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 attacks ; the 4 Nations roster has been constant since 2002 . The format of the tournament is a single round-robin , with each 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 . Team Canada has won 14 gold medals since the 4 Nations Cup creation in 1996 and Team USA has won 9 gold medals
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
4 Nations Cup