Brandon Hagel was on the ice for the opening face-off when Team USA and Team Canada battled on Saturday. Within seconds, his gloves were off and he was exchanging a flurry of punches with United States alternate captain, Matthew Tkachuk.
Ahead of Thursday's rematch, Hagel was asked about initiating the physicality against the Americans, and he took a jab at Team USA in his response.
"I think we’re out there playing for the flag, not the cameras. That’s a part of Canada that we have in there. We don’t need to initiate anything. We don’t have any group chats going on," Hagel said. "We’re going out there playing our game and then giving it everything and doing it for our country. We don’t need to initiate everything. We’re just going to play as hard as we can and do it for the flag on the chest."
Via text messages in a group, members of Team USA, including Tkachuk, his younger brother Brady Tkachuk, and veteran forward JT Miller, agreed that they would drop their gloves early Saturday in order to set the tone for the game. All three of them were involved in separate melees before nine seconds had even ticked off the clock. Hagel indicated no such group chat exists for Team Canada, and that those who drop gloves would be doing so for their nation.
Those comments likely won't sit well with members of Team USA, and it's quite possible that Hagel will be challenged to a fight again at some point during Thursday's final.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Canada's Brandon Hagel Takes Jab at Team USA Ahead of 4 Nations Face-Off Final.
