Nova and Dajto, the Central European Media-owned broadcasters, have secured exclusive rights to the 4 Nations Face-Off, the new international ice hockey tournament organized by the NHL and its players' association, in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, respectively.

Matches will be available free-to-air in the Czech Republic on the Nova and Nova Action linear channels and the Voyo streaming service.

Five of the seven games will be shown on Nova, with two on Nova Action. All games will be available to stream on Voyo.

Nova’s live coverage begins with the opener between Sweden and Canada on February 12, in Montreal.

Dušan Mendel, head of sports at TV Nova, said: “We are delighted to have an international tournament with the best NHL players for the first time in a long time and to be able to offer it on our channels.

“The whole tournament is to be aired on free-to-air channels, which makes it even more accessible to the TV spectators.”

Meanwhile, Dajto will provide linear coverage in Slovakia of all seven games, with action additionally available on the Voyo platform in the country.

The nine-day competition, featuring NHL stars from Finland, Sweden, Canada, and the US, will be played from February 12 to 20.

The 4 Nations Face-Off will be played at the Bell Center in Montreal (four games) and TD Garden in Boston (three matches, including the championship game).

All matches are played according to NHL rules in an NHL arena.

Each team plays three matches in the first round, where three points are awarded for a win in regular time, two points for a win in overtime or a shootout, one point for a loss in overtime or a shootout, and zero points for a loss in regular time.

The two teams with the most points in the preliminary series advance to the final.

Broadcast agreements were also recently struck with Viaplay in Sweden and Nelonen in Finland.

The tournament will be shown in the US on the ESPN, ABC, and TNT networks, while Sportsnet and TVA will provide coverage in Canada.