“Pretty cool feeling”: Brady Tkachuk gave his take on USA-Canada 4 Nations Face-Off fights, deemed team USA as villains.

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Brady Tkachuk looked back at the violent fights in the USA-Canada game in the 4 Nations Face-Off when he was a guest on Pardon My Take. The Team USA forward and Ottawa Senators winger talked about the fiery February 15 game, describing how feelings ran high to result in several fights. He offered his insight into the rivalry and why the on-ice mayhem ensued.

Brady Tkachuk looked back at the violent fights in the USA-Canada game in the 4 Nations Face-Off

Team USA forward and Ottawa Senators player Brady Tkachuk recently looked back on the wild action that transpired during the USA-Canada game in the 4 Nations Face-Off. Appearing as a guest on Wednesday’s edition of Pardon My Take, Tkachuk spoke about the heated moments that resulted in several intense brawls in the round-robin contest on February 15.

The two teams have always had a fierce rivalry, but tensions came to a head in a manner that made headlines throughout the hockey world. In the interview, Tkachuk gave his take on what ignited the fights and how the passion of the game turned into an all-out war on the ice.

“So before the game, we were talking about uniting as a team,” Tkachuk said. “We’re in Montreal, we’re the villains, just 20 of us together, so we decided to stick together. That was a way to show we were united.” Matthew Tkachuk, Brady’s brother, dropped gloves against Canada’s Brandon Hagel, sparking a brawl with Canadian forward Sam Bennett. Six seconds after the restart, Team USA forward J.T. Miller tangled with Canada defenseman Colton Parayko, resulting in the third fight in the first ten seconds of the game.

In a podcast session, Brady explained how the fights were arranged by the USA and Canada players before the game began. “Matthew [Tkachuk] looks at me and goes…he’s like, ‘alright, I’m first shift. I’m going at him.’ And then he tells me, ‘I’m gonna grab Benny [Sam Bennett] off the bench,’ who’s his teammate in Florida and ‘you’re coming out.’ So we’re going next,” Brady said.

“And then Millsy (J.T. Miller) talked to (Colton) Parayko in warmups and he was like, ‘We’re going.’ So Matthew fought, and then me and Millsy almost argued about who was going next.” Brady Tkachuk disagreed with the hosts’ joking suggestion that the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament resembled the All-Star game. “That tournament meant a lot,” Brady said.

“Honestly, it put a smile on my face,” Brady added. “Like, I was trying to hide it, but when they’re announcing the lineup for the final and I just heard the crowd, I felt really, like, patriotic and like representing the US. It was a pretty cool feeling.