Hagel, of course, had a starring role in the first Canada-USA game Saturday in Montreal, dropping the gloves with Matthew Tkachuk off the opening faceoff and riling up the crowd afterward by throwing both hands in the air.

The post followed Canada’s thrilling 3-2 overtime victory in the 4 Nations Face-Off final against its American rivals.

Hagel's comments came in response to Team USA’s pre-planned approach to their round-robin matchup, which featured three fights in the first nine seconds — starting with one featuring Hagel and Matthew Tkachuk — with the Americans plotting the bouts in advance through a group chat.