Saturday's highly anticipated contest between Canada and the United States reached a boiling point mere moments after it started as three fights broke out within 9 seconds of puck drop.
It's no surprise the trio of tilts were a talking point among both teams after the contest, which the U.S. took 3-1.
"That was as organic as it gets, and it was, I guess, 10 years of no international hockey exhaled in a minute and a half," Canada head coach Jon Cooper said, per Stephen Whyno of The Associated Press.
Cooper called the scraps "mayhem," and believes they were good for the game.
"I didn't see anybody running for the exits," Cooper said. "People are going to talk about this."
U.S. forward Brady Tkachuk revealed he, brother Matthew, and teammate J.T. Miller discussed plans to start the game with a bang during a group chat earlier in the day.
"I think Matthew's fight to start it off was just such an energy boost," Brady Tkachuk said, per TSN.
"That was pretty fun," Miller said, per the New York Post's Mollie Walker. "That was the coolest experience I've probably had on the ice, one of them. To hear the building like that, it's something you'll never forget. There's a lot of bad blood, but at the same time, tons of respect for the other team."
Canada and USA could square off again in the final, which will be played Thursday night in Boston.
