Marchand on Tkachuk brothers: ‘Sometimes when you shoot your mouth off in the media, it bites you’

After Team Canada defeated Team USA 3-2 in overtime in Thursday’s 4 Nations Face-Off final, forward Brad Marchand shared his thoughts on Brady and Matthew Tkachuk, who didn’t shy away from the microphones throughout the two-week tournament.

“Sometimes when you shoot your mouth off in the media, it bites you,” Marchand told reporters after the game. “You can do that during the season, but when you’re playing ‘best-on-best,’ it’s different. They got a little bit ahead of themselves, but they’re great players. Theres’s not many guys who can do what they do, and they’re extremely effective.

“But when you start giving teams ammo, it can work against you as well,” Marchand continued. “They’re going to have long, great careers, and I think we saw how effective they can be at every level.

Marchand’s comments come after the Tkachuk brothers, particularly Matthew, took several shots at Canada through the 4 Nations tournament. The pair stirred the pot after USA’s 3-1 win over Canada last Saturday, as both brothers got in fights just seconds into the game.

“We had to send a message,” Matthew Tkachuk said, admitting that he, his brother Brady and J.T. Miller said in a team group chat they were going to try and start a fight with Canadian players.

After Canada forward Brandon Hagel told reporters his team doesn’t “have any group chats going on” and “we’re playing for the flag, not the cameras,” Matthew Tkachuk responded tongue in cheek.

“Maybe their team doesn’t like each other then if they don’t have group chats,” Matthew said with a smile.