The hype for the Canada-U.S. rematch in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship at TD Garden on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, Disney+, SN, TVAS) is already at a peak level around North America and beyond, but credit Hagel on Tuesday and Tkachuk on Wednesday for adding a touch of verbal animosity to the national pride the players here are feeling.

The intensity of this border rivalry reached levels it hasn’t gotten to in 29 years on Saturday, when the U.S., with the help of a group chat between the Tkachuks and J.T. Miller, initiated three fights in the first nine seconds before skating to a defensive gem of a 3-1 win at Bell Centre.

Now the rematch is on, and the walls of the hockey world have been broken down, with talk of this game, this rivalry, what’s at stake coming from sports fans and non-sports fans alike, from media outlets all around North America that rarely, if ever, report on the sport.