Team Canada's Brandon Hagel issues a bold statement after his breakout fight against Matthew Tkachuk

Saturday night's highly anticipated Four Nations Face-Off matchup between Team USA and Team Canada kicked off with an electrifying start. The fists were flying after the puck was dropped at center ice, and there were not one, not two, but three total fights within the first nine seconds of the game.

The first bout was Team USA forward Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers squaring off against Team Canada Brandon Hagel of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The two players have seen enough of each other as rivals in the state of Florida.

Hagel, who gestured heavily to the crowd after the fight, was interviewed during the first intermission and explained that Tkachuk invited him to drop the gloves and that he was happy to oblige.

"Yeah, I mean I think I blacked out on it but, yeah," he said. "I think, I was just trying to get some energy in the building. He asked, and I'm not backing down from him."

"I think me and him have a pretty good history, just going back and forth throughout the season. So I thought potentially if we started together, he was going to ask me. It was a long time coming."

But when it was time for the actual game to get going, Hagel felt that the overall pace was good.

"Yeah, I think it was a good pace," he said when asked about the overall pace of the game once the fights ended and the hockey started. "I think, uh, we're playing hard. Obviously, an unbelievable goal by (McDavid) there, just have to continue to get better every single period, and we have a good chance."

Team Canada initially took the 1-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes of play, only to have Jake Guentzel respond and knot the score at 1-1. Team USA then took the lead in the 2nd period thanks to a goal from Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings.

Two other fights immediately after Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel

As if the fight between Tkachuk and Hagel wasn’t exciting enough, there were two more fights immediately afterward.

Matthew's brother Brady Tkachuk went at it with Sam Bennett, the teammate of Matthew with the Panthers:

This was followed by another fight, this time between J.T. Miller of the New York Rangers and Colton Parayko of the St. Louis Blues:

The fans in attendance at Bell Centre are getting their money's worth in this matchup.