TAMPA, Fla. — When the puck dropped, so did the gloves.
Bad blood boiled over when the U.S. met Canada on Saturday in the 4 Nations Face-Off round-robin.
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel fought Florida Panthers star and American Matthew Tkachuk.
“It’s going to be the same way,” Hagel said. “Listen, what happened the other night, I think, I did it for the flag. Not the cameras.”
That was the kickoff to the wildest start to a hockey game. Three fights broke out in the first nine seconds before Lightning’s Jake Guentzel scored twice for the Americans as the U.S. beat Canada 3-1.
On Thursday, Canada gets a re-match with the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off Final in Boston.
“It’s going to be an intense game,” Team Canada forward Anthony Cirelli said. “As you saw Saturday, the physicality of it, the fast pace, more of the same when you have two teams going at it. It will feel like a playoff game in that aspect with the atmosphere and not much room out there with tight checking.”
The Lightning are represented on both sides. On the ice for Team Canada is Brayden Point, Hagel and Cirelli. Jon Cooper is also the head coach for Team Canada.
Guentzel is the lone Bolt on Team USA.
“We got guys on both sides,” Lightning forward Mitchell Chaffee said. “Just being American, you want the U.S. to win.
No matter who wins, the 4 Nations Face-Off, which also includes Sweden and Finland, has brought more eyes to the sport. Over 10 million viewers across North America tuned into Saturday’s U.S.-Canada match-up.
“You just see social media, you see all the memes with the NBA and NFL,” Lightning forward Nick Paul said. “All those all-star games, and then you see us. It’s all the gloves on the ice, helmets off. If you just watch the hockey, too, the speed of the game, the physicality.”
The final will take place Thursday at 8 p.m.
A scammer tricked an 89-year-old, telling her that her grandson was hurt and that she needed to withdraw nearly $10,000 immediately. Luckily, Jennifer Sgro, a teller at Achieva Credit Union in Clearwater, stepped in when she recognized something was wrong.
