MONTREAL — It didn’t take long for the mayhem to start.
There were three fights in the first nine seconds of the game between Canada and the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off on Saturday.
As as the puck was dropped for the game’s opening faceoff, Team USA’s Matthew Tkachuk and Team Canada’s Brandon Hagel dropped the gloves. They had a spirited fight, with each player landing big blows, before Hagel dragged Tkachuk to the ice, triggering a thunderous roar from the sellout Bell Centre crowd.
As Hagel got up off the ice, he took a victory lap and threw his hands in the air, raising the volume in the building even more.
Off the ensuing faceoff, Brady Tkachuk and Sam Bennett dropped the gloves again. One second had ticked off the clock since the first fight.
GO DEEPER
Team USA angered, motivated by boos from Montreal crowd at 4 Nations Face-Off
And then, they played hockey.
For six seconds.
As an American scrum formed around the Canada net, Colton Parayko and J.T. Miller dropped the gloves, the third fight in the first nine seconds. Parayko is listed at 6-foot-6 and 228 pounds. Miller is listed 6-foot-1 and 218 pounds. It showed.
Canada got a power play out of that last fight as Miller was tagged with an extra two minutes for cross-checking.
And then, they actually played hockey.
(Photo of Matthew Tkachuk fighting with Brandon Hagel: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)
