The fireworks are starting early ahead of Thursday night’s 4 Nations final between Canada and the United States.
Players on both teams met with the media this morning to discuss the highly anticipated championship game. That included Canadian forward Brandon Hagel, who may not carry the same star power as his teammates, but he made sure to get a few jabs in at the Americans.
In particular, he took exception to comments made by the Tkachuk brothers following Saturday’s 3-1 American win over Canada. The brothers said that they had planned the fights to kick off that game in a group chat before the game.
Hagel was part of that as he fought Matthew Tkachuk off the opening faceoff. However, he did it for different reasons.
“I did it for the flag and not the cameras,” Hagel told reporters. “We don’t have any group chats going.
“That’s a part of Canada that we have in there. We don’t need to initiate anything.”
« Ce que j’ai fait samedi, je l’ai fait pour le drapeau, pas pour les caméras. »
– Brandon Hagel🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/sVxTpLi6fL— RDS (@RDSca) February 18, 2025
Hagel has not been the most productive player on this Canadian team, but he has managed to be one of the hardest workers. Before the tournament started, Hagel said he was worried that other players would treat this like an All-Star game because he planned on going full-tilt all the way through.
“I was thinking to myself laying in bed the night before the [opening] game, ‘If this is going to be like an all-star type of thing, then I’m going to be so out of place because I’m putting my head through a wall tomorrow.’ That was my mentality,” Hagel explained.
Luckily, that hasn’t been the case, as every player involved in this tournament has brought their top game.
Sam Bennett was also involved in a fight with Brady Tkachuk right after Hagel finished with Matthew. The gritty Canadian forward met with the media earlier today as well and was asked if he expects Thursday’s game to have a similar start.
“I think the messages were sent in that last game,” Bennett said. “This game is all about winning, it’s not about who’s tougher, who can intimidate more, it’s about winning.”
Canadian defenceman Drew Doughty was asked by Paul Bissonnette on the TNT broadcast on Monday if he would accept a fight from Matthew, to which the veteran gave an excellent answer.
“I’ll do anything for my country,” Doughty told Bissonnette. “If the time is right and I gotta go at him, I guess so.”
It’s clear that in the heads of Canadian players, a lot more is at stake than just a trophy when it comes to this championship game. The rivalry between these two countries has never been more intense.
While the Tkachuk brothers may like the spectacle that they create on the ice, Canada seems more interested in making their country proud.
We’ll see if any other players will have to answer the bell on Thursday.