Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk was recently asked an interesting question about the upcoming four-nations tournament.

Last night, as the Florida Panthers dropped their game to the Boston Bruins, ESPN analyst PK Subban asked Matthew Tkachuk about the Four Nations tournament during an intermission interview.

The former defenseman pointed out that Tkachuk’s mother is Canadian, suggesting that he could theoretically represent Canada in the event.

That being said, Tkachuk’s response was rather straightforward and quick. There was no hesitation in it.

“No, never in my life. I’m American. I would never play for them, that’s been, I’m as American as it gets.”

Tkachuk was born in Scottsdale Arizona and is the son of Keith, who also was a famous NHL player, also born in the United States of America.

As such, it is not surprising that Tkachuk would have such a response to a question about possibly playing for Team Canada.

After all, most of us are proud to be from whichever country we are whether that is the USA, Canada, Finland, or anywhere else on Earth.

To be quite frank, a lot of players probably would have found the idea of representing another country on the international stage to be insulting.

Many fans seem to agree with this sentiment as even they were insulted by the idea.

One fan said:

“Kind of a bull ambush by PK. It is all in fun but Tkachuks are not turncoats and not something that should be joked about. Fly High Free Bird”

As Tkachuk said, he is as American as it gets, so he certainly will not be representing Canada anytime soon. He is going to give everything he has to beat Canada at the event just for bragging rights, so he can say the USA is better at hockey, which would be a pretty big insult to most Canadians.

Tkachuk was named to Team USA’s roster last month and he figures to be a huge part of the team, so be sure to tune in next month to see whether or not he can take down team Canada on the international stage.