Canada's Brandon Hagel Dunks on Tkachuk Brothers Ahead of Rematch with Team USA
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Photo credit: Eric Bolte - Imagn Images
Team Canada's Brandon Hagel had some interesting comments about Thursday's rematch with Team USA, also taking a clear shot at the Tkachuk brothers.
The matchup between Team Canada and Team USA from this past Saturday night is going to be talked about for a long time, primarily because of the three fights that took place during the first 9 seconds of the game.
The building was as loud as the Bell Centre has ever sounded and despite international tournaments not being known for fighting, you just felt that something was going to erupt at some point with Brady and Matthew Tkachuk on the other side.
What ensued was not on anyone's bingo cards with Matthew Tkachuk dropping the gloves with Brandon Hagel, Brady Tkachuk following that up with a fight against Sam Bennett, and J.T. Miller jumping in on the action with Colton Parayko.
After the game, the Tkachuk brothers mentioned that they had discussions about each fighting throughout the day and that there was a group chat going between all 3 members of Team USA who dropped the gloves.
Hagel was the first to drop the gloves after the elder Tkachuk brother had been hounding him all throughout pre-game warmups with the Tampa Bay Lightning forward saying he would never back down to him.
With a rematch set to occur on Thursday, Hagel has not forgotten the comments and has taken aim at the Tkachuk brothers for their group chat shenanigans, claiming he's in it for the national pride and not the media attention, which is what he implied that the Tkachuks are after.
"We're out there playing for the flag, not the camera We don't have any group chats going on."
He then added that his mentality was a lot different because he was thinking about whether or not the tournament was going to be similar to an All-Star exhibition and that he wouldn't fit in:
"I was thinking to myself laying in bed the night before the (first) 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."
The stage is set for a raucous rematch, albeit with slightly different circumstances. The Americans have been dealing with a plethora of injuries to the Tkachuk brothers, Auston Matthews, and Charlie McAvoy.
They're all expected to suit with the exception of McAvoy, who was ruled out due to an upper body injury. Quinn Hughes will be around as an emergency backup, similar to Thomas Harley's situation when Cale Makar was iffy.
Look for the same kind of fireworks the second time around with a lot more on the line when both teams line up for the opening face off on Thursday night at the TD Garden.
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