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Ahead set for return to Bell Centre, the place he grew to become favourite of Canada throughout 4 Nations
©<\/span> Mark LoMoglio\/NHLI through Getty Photos
TAMPA —<\/strong> The final time Brandon Hagel<\/a>\u00a0performed a recreation with the magnitude of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bell Centre in Montreal, he immediately grew to become a nationwide hero in Canada.
It was Feb. 15, 2025, and the ahead was carrying the crimson and white colours of his nation, not the blue and white of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Canada was taking part in the US within the 4 Nations Face-Off, the pleasure of every nation on the road and the gang in Montreal at a fever pitch even earlier than the puck dropped on that Saturday night time.
When it lastly did, Hagel dropped his gloves and slugged it out with Matthew Tkachuk<\/a>\u00a0of the US, a complete nation cheering his each punch.
It cemented him as a fan favourite all through Canada.
That might not be the case Friday, particularly in Montreal, when Hagel and the Lightning return to Bell Centre for Recreation 3 of the Jap Convention First Spherical in opposition to the Montreal Canadiens (7 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX, The Spot). The perfect-of-7 sequence is tied 1-1.
“I feel this one’s not going to be the identical going over there, however I am excited,”\u00a0Hagel stated. “What a constructing to play in.”
Hagel has tormented the Canadiens by means of the primary two video games of this sequence. He scored two targets in Recreation 1, opened the scoring and had an help in Recreation 2, and was the clear winner in a struggle with Montreal ahead Juraj Slafkovsky<\/a>.
That is what Lightning coach Jon Cooper, Canada’s coach at 4 Nations, talking earlier than Recreation 2, stated about Hagel returning to Montreal:
“It is robust that we will return to Bell Centre right here subsequent week, and he’ll be the dangerous man when a yr in the past he was beloved in that enviornment,” he stated. “Yeah, that’ll be robust.”
©<\/span> Minas Panagiotakis\/Getty Photos
Hagel possible would not need it another approach. He is the center and soul of the Lightning, getting his teammates and followers fired up after a scrum in Recreation 2 and exhorting them to get going by waving his arm up and down on his strategy to the penalty field.
“The child does every part,” teammate Corey Perry<\/a>\u00a0stated. “He is an emotional chief of our membership.”
If Hagel on Friday continues to do what he is accomplished for the Lightning this season, he may turn out to be Public Enemy No. 1 in Montreal fairly fast if he is not there already. The 27-year-old from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, scored an NHL career-high 36 targets and completed with 74 factors in 71 video games. He has three targets and one help by means of the primary two video games of the primary spherical.
On a group with gifted offensive forces in forwards Nikita Kucherov<\/a> and Jake Guentzel<\/a>, and gritty, gifted forwards in Brayden Point<\/a> and Anthony Cirelli<\/a>, Hagel appears to have the full package deal — the grit, the scoring, the management qualities.
Take Recreation 1, when he scored twice and had one hit and three photographs on purpose. He performed a team-high 25:27, together with 5:14 on the ability play and 4:36 short-handed.
He had seven penalty minutes and one hit in Recreation 2. He performed 23:52, together with 3:26 on the ability play and three:59 short-handed.
“He does every part for us,” Kucherov stated. “He kills penalties. He is on the ability play. He is a hell of a participant. We’re fortunate to have him.”
He can do all of it and can do it, living proof, the struggle on the 4 Nations, when he was not solely defending his group, however an entire nation.
“I feel that type of outlined what he’s,” Cooper stated. “And it isn’t that he is a fighter, however he’s going to do something to win whatever the job.
“And I feel you watch that in the way in which he performs and the way he performed for us (in Recreation 1), and each respect he conducts himself. He is without doubt one of the main pulses of our group. He’s vocal. He is bought every part you need in a participant and a talent set to show it.”
MTL@TBL, Gm 2: Hagel hammers the sport’s opening purpose in 1st
Hagel started his NHL profession with the Chicago Blackhawks and had 61 factors (30 targets, 31 assists) over 108 video games in three seasons. He was traded to Tampa Bay by Chicago on March 18, 2022, with a fourth-round decide within the 2022 NHL Draft and a fourth-round decide within the 2024 NHL Draft for Boris Katchouk<\/a>, Taylor Raddysh<\/a>\u00a0and two conditional first-round picks. He performed 22 regular-season video games following the commerce and helped the Lightning to the Stanley Cup Ultimate for a 3rd straight yr, the place they misplaced in six video games to the Colorado Avalanche.
He had 64 factors (30 targets, 34 assists) in 81 video games in 2022-23 and 75 factors (26 targets, 49 assists) in 82 video games in 2023-24.
After the Lightning misplaced the 2024 first spherical in 5 video games to the Florida Panthers,\u00a0Hagel performed for Canada on the IIHF World Championship in Czechia. He had seven factors (three targets, 4 assists) in 10 video games.
It was a turning level in his profession, Cooper stated.
“Brandon\u00a0Hagel went to the World Championships the summer season earlier than the 4 Nations,” Cooper stated, “and he motive he got here on (Crew Canada’s) radar is as a result of he did go to World Championships and he excelled whereas he was over there.”
That point at Worlds assist\u00a0Hagel land a spot on Canada’s roster for the 4 Nations and the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, making him a favourite all through the nation.
That can change Friday, not less than in Montreal.
He cannot wait.
“What I constructing to play in,”\u00a0Hagel stated after Recreation 2. “I bought the chance to play in that constructing. It does not ever matter that we had been on the away facet. It’s a must to embrace the chance like that.
“As a participant you dream of taking part in in buildings like that and taking part in in atmospheres like that.”<\/p>\n