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Drew Doughty Makes Bold Statement About Fighting Matthew Tkachuk in USA-Canada Rematch

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Sean Treppedi | Last updated Feb 17, 2025 9:55 PM ET

There will be no love lost between the United States and Canada or Drew Doughty and Matthew Tkachuk in the 2024 4 Nations Face-Off title game Thursday.

Tkachuk, who opened the instant classic between the two countries by fighting Brandon Hagel, has been one of the United States' most polarizing players by patrolling all 200 feet of the ice with his pesky play.

The power forward began forging his menacing reputation style when he entered the NHL in 2016 with the Calgary Flames.

Doughty became notably familiar with Tkachuk throughout a saga of skirmishes between the two in the meetings between Calgary and the Los Angeles Kings.

TNT's Paul Bissonnette pushed the envelope on Doughty's distaste for Tkachuk when interviewing the two-time Stanley Cup winning defenseman after Canada's 4-3 win over Finland on Monday.

"You're putting me on the spot, Biz. I'll do anything for my country. If the time is right and I've got to go, I guess so," Doughty said.

Drew Doughty on potentially dropping the gloves with Matthew Tkachuk on Thursday...

"I'll do anything for my country" pic.twitter.com/taM4Rj9hPG
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) February 18, 2025

The feud spawned in 2016-17 when Tkachuk raised an elbow on Doughty, which sent him down to the ice in pain. Doughty called Tkachuk a "dirty player" after the game and eventually said he had "no respect" for him two seasons later following another run-in.

Since Tkachuk left Calgary for the Florida Panthers in 2022, the two haven't seen as much of each other in the regular season.

Tkachuk set the tone for three fights in the opening nine seconds on Saturday. He was scratched from Monday's game against Sweden for recovery after having sat out the final 12:36 of Team USA's 3-1 win over Canada because of a lower-body injury.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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