Team USA reveling in chance to play 4 Nations villain in highly anticipated Canada matchup
MONTREAL — The only guarantee in this 4 Nations Face-off is the hostile atmosphere that will follow Team USA.Skating out to boos, while Finland was met with cheers, in their opening game came as no surprise.But if you thought the Americans were the Bad Guys on Thursday, just wait until they take the ice Saturday night for the crème de la crème matchup of the tournament with Team Canada.Animosity between the two largest countries on this side of the globe has been brewing, as threats of tariffs and suggestions of Canada sacrificing its sovereignty to become the 51st state have rumbled.Politics always find a way into sports.
Things that transcend hockey.And the United States of America has its role.“I’m excited to be playing the villain that night,” Brady Tkachuk, who otherwise captains the Ottawa Senators, said with a grin after he and his brother, Matthew, combined for four goals and five points in Thursday’s 6-1 win.The one thing about the Tkachuks, everybody says, is they can drag a whole team into the fight.Matthew Tkachuk, who ventured to the White House with the Panthers earlier this month to celebrate their Stanley Cup victory, was short and concise when asked about the U.S.national anthem getting booed prior to Thursday’s game.“I didn’t like it,” he quipped.
“And that’s all I’ve got.”The Star Spangled Banner had been getting booed in Canada well before this tournament, which will host the final four games on the other side of the border in Boston.Rangers forward J.T.Miller said it fired up his teammates more than anything Thursday night.It should be easy to embrace a character they not only were expecting but have portrayed many times before.Several players on Team USA have competed in World Junior Championships in Canada.Miller was part of the seventh-place U.S.
team that competed in the 2012 World Junior Championship in Calgary and Edmonton, while Blueshirts defenseman Adam Fox — along with Charlie McAvoy and Jake Oettinger ...