Brandon Hagel let his patriotism shine after Canada’s 3-2 overtime win over Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off final on Thursday while making a dig at the Americans and their recent antics.
The Canadian forward posted a massive Canadian flag in an Instagram story showing (h/t @PuckReportNHL) a group chat named "CHAMPIONS" with his teammates, celebrating the country’s latest best-on-best international gold medal.
The initials on the bubbles behind the flag belong to some of Canada's players including the likes of Sidney Crosby (SC), Sam Reinhart (SR), Josh Morrisey (JM), Brad Marchand (BM), and Mark Stone (MS).
Hagel’s post didn’t come out of nowhere. Ahead of the highly anticipated rematch with the Americans, he made it clear that Canada was playing for more than just a trophy.
"We're out there playing for a flag, not the cameras," Hagel said Tuesday after Canada clinched a spot in the final. "That's the part of Canada we have in [the dressing room].
"We don't need to initiate anything. We don't need any group chats going on. We're going out there playing our game, giving it everything, and, like I said, doing it for our country. We're just going to play as hard as we can and do it for the flag."
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.
That game ended in a 3-1 win for Team USA, fueling Canada’s determination heading into the final.
Canada flipped the script on Thursday, playing a tight game and ultimately beating the USA thanks to a very familiar golden goal by Connor McDavid a little over eight minutes into overtime.
Both the USA and Canada will now turn their attention to next year's Olympics, following the NHL announcement on Feb. 2 confirming players under contract with NHL franchises will be able to play in the 2026 and 2030 editions of the event.
