Trio of fisticuffs were the fastest to occur at the outset of an international hockey game since 1996 World Cup of Hockey dust up between the two nations
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There hadn’t been a fight in an international hockey tournament since the NHL hosted the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, but then there hasn’t been an international hockey tournament at a time of such strained relations between the United States and Canada.
Against the backdrop of President Trump’s talk of making Canada the 51st state and tariffs on Canadian goods, the mood of Saturday night’s 4 Nations Face-Off game between the two countries began when the sold-out crowd in Montreal’s Bell Centre booed the American national anthem. The spirit quickly spilled over onto the ice, with three fights in the first nine seconds of the highly entertaining game, which the U.S. won, 3-1.
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The matchup was an emotional one for Canadian fans who booed “The Star Spangled Banner” despite the public address announcer asking, in French and English, “In the spirit of this great game that unites everyone that you kindly respect the anthems and the players that represent each country.” Fans had also booed before Team USA’s game Thursday night, prompting forward Matthew Tkachuk to say, “I didn’t like it, and that’s all I got” after a win over Finland and were louder Saturday night. The boos were a continuation of those at NBA and NHL games in Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver earlier this month as well.
“We knew it was going to happen,” U.S. defenseman Zach Werenski told reporters Saturday night. “It happened the last game, it’s been happening in the NHL before this and we knew tonight was going to be the same way. We obviously don’t like it.”
“There should not be any of that. We’re here to play a hockey game. They can boo all they want during the games. The anthems should be off-limits,” Canada’s Brad Marchand, who plays for the Boston Bruins, told reporters Thursday. [Players] have nothing to do with the political things that are going on.”
American players were prepared for the reception. “It is what it is,” Werenski said. “We kind of had an idea. We used it as motivation the best we could and found a way to get a win. But we had an idea going into it, so it wasn’t a surprise. Definitely don’t like it, though.”
The Tkachuk brothers — Matthew and Brady — were at the heart of an aggressive game plan to come out swinging and the fisticuffs marked the fastest fight to start an NHL international game, beating the previous record of 20 seconds. That dubious achievement occurred in 1996 when Canada’s Keith Primeau and Claude Lemieux fought Team USA’s Keith Tkachuk, father of Matthew and Brady, and Bill Guerin in the World Cup of Hockey.
“We needed to send a message,” Matthew Tkachuk said after Team USA’s 3-1 win. “We’re here in Montreal on a Saturday night. We want it to be our time, and that message started right from the get-go.”
The puck had barely hit the ice to start the game when Matthew, who plays for the Florida Panthers, and Brandon Hagel, who plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning, dropped gloves in a continuation of their teams’ NHL rivalry. After Matthew headed to the penalty box, Brady, whose NHL team ironically is the Ottawa Senators, fought Sam Bennett, Matthew’s Panthers teammate, after the second faceoff, with Matthew pounding the glass in support. Then, J.T. Miller, another U.S.-born player who plays in Canada (for the Vancouver Canucks) fought Colton Parayko of the St. Louis Blues after the two tangled in front of Canada’s net.
Miller was thrilled to be part of the Tkachuk brothers’ plan, calling it “the coolest experience I’ve probably had on the ice, one of them. To hear the building like that, it’s something you’ll never forget. There’s a lot of bad blood, but at the same time, tons of respect for the other team.”
It was part of Team USA’s strategy to take the fight to Canada immediately. “There was a little discussion during the day,” Brady Tkachuk said of the fights after being encouraged by his brother to “tell the truth” as they addressed reporters.
“Yeah, there was a group chat going on today,” he added. “We just reaffirmed we were going to do that. I think Matthew’s fight to start it off was just such an energy boost. I think I was more excited, more nervous for my own. And then for Millsy to cap it off against a big guy like that, he did a great job. It was a pretty awesome experience.”
Team USA, with a spot in the final of the round-robin tournament secured, plays Sweden Monday night while Canada and Finland play Monday afternoon as the tournament moves to Boston’s TD Garden. The final is Thursday night.
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