For Team USA, their three fights in nine seconds against Team Canada on Saturday night all started with a group chat.
Brady Tkachuk, who was involved in the second fight just one second after his brother, Matthew, dropped the gloves, revealed that the brothers and JT. Miller also made a group chat earlier that day and planned out their fights (Brady fought Matthew’s Florida Panthers teammate, Sam Bennett).
When speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Brandon Hagel, who fought Matthew, threw a slight jab at the texters, saying he fought “for the flag” and “not the cameras.”
Hagel added as a subtle shot that his Canadian teammates “don’t have any group chats.”
Well, Matthew caught wind of that on Wednesday and hit back with a jab of his own.
“Maybe their team doesn’t like each other, then, if they don’t have group chats,” Matthew said.
The rivalry, which has spanned decades, is probably the hottest it’s ever been, and it’s only going to get hotter when the two bordering countries duke it out on Thursday night in Boston for the 4 Nations Face Off final.
The fights occurred shortly after the Canadian crowd booed “The Star-Spangled Banner.” And while that’s mostly fanfare due to the political tension between the two countries, it’s very clear that the USA players were not fans of what they heard.
Canadian crowds have booed the USA anthem at recent sporting events amid President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada. The tariffs have since been paused, but the president has also teased Canadians with the idea of Canada becoming the “51st state.”
Team USA earned a 3-1 win on Saturday after the fights in round-robin play, despite Canada’s Connor McDavid opening up the scoring. But USA’s defense was elite afterward, and Canada was unable to find the back of the net again.
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