Mayhem at the 4 Nations: Three fights in nine seconds
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Brady Tkachuk wasted no time making an impact in Team USA’s electrifying 3-2 win over Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off. Just seconds into the game, he dropped the gloves with Sam Bennett, adding fuel to an already heated rivalry.
The 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament went underway on Feb. 12, with the best of the best players from the National Hockey League (NHL) competing for their respective home countries of the United States, Canada, Sweden, and Finland. By far, the best storyline to come out of it so far was in the first nine seconds of the United States versus Canada game.
Everyone knows that the United States-Canada hockey rivalry runs deep, from Olympic showdowns to the World Juniors, and the play between these two nations gets intense, all built on the mutual respect of great hockey and national pride. It became apparent just how intense this rivalry was last week, though, when mayhem broke out at their first match-up of the 4 Nations Tournament.
It all started on Feb. 15, during the United States National Anthem, when Canadian fans booed because of political tensions regarding the tariffs between the two nations. If tensions between the two teams were not already high, this ignited a fire under Team USA— who had already planned to send a message to Canada.
Brothers and wingers Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk said, “There was a group chat going on today [with his brother and right-wing JT Miller]. Still slept like a baby, though. We just kind of reaffirmed that we were going to do that.” The three had been eager to start fights at the beginning of the game, not sporadically either; they were aiming for three fights in nine seconds.
Matthew Tkachuk began the spectacle when he dropped gloves with Canada’s left-wing Brandon Hagel. Tkachuk got in a few good punches while his brother cheered him on and shot Hagel’s glove down the ice. At the second face-off, just one second later, Brady Tkachuk fought forward Sam Bennett— who is Matthew’s teammate on the Florida Panthers and also played with him on the Calgary Flames. The brothers sat in the penalty box together, but for good reason, the fans and Team USA went wild. Immediately following the Tkachuk brother fights, JT Miller dropped gloves with defenseman Colton Paryko, who stands at 6’6’’, five inches taller than Miller.
As the game continued, Canada scored first, with a back-handed goal from center Connor McDavid right over goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. Only 26 seconds later, US forward Jake Guentzel tied up the game with a goal from the left circle. With a tied game going into the second period, winger Dylan Larkin scored, giving the United States the lead, and then proceeded to score an empty-netter in the third. The energy and emotions of Team USA and the fans in attendance were booming.
The 3-2 win over Canada earned the United States a one-way ticket to the Championship round of the 4 Nations tournament. Guentzel spoke on the win, saying, “It’s really surreal…It’s unbelievable. You can’t put into words what this really means to USA hockey for us to come in here and get some wins.”
Canada and Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper said, “Two passionate teams, it has been a long waiting — 10 years. These guys waited for this and you can tell, this isn’t an All-Star Game. This is a battle of the best of the best. So proud to be a part of it.” The last time the United States beat Canada in a best-on-best tournament was in 2010, so to say this Team USA win was long overdue would be an understatement.