USA’s Matthew Tkachuk on rivalry with Canada: ‘Our team doesn’t care about anything they say’

The off-ice drama between the United States and Canada continues in the build-up to another heated clash on Thursday night—this time with the 4 Nations Face-Off Championship on the line.

After Team USA’s practice on Wednesday, forward Matthew Tkachuk had a response for Canadian forward Brandon Hagel, who threw a little shade at the Americans, saying that the team doesn’t “have any group chats going on.” The comment was made in reference to the brothers Matthew and Brady Tkachuk confirming that there was a group chat about how things were going to be feisty in their round-robin game last Saturday—which the U.S. won 3-1.

“Maybe their team doesn’t like each other then if they don’t have group chats,” Tkachuk said with a smile. “I think that’s just a player enjoying this opportunity.”

Hagel and Matthew fought right off the opening faceoff in Montreal, with Brady fighting Sam Bennett right after. The hat trick of fisticuffs was completed when U.S. forward J.T. Miller dropped the mitts with Canada defender Colton Parayko. All three tilts occurred nine seconds into the contest.

Tkachuk, who will be in the lineup after missing Monday’s game against Sweden, says the Americans are avoiding the noise, expressing that the team is focused on winning Thursday night’s game and giving the U.S. its first championship in a “best-on-best” tournament since the World Cup of Hockey in 1996.

“So I think that our team does not care about anything that they say, and there’s been a lot of chatter and talk from individuals. But we care about one thing in this room and we have millions of people that are watching us and supporting us around this country and we’re very prideful in playing for them and the guys in the room. So it’s an opportunity of a lifetime for us.”

Canada and the United States will drop the puck after 8 p.m. ET on Thursday night at TD Garden in Boston. The U.S. will be without defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who was ruled out after getting an infection after suffering an upper-body injury earlier in the tournament. However, they’re expected to have both Tkachuks and Auston Matthews back in the lineup.