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The NHL gets a lot of stuff wrong, but they absolutely hit the mark with this tournament. This was supposed to be an exhibition series to replace the all-star game and there was some concern that the players wouldn't take it seriously, or risk injury and losing out on the NHL playoffs. But whether you're a fan of the white, yellow, blue or red jerseys you didn't see any of that. This has been terrific hockey. Credit to the players.

If you've been a fan of the game for a long time you already know this. If you're brand new to the game or maybe making the jump from casual fan to engaged fan, welcome. I don't care how you got here, just glad you made it. This is the greatest game on earth, played with extreme violence some times, and incredible skill all the time. There is space for Matthew Tkachuk and Tom Wilson, and Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid.

But don't just tune out when the game ends tonight. I hope you stay involved with the game. If you have kids or grandkids, buy them skates and take them out for a spin on the ice. If they don't want to skate buy them a stick and ball and a net and go take shots in your driveway. If they're too old for that (and you never are), take them to an NHL, AHL or ECHL game or even go to the local rink and watch some minor hockey. If that's too expensive, just tune into the every game you can on TV or engage in it via social media so that networks will add more hockey programming.

Regardless of the outcome today, hopefully the game continues to grow. For the US, 1980 Miracle on Ice begat the 1996 World Cup win. The 1996 win begat this year's success, and a lot of the more recent junior hockey success the US has had. Win or lose tonight, hopefully the US team's performance these last couple of weeks gets another generation of kids excited to play.

Good luck tonight. I mean that.