Canadian Fans Boo US Anthem – Team USA Takes It Out on Canadian Players as Soon as the Puck Drops

February 17, 2025 Mark Wolf US 0

The “51st state” was feeling pretty confident going into the second game of the 4 Nations Face-Off, a four-team ice hockey tournament run by the NHL — featuring Canada (putatively independent, although our president does occasionally say otherwise), the United States, Finland, and Sweden.

America’s Hat was playing America on Sunday — and, as The Athletic noted, Team Canada was on a 17-game winning streak that went back to the 2010 Olympics. Not only that, there were geopolitical implications in the game against the United States, especially given the animosity between newly minted U.S. President Donald Trump and outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

So, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, fans booed “The Star-Spangled Banner” as it played before the game, expressing their disdain for America in one of the few areas they can usually beat us. (The others that immediately come to mind are curling, owning unprepared attack-dog reporters while eating an apple, poutine-enjoying, and legalized marijuana smoking — although, alas, Americans seem to have caught up in that department, and with a vengeance.)

So, how’d that work out for them? Well, let’s just put it this way: You know that shopworn dad joke about going to a fight and a hockey game breaking out? That’s actually what the first period basically was:

Yes, it seems the Canadians messed around and found out, with three fights in just nine seconds of actual play.

It may seem pretty ugly — but, after all the boos, it was all a thing of beauty. In fact, you might call it art. Some enterprising social media users sure did:

And while it didn’t quite live up to the upset proportions of the 1980 Winter Olympics matchup between the U.S. and the Soviets, the Maelstrom on Ice did manage to end the Canadians’ 17-game win streak on home soil, with a 3-1 beating in our favor that secured a spot in Thursday’s final in Boston for the U.S. and put the favored Canadians at risk of getting eliminated from the round-robin phase of the tournament.

Canada initially jumped into the lead with a goal by Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid at the 14:29 mark of the first period.

Related:

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However, the United States tied the game a few minutes later with Tampa Bay Lightning star Jake Guentzel beating Canada goalie Jordan Binnington. In the second period, Detroit Red Wings star Dylan Larkin managed to surprise Canada while they were on a line change to go ahead for good. (Guentzel would score the final goal, an empty-netter, late in the third-period.)

While one would like to think that this is a case of mess around, find out (to use a bowdlerized version of a popular acronym) after booing the anthem, there was already blood between the two teams. In fact, the fights had actually been arranged earlier in the day when Matthew Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk, and J.T. Miller apparently decided to mix things up to tell the Canucks (the national team, not the Vancouver NHL one) that America meant business.

“Yeah, there was a little discussion during the day,” Brady Tkachuk said in the post-game interview, slightly hesitant.

“You can tell them,” his brother Matthew said.

Are you rooting for the U.S. in the 4 Nations Face-Off?

“Yeah, there was a group chat going on today,” said Brady. “Still slept like a baby though. Just kind of reaffirmed that we would do that.”

“Matthew’s fight to start it off was such an energy boost,” Brady Tkachuk said. “I think I was more excited, more nervous than my own. And then Millsy to cap it off to go against a big guy like that, I think he did a great job.”

Of course, there’s some evidence that at least Matthew Tkachuk might be a bit MAGA:

Furthermore, the U.S. national anthem had been booed by the Montreal crowd on Thursday when they faced Finland, and Matthew Tkachuk took exception to that.

“I didn’t like it. That’s all I got,” he said at the time, according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail.

Of course, both games have ended up being wins for the United States, which is still the only nation to have a win in regulation during the 4 Nations Face-Off. For those of you keeping score at home, a win in regulation is 3 points, a win in overtime is 2 points, and a loss in overtime is 1 point.

However, it’s worth noting this as a final aside: The provincial slogan of Quebec is “Je me souviens,” which translates directly to “I remember.” A less literal (but more accurate, as I understand it) explication of the phrase is that it’s basically a way of the Francophone province conveying to the rest of Canada — and its former colonial rulers in Britain, while it’s at it — that les Québécois have long memories, and they still carry a bit of a chip on their épaule.

So, at the very least, we can say this much for Matthew Tkachuk and the rest of the U.S. team after the reception for “The Star-Spangled Banner” from the Montreal crowd before the Thursday Finland game: “Nous sommes souvenus.” (Or, essentially: “We remembered, all right.”)

The U.S. now has 6 points, everyone else has 2. Canada, to be fair, controls its own destiny — provided it regains form against Finland and wins in regulation.

I will say this much, though: If they get through to the finals, Canadian fans who travel to Boston for the rematch against the United States might be a bit more averse to booing this time. Just a hunch. And if we win, expect a few fun remarks from the Oval Office about how it should really be the Three Nations Face-Off — given it was Finland, Sweden, and 50 U.S. states vs. the 51st U.S. state.



C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he’s written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.

C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he’s written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).

Birthplace

Morristown, New Jersey

Education

Catholic University of America

Languages Spoken

English, Spanish

Topics of Expertise

American Politics, World Politics, Culture

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