Team Canada's Brandon Hagel Gives Team USA Bulletin Board Material Ahead Of 4 Nations Final

Never in a thousand years would I have guessed that a four-team international tournament that the NHL threw together to get some buzz going about international hockey ahead of its return to the Olympics in 2026 would prove to be one of the biggest things to happen to the league on a mainstream-level since the first Winter Classic.

And there's a reason the 4 Nations Face-Off is getting so much attention. Unlike any other All-Star event, the 4 Nations has proven to be intense as hell, especially when the US and Canada meet up like they will in the championship game on Thursday.

But in the build-up, it seems like Team Canada's Brandon Hagel may be giving the Americans a little bit of bulletin board material.

The Tampa Bay Lightning forward, as you may recall, dropped the gloves with Team USA's Matthew Tkachuk (who, perhaps uncoincidentally plays for the Lightning's cross-state rivals, the Florida Panthers) to kick off the wildest 9 seconds of game time in recent memory.

This week, Hagel was asked about why he decided to drop the mitts.

"Listen, what happened the other night, I did it for the flag and not for the cameras," Hagel said, per Fox News Digital.

I respect the hell out of that. But if it feels like he was maybe taking a dig at Tkachuk — as well as Brady Tkachuk and JT Miller who also fought — the next line makes it clear that he was.

"We don't have any group chats going on," Hagel said, a reference to the Tkachuks and Miller having texted about going for a nice, pugilistic start to Saturday night's game.

It's an interesting move by Hagel, and it makes you wonder if the Championship will get started the way the preliminary did. I wasn't a huge fan of losing the Tkachuks for five minutes to start the game, but I think the way they got the energy going early proved to be worth the tradeoff.

And, if they need a dance partner, I think Hagel would be more than happy to oblige once again.