2020 and 2024. In addition, he was named to the NFL's All-Decade team from 2010 to '20.

In 2024, he was limited to 10 games because of an ankle injury that required surgery. He played through multiple injuries during his last two seasons until he no longer had the strength to sustain his elite level of play.

Martin, 34, quashed talk of retirement last summer during training camp and when his season ended. During several appearances before Super Bowl LIX, Martin said he wanted to get healthy before deciding on his future.

Martin held out most of training camp in 2023 before signing an adjusted contract that guaranteed him $36 million over the past two seasons and made him the third-highest-paid guard in the NFL.

Martin reworked his contract last offseason, allowing the Cowboys to gain some salary cap relief if he opted to retire in 2025. The Cowboys can designate him a post-June 1 cut, which means he will count $9.4 million against the cap in 2025 and $17 million against the 2026 cap.

His absence creates a void on and off the field for the Cowboys.

Brock Hoffman filled in admirably for Martin last season, but the Cowboys could look to the draft or free agency to fill Martin's spot. Martin was one of the team's most influential leaders, serving on the players' council under coaches Jason Garrett and Mike McCarthy in his time.

Though not the most vocal, Martin's day-to-day dedication was admired by teammates.

Up next for Martin is likely a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after a five-year waiting period.

Charlotte Hornets star guard LaMelo Ball will sit out Thursday's game at the Denver Nuggets due to left ankle soreness.

Ball scored 27 points in Wednesday night's 100-97 win against the Los Angeles Lakers, including a driving layup with 14.2 seconds remaining to help snap Charlotte's three-game skid.

Ball, 23, is averaging 27.3 points, 7.2 assists and 5.1 rebounds in 34 games (all starts) during his fifth season with the Hornets. The former All-Star is shooting 41.8 percent from the floor and 33.9 percent from 3-point range.

Ball missed five games from late January to early February due to a sprained left ankle, then sat out against the Detroit Pistons on Feb. 9 and the Orlando Magic on Feb. 12 because of left ankle soreness.

Two-time NBA All-Star Ja Morant is the Memphis Grizzlies player whose home was burglarized by the seven men from Chile charged in federal court with orchestrating break-ins at the homes of prominent professional athletes around the country, a league source confirmed to ESPN's Tim MacMahon.

The Daily Memphian reported earlier Thursday that a senior law enforcement official familiar with the investigation confirmed Morant was "Professional Athlete 6" identified in an FBI complaint filed Jan. 30 in Tampa, Florida.

During pregame availability Thursday evening in Indianapolis, Memphis officials said Morant had no comment about the news. The Grizzlies were to play at the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night in their first game since the All-Star break.

The FBI complaint doesn't name the athletes and lists only burglaries already made public involving the Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals, Bobby Portis of the Milwaukee Bucks, and players for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the NBA's Grizzlies.

According to the complaint, the Grizzlies player's home was burglarized sometime after 4 p.m. on Dec. 19. The Grizzlies beat the Golden State Warriors 144-93 that night in Memphis. The burglars stole "jewelry, watches and luxury bags valued" at about $1 million, according to the complaint.

A spokesperson for the Shelby County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to a reported burglary Dec. 20 at a home in an unincorporated part of the county. Deputies declined to release the name of the player or the address during an active investigation.

Some of the men were arrested in January after a traffic stop in Ohio on state charges for allegedly breaking into the home of Burrow, the Bengals quarterback. In that case, four of the men were found to be in the country illegally, according to a court affidavit filed in Clark County, Ohio. The men took photos of themselves with some of the loot. The groups often separated into smaller units to commit multiple burglaries, according to the FBI.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Nearly two weeks after the Los Angeles Lakers rescinded their trade for center Mark Williams with the Charlotte Hornets because, sources told ESPN, the 7-foot center failed his physical examination with L.A., his agent issued a statement Thursday disputing the Lakers' decision.

"The overwhelming sentiment, after conferring with multiple, nationally recognized doctors, is that the Los Angeles Lakers should not have failed Mark Williams on his physical," Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports Management said in the statement. "Mark was ready and able to play for them and should have been given that opportunity."

When asked for a response to Schwartz's statement by ESPN, the Lakers declined to comment.

Williams returned to the court against the Lakers on Wednesday, posting 10 points, nine rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes in the Hornets' 100-97 win. It was Williams' first game action for Charlotte since the trade, which initially sent Lakers rookie forward Dalton Knecht, a 2030 pick swap and L.A.'s 2031 first-round pick to the Hornets for the 23-year-old big man.

Williams hadn't played since Feb. 5 for the Hornets and was listed on the injury report with "return to play conditioning" before being upgraded to available.

Williams, a third-year veteran who is averaging 15.3 points on 58.1% shooting, 9.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists this season, told Fox Sports on Wednesday that he didn't believe concern about his health was the sole reason the Lakers nixed the deal.

"I don't think it was solely because of my physical," Williams said. "I felt like I could have contributed to them. But, obviously, they had second thoughts."

LeBron James, who dunked over Williams in Wednesday's game, was asked what it was like to face the center so soon after the Lakers had him on their team.

"He was never a teammate," James said. "He never stepped into the locker room. He never came [in]. We never seen him. We know the trade went down, but we never seen him. So when it got rescinded, it was just back to what it was before. So, it was no different."

After the trade was rescinded, the Lakers have had to reintegrate Knecht into the rotation and find center depth by other means. L.A. waived Christian Wood, the stretch big who has been sidelined this season after knee surgery, to sign the 7-foot Alex Len after he was waived by the Sacramento Kings. Len is averaging 2.0 points on 40% shooting and 4.0 rebounds in 16.0 minutes through his two games with L.A.

Williams posted a carousel of photographs to Instagram on Thursday -- including one photo of him attacking the rim versus the Lakers -- and included a caption with the social media missive. It read: "There's Always Peace When You Know The Truth."