On Saturday night, the charter flight home from Michigan for the Gophers men’s hockey team was delayed, forcing players and coaches to spend a couple of hours waiting at Yost Ice Arena. They made the most of that time by watching the United States’ stirring 3-1 victory over Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off that featured three fights in the opening nine seconds.
“It’s been awesome,” Gophers coach Bob Motzko said of the tournament that started in a super-charged atmosphere in Montreal. “All of us that are just big believers and backers of USA Hockey, what that team is doing with a lot of heart and character … it sets up for another classic U.S.-Canada game."
The United States and Canada will play for the 4 Nations Face-Off championship on Thursday (7 p.m., ESPN), and Motzko and several of his players can relate to the spectacle that will be on display in Boston because they’ve lived the border rivalry at the World Junior Championship.
“It’s so intense,” said Gophers forward Jimmy Snuggerud, who helped Team USA win a gold medal in the 2024 world juniors and a bronze in the 2023 tournament. “My first World Juniors was in Halifax. It was absurd — the amount of Canadian fans that were there. It was one of the loudest rinks I’ve played in. It’s a whole ’nother level of intensity."
Twice, Motzko has been Team USA’s head coach in the world juniors, which features the best under-20 players in the world. His 2017 squad won the gold medal, and his 2018 team took the bronze. When it came to preparing his team to face the Canadians, Motzko kept things simple in the pregame routine.
“Well, it’s great for a coach because you don’t say a word,” he said. “You’re just going to open the door because the intensity in that rivalry right now, from both teams. … You’re staring down the gantlet and you’re going to get after it. Buckle up and hang on."
Motzko was not at all surprised when brothers Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, followed by J.T. Miller, dropped the gloves with the Canadians to open Saturday’s game. He coached Brady Tkachuk in the 2018 world juniors.
“You know the dad. Anybody follow the ’96 team?” Motzko said, pointing to Keith Tkachuk’s fight with Canada’s Claude Lemieux 20 seconds into a 1996 World Cup matchup. “Those two sons are a chip off the old block. You know what’s coming.”
