Team USA and Canada dropped the gloves three times in the first nine seconds of their 4 nations face outside the competition on Saturday night; It was the first time the two teams had played each other in a best-in-best format of nine years.
Two matches took place within the first three seconds, with Matthew Tkachuk entering the first against Brandon Hagel, and his brother, Brady, fought against Matthew’s Florida Panthers teammate, Sam Bennett, in the second.
After a goalkeeper stop, JT Miller found anyone who was willing, resulting in the third Brouhaha. There were no matches for the rest of the game, but Fisticuffs set the tone of what was a physical match that ended in a 3-1 win for Americans.
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The United States Brady Tkachuk (top) fights Canada’s Sam Bennett in the first period of 4 Nations Face-off Hockey Action in Montreal on Saturday, February 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/Canadian Press via AP)
The matches were the beginning of the most watched NHL event outside a Stanley Cup final since 2019, which resulted on average of 4.4 million viewers. The matches undoubtedly grabbed the attention of beginner fans everywhere, but not everyone was a fan of it.
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo called the fighting to be “fake”.
“I don’t like things that are ahead of orchestrated. I don’t like things that have a fakeness or wwe feel for them. They had three games in nine seconds they all texted each other before the game … to have three matches in nine seconds, “Russo said on his radio show via terrible advertising. “I know the fans in the arena loved what I know the fans at home were becoming emotionally into the game right away.
“That to me was a joke. It was fake. ‘Let’s all drop the gloves and kill each other in the first nine seconds of the game.’ It wasn’t organic like that.
Canada’s Brandon Hagel, on the left, is fighting with US Matthew Tkachuk in the first period of a 4-nations that is Face-off Hockey Games in Montreal on Saturday, February 15, 2025. (Graham Hughes // The Canadian press via AP)
The excitement builds to US-Canada 4 Nations Final after Raucous 1st Game
Hagel closed Russo’s claim recently and said he “didn’t fight for the cameras” but rather “for [Canadian] flag. “Brady Tkachuk also said his brother’s fight” happened pretty organically. “
“Matthew said he would go first, it just happened, and now it’s over and done,” he said. “That’s right when Matthew found out the starting lineup he said he would have a piece of him (Hagel).”
The matches came shortly after the Canadian crowd booed “The Star-Spangled Banner”, which has recently been a theme north against teams from the United States in the middle of President Donald Trump’s tariffs in Canada. The tariffs have since been a break. The president has also teased Canadians with the idea that Canada became the “51st State.”
Team Canada Tip Sam Bennett, Left, and Team United States Forward Brady Tkachuk fights in the first period during a 4 Nations Face-off Ice Hockey Games in the Bell Center. (Eric Bolt-Preferred Pictures)
While the US and Canada have been on ice rivals for decades, political excitement has certainly brought a new taste to crowds and maybe the players.
The two teams face again Thursday, this time in Boston, for the 4 Nations title.
