Matthew Tkachuk sets the tone for Team USA's Olympic semifinal in Milan

Matthew Tkachuk completely ripped the curtain back on the locker room mentality today.

Team USA barely survived a tight 2-1 overtime war against Sweden yesterday, punching their ticket to the semifinals, where they will face off against Team Slovakia, who has been an underdog so far this tournament.

They are preparing to face a desperate Slovakia team that is riding massive momentum.

Tkachuk carries a premium price tag at $9.5 million against the cap, and he earns this not just by getting on the scoresheet, but also getting under the skin of his opponents.

He already has 61 points and 60 penalty minutes in 56 games for the Florida Panthers this season.

He constantly dominates the dirty areas and brutally punishes opposing defenders along the wall.

He openly admitted the Slovaks are playing incredibly well right now.

But he aggressively demanded the Americans force them to defend for the entire game.

Just pure aggression.

Here is what he had to say: "They're playing really, really well. It's up to us to make sure they're trying to defend most of the game."

Team USA simply can't afford to sit back and trade chances with a heavy trapping system.

They absolutely need to grind them down below the faceoff dots and dictate the physical pace.

It will be interesting to see if Slovakia comes out with another upset win, or if Team USA (the favorite) moves on to the gold medal game.

Will the ultimate agitator actually put this exhausting roster on his back and drag them straight to the gold medal game?