4 Nations Cup

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For the international Australian rules football tournament in South East Asia, see Four Nations Cup (Australian rules football).

The 4 Nations Cup is an annual women's ice hockey tournament, held between the major national teams in the sport; currently, these are Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland. Until 2000, when Sweden joined, the tournament was the 3 Nations Cup. In general, it is held in or around November each year.

The 3 Nations Cup was first held in 1996. Sweden joined the tourney in 2000, but the USA did not attend the 2001 event due to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks; the 4 Nations title has been constant since 2002. Team Canada has won every tournament except 1997 and 2003, where the victory went to Team USA. Finland has won bronze at every tournament it participated in, except 2001, when it won silver, and 2004, when it finished last. Sweden won bronze in 2001 and 2004.

The format of the tournament is of a round-robin with one team playing one game against each of the others. The top two teams advance to the gold-medal game. The last two teams play for bronze. When it was the 3 Nations Cup, the third place team was simply awarded bronze.

The 2006 4 Nations Cup has been held at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, from November 7-11, 2006.