NHLPA: Hagel, Slavin demonstrate persistence to reach 4 Nations championship

Two teams, one destiny.

The historic gatekeepers of the game, Canada, against a United States team whose players believe their turn to seize the mantel of men’s hockey supremacy is at hand.

So what better way to prepare for the championship clash than with two stories from within the rosters of the teams who will vie for victory in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship at TD Garden in Boston -- stories that will help explain the twin identities that will collide on the ice Thursday (8 p.m. ET; Disney+, ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS).

Let’s start with the home team. And we will get to the emerging force that is United States defenceman Jaccob Slavin in a moment.

We will get to discussing just how integral he has become in a matter of days to the U.S., being on the verge of a win in a best-on-best competition for the first time since 1996.

But first, we’re going to talk M&Ms to help illustrate the long, often anonymous journey that Slavin has followed from his early days at the local rink in Colorado to the brink of international stardom at this event.

The third of five children born to Wendi and Rob, there were so many Slavins parading through the local rink, officials didn’t mind that Jaccob was on the ice at 2 years of age. Nor did they mind that Wendi employed the time-tested method of placing M&M candies on the ice in small intervals to encourage Jaccob to take his first faltering steps toward greatness.

Slavin, 30, has two children, a 4-year-old daughter, Emersyn, and a son, Charlie, who is 2. Jaccob had to buy M&Ms in bulk as both children have learned to skate the Slavin way.

“His son loves hockey. He's only 2, but he's obsessed,” Wendi said in a conversation before the championship game. “He’s already skating. And he goes around body checking everybody, even though that's not part of Jaccob's game necessarily.”

There is a certain constancy to Jaccob Slavin and his entire family.

The family’s faith is the rock to which they are tethered. And Slavin’s personality is as even-keeled and thoughtful as his game.

Rob, who runs an automotive repair business, recalls getting a letter from Slavin’s fifth-grade teacher, praising Slavin for helping a group of youngsters who didn’t understand soccer and were having a hard time socializing as a result. Slavin stepped in to help these kids and Rob has kept the letter ever since.

On a team with many large personalities -- think Matthew and Brady Tkachuk and go from there -- and many connections and bonds that date back years, Slavin is a bit of an outlier.

He played in a world junior championship in 2013-14 but hasn’t competed for USA Hockey at other levels.

Was he nervous showing up for his first taste of best-on-best hockey as a pro?

He laughed. Nerves and Slavin don’t usually appear in the same time zone.

“I think I’m a little bit beyond that right now,” he said with a smile. “Maybe not as talkative at first because the relationships don’t have much depth to them. But no, it’s a fine locker room.”

And nerves certainly haven’t been an issue on the ice as Slavin has been asked to shoulder big minutes against top opponents and he has done so with his usual grace and effectiveness.

“It’s definitely difficult but at the same time it’s what I love about being a defenseman,” Slavin said. “It’s not just one line, it’s every line you’re out there, which has the potential to be a threat.”

If the majority of his teammates and the coaching staff didn’t really know Slavin before, they do now.

“His size, his skating, his competitive nature, his stick detail,” U.S assistant coach John Hynes said. “The commitment that he plays the game with. Shift in shift out. Plays hard minutes for us. He’s in our top shutdown pair, top penalty kill.”

Hynes has worked closely with Slavin on a variety of fronts with the U.S. team and noted that the team’s penalty kill and 5-on-5 scheme is very different than the schemes employed by Slavin’s NHL team, the Carolina Hurricanes.

“He’s always asking questions. He wants to get the details right,” Hynes said. “Whether it’s in meetings, after meetings, 1-on-1, on the bench, he’s so in tune with doing things the right way and making sure that he’s got it down the way that it needs to be done. That to me, combined with his talent level, to me I’ve been so impressed with him in those two areas.”

Slavin was selected by the Hurricanes in the fourth round (No. 120) of the 2012 NHL Draft.

If there has been an anonymous element to his time in Carolina, the last person to be concerned about a lack of profile in spite of his body of work is Slavin himself.

“He's not flashy. He's not going to be someone that you're seeing on Instagram every night,” said Vincent Trocheck, who played with Slavin in Carolina before becoming a member of the New York Rangers.

“But when it comes to winning hockey games, he's the kind of guy you want. I don't think it bothers him that maybe people don't know who he is or how good he is. That would never bother him because I don't think it matters to him at all. He cares what people think in the room, and how he plays and his family and all those kinds of things. He's probably the last person that cares what his profile is.”

And if you’re looking for Slavin to suddenly embrace this newfound recognition, well, you can forget that, too.

“My mindset going into each game is just to glorify God," he said. "He’s given me the abilities to play this game, he’s given me the platform to do it on a nightly basis in the best league in the world, but now to be able to go and glorify him on a world stage is awesome, a blessing, and I’m thankful for it.”

This is not to say Slavin isn’t possessed of a nice sense of humor. Slavin said he was unaware that teammates Brady and Matthew Tkachuk and J.T. Miller were going to start Saturday’s game against Canada with a series of heavyweight bouts.

“A Lady Byng winner was not in the group chat,” he said.

He also admitted that through his family, he did hear that someone had referred to him as “Border Patrol” after the U.S. shutdown 3-1 win over Canada.

Different player, different position, different jersey, and yet as this tournament has moved toward it’s highly anticipated conclusion, Brandon Hagel represents a similar winding path to recognition.

It’s a path that begs the question; how does one negotiate the intersection of dreams and disappointment?

For Hagel, that defining moment came during a conversation with Red Deer Rebels head coach, major junior executive and long-time NHL star Brent Sutter.

Sutter had brought Hagel into the Western Hockey League team as an undrafted 17-year-old in 2015-16.

Hagel played well enough to be selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the sixth round (No. 159) in the 2016 NHL Draft, but never signed a pro contract with them.

He returned to Red Deer as an overage player in 2018-19, but before that season, Sutter and
Hagel had a heart to heart that would change everything.

“We just talked about a lot of different things,” Sutter said recently.

Preparation. Having good habits.

“What it was going to take to get a contract,” Sutter added.

That season, Sutter believes, Hagel was the best player in the WHL, and Stan Bowman, general manager with the Chicago Blackhawks at the time, called Sutter. Within days, a contract was prepared. Hagel was subsequently traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he has become a cornerstone player for the Bolts.

“He had to get past the letdown and the discouragement of the path his career was on and dial in on a different path,” an emotional Sutter said. “I’m so proud of him.”

“ 'Hags' is one of those guys out to prove something, prove people wrong,” Sutter said. “His motor doesn’t stop and that’s what I love about him as a player. He is constantly involved and engaged.”

Sometimes when Sutter is speaking to new players in Red Deer, he invokes Hagel’s name and tells those players Hagel’s story.

Hard to imagine there’s a higher compliment that can be paid to a hockey player.

When Hagel recounts that conversation with Sutter, he is sitting in Canada’s locker room and admits a surreal feeling looking around at his new teammates.

“Honestly coming here, you’re obviously a little nervous, you don’t know anyone, but I’ve never been put in a group of 23, 24, 25 guys, whatever it is, never met so many guys that get along and so many good guys in the dressing room,” Hagel said. “It’s pretty cool to see to be honest and especially looking to your right and looking to your left and as a young kid I watched moments of these guys scoring some pretty big goals. Pretty special that way.”

He’s certainly not taking for granted playing on this stage.

“I think I got good lessons as a young kid," Hagel said, "being cut from a lot of teams, not making teams, not getting drafted in the bantam draft, not signing a contract with Buffalo, going back as an overager, thinking about going to school. I went through those dark times.

“I’m out there to win and make a team better and do whatever it takes every single night because I think that’s just my roots. I guess work as hard as you can and that’s what got me here, so I’m going to continue to do it whether people see it or not.”

Brandon is the middle of three children.

Brother Tyler is older by three years.

“We’re super close. We obviously had our battles,” Tyler said. “There’s quite a few holes in the old basement when we were growing up.”

But listening to Tyler, who will get married this year with Brandon at his side, describe what it means to he and the Hagel family to be sharing in this moment is to be reminded that no one travels this journey alone.

“For me, this is a hell of a dream,” Tyler said. “It’s pretty crazy and surreal to get the chance to be able to just watch him play hockey and be that fan in the stands having a beer and knowing someone that is out there.”

“It’s such an honor to be able to see these guys in their element and just know what good people they are and how good they treat everyone around them. I’m beyond proud.”

Sweden captain Victor Hedman knew what his team was up against when it opened the tournament against Hagel and Canada, after witnessing Hagel’s growth with the Lightning firsthand.

“You could tell right away," said Hedman, who is Tampa Bay's captain. "Just his tenacity, his work ethic.

“You just see what confidence can do for a player. To see 'Haggy' become the player he’s become is a treat to watch. We’re super fortunate to have him for what he’s done in this past two three years since coming from Chicago. He’s really helped us a lot.”

Another guy who’s also paying special attention to Hagel’s play at the 4 Nations is Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julian BriseBois, who is also moonlighting as an assistant general manager for Canada.

“There is no doubt that Hagel’s play has been well above the recognition he’s received playing in Tampa,” BriseBois said.

He also agrees with the widespread perception that Hagel has had an outstanding tournament for Canada.

“He’s been very, very noticeable and impactful in every game and every shift,” BriseBois said. “I’m not surprised. That’s how he goes about his business.”

Now, having excelled on this stage, BriseBois believes it’s inevitable that there will be a further boost of confidence, and with it, an even higher end for Hagel.

How can there not be?

When you play with and against the best players in the world, “you have no choice but to elevate,” BriseBois said. “This is a different animal.”

Of course, for many fans, Hagel’s tournament will be marked by his explosive battle with Brady Tkachuk two seconds into Saturday’s game against the U.S.

“I did it for the flag and not for the cameras,” Hagel said.

And, no, he wasn’t expecting the fight.

“I didn’t have a group chat going,” Hagel said. “I didn’t know it was coming until we started throwing.”

Did he watch the fight afterwards?

“Of course,” he said with a laugh.

How many times?

“Five hundred,” he said with a grin.

Thursday can’t come soon enough.