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MONTREAL — It took less than nine seconds for Team USA to record three fights in their 3-1 win over Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off showdown at Bell Centre on Saturday night.

Unsurprisingly, Matthew and Brady Tkachuk were the ringleaders.

The brothers — who stole the show in Thursday’s game against Finland with a combined four goals five points — took it a step further on Saturday by coordinating with teammate J.T. Miller to try and put Canada on its heels off the hop.

“We needed to send a message,” Matthew Tkachuk said after the win. “We’re here in Montreal on a Saturday night. We want it to be our time, and that message started right from the get-go.”

And so, the hockey rivalry renewed with Matthew dropping the gloves against Canada’s Brandon Hagel off the opening faceoff, igniting a sold-out crowd already fit to burst. Tkachuk and Hagel are rivals in the NHL as well, playing for the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, respectively.

Theirs was the fastest fight to start an NHL international game, topping the previous record of 20 seconds in 1996 when Canada’s Keith Primeau and Claude Lemieux fought Team USA’s Keith Tkachuk and Bill Guerin in the World Cup of Hockey. Guerin is the U.S. general manager in the 4 Nations Face-Off, and Tkachuk is father to Matthew and Brady — although Matthew denied that his father’s history influenced his and Brady’s actions in the game.

Because one second after Matthew Tkachuk went to the penalty box, Brady Tkachuk fought his older brother’s Florida teammate, Sam Bennett, off the night’s second faceoff. Matthew Tkachuk slammed his arms against the glass of the box in support as it played out.

Six seconds later, Miller fought Colton Parayko after the two jostled in front of the Canadian net. Miller also received a cross-checking penalty on the play, giving Canada the first power play of the game.

No matter to the parties involved, though. For them it was no accident the game started that way.

“There was a little discussion during the day,” Brady Tkachuk said about the fights, with his brother imploring him to “tell the truth,” while they sat together at the podium.

“Yeah, there was a group chat going on today,” Brady Tkachuk said. “We just reaffirmed we were going to do that. I think Matthew’s fight to start it off was just such an energy boost. I think I was more excited, more nervous for my own. And then for Millsy to cap it off against a big guy like that, he did a great job. It was a pretty awesome experience.”

The NHL hadn’t had a fight in an international tournament it had hosted since the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Miller was just as pleased as the Tkachuks to be part of the plan.

“That was pretty fun,” he said. “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.”

That’s what drove Hagel not to deny Matthew his request to drop the mitts.

“I’m not backing down,” Hagel said. “A little bit of the talk was these guys are going to take over the Canadian way, but I’m not going to let it happen.”

The exuberance on both sides wasn’t lost one anyone in the building — least of all the teams’ coaches. Canada’s Jon Cooper called the start of the game “mayhem” and credited “two passionate teams” for the intense opening.

Team USA’s coach Mike Sullivan thought the way each country responded showed how important the outcome of this tournament is to the ones involved.

“I just think it’s very indicative of what this means to the players,” he said. “There’s two teams out there that are very competitive that have a ton of pride for their respective teams and countries. For me when you have an investment in trying to win like the way that it occurred, I think that’s an indication of it. What an incredible hockey game.”

The U.S.-Canada game at 4 Nations was years in the making. The NHL hadn’t participated in a “best on best” tournament since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. An entire generation of star players are representing their countries for the first time in such a tournament, from Canada’s Connor McDavid — who scored the lone goal for his nation on Saturday — and Nathan MacKinnon to Team USA’s Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel.

The showdown took on an added dimension due to recent political tensions between the U.S. and Canada. President Donald Trump threatened — and subsequently enforced — significant tariffs on Canadian imports. Trump has also repeatedly made references to his proposal of Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state.

The U.S national anthem was booed by NHL fans in Canadian cities leading up to the tournament. There was a smattering of boos before the Americans’ win over Finland on Thursday, as the public address announcer at Bell Centre asked for the anthems to be respected. But before Saturday night’s game, the fans booed the introduction of the U.S. players by Olympic figure skating legend Michelle Kwan and loudly booed the anthem.

With the win, the U.S. secured its place in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game in Boston on Thursday night.

“Getting a win here on a Saturday night, that puts us in the finals, that’s a pretty neat feeling,” Brady Tkachuk told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan in his postgame, on-ice interview. “I feel like they’re a lot of unhappy people here, especially in Montreal, a place that isn’t my favorite.”

When Team USA does take part in the final, Matthew Tkachuk fully intends to dress. That looked in question when he appeared to suffer an injury late in the game on Saturday. He played just three shifts in the third period and sat out the final 12:36. Sullivan subsequently said Tkachuk is being evaluated for a lower-body injury and wouldn’t say whether he’d be held out of the USA’s game against Sweden on Monday.

Tkachuk, though, downplayed any nagging issue on Saturday.

“No concern at all,” he said of a potential ailment. “Just going to enjoy this win tonight. Other than Game 7 last year (when his Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup), this has been the highlight of my hockey career. I’m just going to enjoy it with the guys.”

Additional reporting from ESPN Senior NHL Writer Greg Wyshynski.

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‘It was time’: Yanks welcome new facial-hair rule

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'It was time': Yanks welcome new facial-hair rule

For nearly a half-century, the New York Yankees‘ facial-hair policy kept the visages of some of the world’s most famous baseball players whisker-free. Over the past week, with a nudge from a new player and the advice of an All-Star cast, team owner Hal Steinbrenner changed the face of the Yankees. Literally.

“Everyone was kind of stunned,” said Yankees closer Devin Williams, whose desire to sport his signature beard helped spur the rule change that will allow players to wear more than a mustache. “There were a few guys who had heard it was being discussed and a possibility, but that it actually happened — I’m just looking forward to it growing back.”

The announcement by the Yankees on Friday morning that players would be allowed to grow a “well-groomed beard” sent shockwaves through the sport. The draconian rule instituted in 1976 by then-owner George Steinbrenner had been maintained for more than a decade and a half since his death, and Hal Steinbrenner, his son, had shown no signs of relenting.

When Williams showed up to Yankees spring training in Tampa, Florida, last week for the first time after arriving in an offseason trade with the Milwaukee Brewers, he finally came face-to-face with his longtime nemesis: a razor. Never had Williams thrown a pitch in the major leagues without at least a healthy layer of stubble. After shearing his beard, he looked in the mirror, didn’t recognize who was looking back and eventually took his concerns to Yankees manager Aaron Boone.

Williams later relayed the frustration to general manager Brian Cashman, who listened to his points — about how players who feel their best will play their best, about the hypocrisy of a policy implemented to promote clean-cut players applying only to facial hair below the upper lip — and agreed. Steinbrenner then sat down with Williams, and the moment to push for a facial-hair revolution had arrived.

The inconsistent application of the policy — from Goose Gossage’s Fu Manchu to later-than-5-o’clock shadows on the faces of Thurman Munson to Andy Pettitte to Roger Clemens — was just the beginning of the argument for change. There were concerns that players might pass up opportunities to play for the Yankees because of an attachment to their beards. Steinbrenner heard the case and Monday discussed with a cast of stars — alumni Ron Guidry, Pettitte and newly minted Hall of Famer CC Sabathia plus current players Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole and Giancarlo Stanton — how they saw it.

In the days thereafter, Steinbrenner came away from the conversations convinced: No longer was banning stubble worth the trouble.

“Winning was the most important thing to my father,” Steinbrenner said. “And again, if somebody came and told him that they were very sure that this could affect us getting the players we want to get, all we’re trying to do every offseason, right, is put ourselves in the best position to get a player that we’re trying to get. And if something like this would detract from that, lessen our chances, I don’t know. I think he might be a little apt to do the change that I did than people think because it was about winning.”

Steinbrenner and Cashman announced the change to the team Friday morning — and the players responded with appreciation.

“It’s a big deal,” said Cole, who had worn a beard with his past two teams, Pittsburgh and Houston. “I just threw today, and no one cares. Nobody is talking about how I look. I feel like I obviously, being a Yankee fan [growing up], wanted to emulate everything the Yankees did, so it was kind of cool that I was able to shave and be a part of that legacy. And then it’s also really cool at the same time that we’re transitioning to a different legacy to a certain extent, moving forward.”

Williams will be moving forward by not shaving. He said he expects his beard to grow back in two to three weeks. While he believes his past facial hair “was pretty well-groomed,” he’s happy to cut it shorter if the team desires “because it’s nice to feel like you’re being listened to.”

“Hal took the time to hear Devin out, spoke with other players and made a decision that I’m sure was very difficult,” said Nate Heisler of Klutch Sports Group, Williams’ agent. “The Yankees showed today why they are one of the best organizations in professional sports.”

No longer are they the most fresh-faced. Free agent signings with bearded pasts — from Cole to Stanton to left-hander Carlos Rodon to first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to reliever Tim Hill — are free to return to their hirsute ways. Homegrown players can celebrate no-shave November eight months early. And Boone — once himself a cleanly shaven Yankees player — summed up the mood in the clubhouse for everyone.

Said Boone: “It was time for this.”

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Soto slams 426-foot HR in 1st at-bat with Mets

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Soto slams 426-foot HR in 1st at-bat with Mets

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Juan Soto homered in his first spring training at-bat for his new team, hitting a solo shot to left-center field in the first inning for the New York Mets against the Houston Astros on Saturday.

Soto signed a record 15-year, $765 million contract this offseason, moving across New York from the Yankees to the Mets.

He hit second in the order Saturday, between Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso, and drilled a 426-foot homer on a 2-1 pitch from left-hander Colton Gordon. The following inning, Soto drove in another run with a ground ball.

Soto entered Saturday’s game with a career .302 average and 13 home runs in 86 spring training games.

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Tigers’ Baddoo to miss start of regular season

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Tigers' Baddoo to miss start of regular season

LAKELAND, Fla. — Detroit Tigers outfielder Akil Baddoo had surgery to repair a broken bone in his right hand and will miss the start of the regular season.

Manager A.J. Hinch said Friday that Baddoo had more tests done after some continued wrist soreness since the start of spring training. Those tests revealed the hamate hook fracture in his right hand that was surgically repaired Thursday.

Baddoo, 26, who has been with the Tigers since 2021, is at spring training as a non-roster player. He was designated for assignment in December after Detroit signed veteran right-hander Alex Cobb to a $15 million, one-year contract. Baddoo cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Toledo.

Cobb is expected to miss the start of the season after an injection to treat hip inflammation that developed as the right-hander was throwing at the start of camp. He has had hip surgery twice.

Baddoo hit .137 with two homers and five RBIs in 31 games last season. The left-hander has a .226 career average with 28 homers and 103 RBI in 340 games.

After the Tigers acquired him from Minnesota in the Rule 5 draft at the winter meetings in December 2020, Baddoo hit .259 with 13 homers, 55 RBIs, 18 stolen bases and a .330 on-base percentage in 124 games as a rookie in 2021. Those are all career bests.

Baddoo went into camp in a crowded outfield. The six outfielders on Detroit’s 40-man roster include three other left-handed hitters (Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Parker Meadows) and switch-hitter Wenceel Pérez. The other outfielders are right-handers Matt Vierling and Justyn-Henry Malloy.

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