The United States advanced to the Olympic Gold Medal Game after defeating Slovakia 6-2 on Friday. While Team USA has its sights set on winning the Olympic tournament, Slovakia was left with sour grapes after an incident at the end of the game spilled into the hallway headed toward the locker rooms.
The disagreement began after Team USA forward Matthew Tkachuk hit Team Slovakia defenseman Erik Cernak in the offensive zone well after the rearguard had played the puck. (See the full incident here.) The two players then shoved and held each other as they skated back up the ice until officials tried to break the pair up near the penalty boxes.
Brady Tkachuk then entered the fray and punched Cernak from behind, causing the Slovak to throw two punches at Matthew. Both Tkachuk brothers then threw hands at Cernak from both sides as referees tried to separate the trio.
“I saw him jumping on my brother and hitting him, I didn’t want to let it go,” Brady Tkachuk said per iDNES.cz and a translation by Google Translate. “I just stood up for my teammate, defended him. That’s completely normal.”
The Tkachuk brothers and Cernak were issued 10-minute Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalties, effectively ejecting them from the game, with 1:43 remaining. Brady got the only minor from the fracas, a two-minute roughing penalty, which was served by Clayton Keller, giving Slovakia a power play to end the game.
According to the Czech site, after all three players left the ice, the disagreement spilled into the hallway near the locker rooms, where the Tkachuk brothers exchanged words with Cernak before they eventually went their separate ways.
The incident greatly peeved the Slovaks after the game.
“They’re scumbags, both of them,” Slovakian forward Oliver Okuliar said. “They’re not even good hockey players, they just do this s**t, that’s exactly their style.”
Capitals forward Martin Fehervary, who earned a two-minute roughing minor for punching Brady in the head 31 seconds into the second period, appeared not to be a fan of the Tkachuk brothers either.
“Nobody was surprised by what Tkachuk did. Everyone knows what they are,” Fehervary said, shrugging.
Former NHL player Marián Gáborík, who was serving as an analyst for the Slovakian STVR, went a bit further.
“It’s not easy to keep your nerves against them,” Gáborík said. “That’s just the way they are; they behave like rats.”
While Team USA advanced to play their rival Canada for gold on Sunday, the Slovaks were left to fight Finland in the Bronze Medal Game on Saturday. Both teams are looking to secure a medal in men’s hockey for a second straight Olympics.
