“This has been a pipe dream for 10 years in the making,” said Vincent Trocheck after getting the chance to play with J.T. Miller for the New York Rangers. Growing up in Pittsburgh together, the Trochek and Miller were inseparable. And while their youth hockey years were spent on the same team, Trochek had to wait a long time to share a locker room with his best friend in the whole world. But Trochek is not the only one who likes having Miller around.

Mark Masters, the TSN reporter, posted it on X. Auston Matthew praised Miller for his competitive side and the impact he had on the team during the 4 Nations Cup. He called him very popular among the teammates as he said, “He’s a competitor … I really enjoyed spending time with him … A guy that you love to have on your team especially come playoff time.” No secrets there at all. Miller is easily one of the most hard-working and determined players out there, and his competitive side sure did come out during the 4 Nations, albeit in a rather unconventional fashion.

Although the USA could not have the last laugh against their bitter rivals Canada, they absolutely clobbered everyone in their path (including the neighbors) in their run to the final game. The clobbering, as we all know, happened literally as much as it happened figuratively with J.T. Miller being among the three US players to pick fights with Canadian players during their round-robin match-up in Montreal. And for some reason, J.T. Miller chose to pick on Colton Parayko, one of the biggest guys in the NHL — a decision that made his wife somewhat nervous. That fight actually ended up setting the tone for the match which the US won 3-1.

But if you are thinking that J.T. Miller just happened to lose his calm within the first few seconds of the game, you better think again.

J.T. Miller and teammates had it all planned out

In a recent interview with Spittin’ Chiclets, Brady Tkachuk got honest about how the entire fight was pre-planned over a group chat. He and his brother were looking forward to playing together for their country at the 4 Nations. “‘How sick that would be?‘“ He also recalled how he, his brother Matthew, and Miller were “joking around about” letting their fists fly during the Canada game.

And guess what? A late text by the Rangers star gave the Tkachuk brothers the boost to actually go ahead with the plan. No wonder Brady, who became acquainted with the veteran forward during the tournament, called Miller an “awesome guy.” While Matthew decided to take on Brandon Hagel and Brady chose Saem Bennett, Miller, in fact, had a conversation with Parayko during the warm-up which ended with the two players agreeing that they both would be dropping their gloves during the match. “That was pretty fun. That was the coolest experience I’ve probably had on the ice, one of them. To hear the building like that, it’s something you’ll never forget. There’s a lot of bad blood, but at the same time, tons of respect for the other team,” said Miller as he opened up about the chaotic game.

While fans have admired these brawls, chaos, camaraderie, and pre-planned madness, it would be curious to see whether it was a on-time thing, or something that fans will get to see again when the two nations face off against each other in the future.