M. Tkachuk, Hagel trade barbs for 4 Nations final

BOSTON -- Team USA's Matthew Tkachuk and Canada's Brandon Hagel traded punches on Saturday night. Ahead of their rematch in the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off championship game on Thursday in Boston, they're trading words.

Hagel said Tuesday that his fight with Tkachuk off the opening faceoff -- one of three fights in the first nine seconds of Team USA's electrifying win in Montreal -- was done "for the flag and not the cameras." He also called out U.S. players J.T. Miller and Matthew and Brady Tkachuk for preplanning their fights against Canada via group chat.

"We don't need to initiate anything. We don't have any group chats going on. We're going out there playing our game and then giving it everything and doing it for our country," Hagel said, via Sportsnet. "We're just going to play as hard as we can and do it for the flag on the chest."

Matthew Tkachuk was asked about Hagel's comments on Wednesday morning.

"Maybe their team doesn't like each other then, if they don't have group chats," he said.

Tkachuk and Hagel are rivals in the NHL, as Tkachuk plays for the Florida Panthers and Hagel skates for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"That's just a player enjoying his opportunity. Our team does not care about anything that they say. There's been a lot of chatter and talk from individuals, but we care about one thing in this room," Tkachuk said. "We have millions of people that are watching us and supporting us around this country and we're very prideful in playing for them. So it's an opportunity of a lifetime for us."

U.S. coach Mike Sullivan said that both Matthew and Brady Tkachuk -- who was under the weather Wednesday and missed practice -- will be available for their game against Canada.

Matthew Tkachuk missed Team USA's game on Monday vs. Sweden out of injury precautions, after being unable to finish the game against Canada because of a lower-body injury. Brady Tkachuk was hurt in the first period against Sweden after he lost an edge while driving to the net and slammed his side into the goal cage. He returned to the ice for a 14-second shift later in the period but did not play the rest of the game.

"I think Brady and Matthew have the ability, through their personality, to give our team a whole lot of confidence and swagger," Sullivan said. "I know what this tournament means to them personally and how important it is to put our best game on the ice. There's a certain determination that those guys have to want to win."

Matthew Tkachuk said he's "very confident" his brother will be at "his absolute best" against Canada. The Tkachuks have flanked Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel on a line for the Americans.

Both Tkachuk brothers have been open about what a 4 Nations championship -- and a second win over archrival Canada -- would mean for hockey in the U.S.

"It's something that we don't take for granted. The millions of people supporting us and the generations before us -- and the generations that we could add to -- and the kids that are watching at home that want to be us, we could open up a whole new wave of hockey players in this country," Matthew Tkachuk said. "So this opportunity is one we don't take lightly. Obviously, wearing the jersey and representing your country is such an incredible honor and kind of what we play for, but the opportunity that we have tomorrow is something that I don't even think we thought was possible and what we could create."