Brady Tkachuk adds fuel to the Canada vs USA rivalry’s fire with latest statement
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Bruce Raymond
Feb 21, 2026 (2:57 PM)
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Photo credit: James Lang-Imagn Images
Brady Tkachuk just said “hatred” about Team Canada, and the Olympic gold medal game turned personal fast.
Team USA and Team Canada have circled this matchup for weeks. Now it is finally here on Sunday, with gold on the line.
The rematch angle is doing a lot of work. These teams are coming off that Four Nations Face-Off final, and nobody has forgotten the edge.
Tkachuk didn’t dress it up when he spoke with ESPN. He leaned into the raw stuff fans pretend they do not care about.
He said, “There’s hatred there.” That one word lit up the hockey internet because it sounded like a dare.
He kept going, and it’s the second part that really tells you how Team USA sees this moment. They are not asking for respect, they are trying to take it.
Tkachuk added, “They’ve been the top dog, they’ve been the best for the last bunch of years and for us, we wanna be in that position.”
That is the entire game plan in one breath. Play on the front foot, hit first, and make Canada chase.
Brady Tkachuk cranks up the Canada tension for Team USA
If you’re a Canada fan, it reads like a shot across the bow. If you’re an American fan, it sounds like permission to believe.
He finished the thought with the kind of line players save for their last shift. Tkachuk said, “We wanna be the best.”
Then he brought it back to the room. “It’s gonna be a game where a lot of guys can say this is the biggest game they’ve ever played.”
That matters because big games shrink some players. Tkachuk is telling you he expects his group to grow into it.
The tactical piece is simple, too. When Team USA plays with pace and finishes checks, their forecheck turns clean breakouts into chaos.
Canada will have the skill, but this turns into a nerve test. One mistake on a change, one lost wall battle, and the game flips.
Either way, Sunday is going to feel like a whole season squeezed into three periods.
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