USA vs Canada ice hockey game has THREE fights in first nine seconds after American anthem booed

An ice hockey match between the USA and Canada descended into utter chaos with three fights breaking out in the opening nine seconds of the game.

The 4 Nations Face-Off is currently taking place with games being held across both countries, with the USA, Canada, Finland and Sweden competing in a round-robin tournament before the top two take on one another in the final.

The encounter between the USA and Canada was held at the Bell Centre in Montreal, with the animosity currently between both nations becoming clear before the match even began.

The US national anthem - the Star Spangled Banner - was booed by the home crowd and tensions rose even further when the action on the ice began.

There were no fewer than three fights which broke out in the opening nine seconds of the encounter.

Firstly in the first two seconds, USA's Matthew Tkachuk and Canada player Brandon Hagel fought and were sent to the penalty box.

Then, Brady Tkachuk - Matthew's brother - came together with Sam Bennett of Canada just a second later, before the third fight involved American JT Miller and Canadian Colton Parayko by the time clock reached only nine seconds as the match turned ugly and confrontational.

The friction has followed the re-election in America of President Donald Trump who is now in his second term in the White House and some of his policies.

Matthew Tkachuk. (Image: Getty)

President Trump has vowed to impose tariffs on Canadian imports into the US, while he has also suggested the idea that their North American neighbour could become America's '51st state'.

Both coaches had their say after the fiery encounter.

American coach Mike Sullivan said: "I just think it's very indicative of what this means to the players.

"There's two teams out there that are very competitive, that have a ton of pride for their respective teams and their countries.

"For me, when you have an investment in trying to win like the way that it occurred, I think that's an indication of it. What an incredible hockey game."

And Canadian counterpart Jon Cooper said: "It wasn't planned.

"That wasn't two coaches throwing guys over and saying 'This is happening' - none of that happened. That was as organic as it gets.

"It was probably I guess 10 years of no international hockey exhaled in a minute and a half."