Americans and Canadians are punching and booing each other in the wake of President Donald Trump’s taunts about making Canada a US state — at least on the ice hockey rink.
Canadians have a long history of taking their national team hockey seriously. But with Trump goading their country and questioning its sovereignty, the temperature ahead of Thursday’s NHL Four Nations Face-Off tournament final is decidedly icy.
“We hear the comments. We feel like we’re being mocked,” said Cedric Bernard, out playing recreational hockey on a Montreal rink.
“Our way of honoring ourselves (as Canadians) is to win at hockey,” added Bernard, leaning on his hockey stick with pucks scattered around his skates.
Canada fell short in an opening round match on Saturday, which the United States won 3-1. But both teams advanced to the final after eliminating Finland and Sweden and for Canada, the revenge match is on.
The first meeting did not go smoothly.
There were three fights in the first nine seconds, an emotionally charged opening that many linked to the ugly politics.
The first fight was instigated by US winger Matthew Tkachuk, who made clear he did not appreciate fans in Montreal booing the American anthem, a protest that has become common at sporting events in Canada since Trump signed an executive order detailing tariffs on Canadian imports.
Dan Guiry, a stand-up comic and bartender in Toronto, recalls his reaction to the mayhem at Saturday’s game, was, “You want to go to war? Let’s do this!”
Guiry, 40, suggested the drama on the ice reflects the broader jolt to Canada since Trump’s election in November.
Political leaders have said Trump’s trade war threats and verbal assaults on Canadian sovereignty should be a “wake up call” for a nation that had grown complacent, believing its relationship with its superpower southern neighbor would always remain stable.
“We’ve got to wake the heck up as a country and as a hockey team,” Guiry said.
– The Summit Series –
Before Saturday’s match, a Toronto Star op-ed carried a headline that said Canada vs. the US “is more than a game, and more political than the Summit Series ever was.”
That legendary series featured eight head-to-head matches in 1972 between Canada and the Soviet Union, which had become a major hockey power — something few Canadians understood until the Soviet’s shocking 7-3 win in the first game.
The series, which Canada ultimately won, was charged by Cold War tensions but there “was never really a question of whether Canada would cease to exist,” wrote Star columnist Bruce Arthur on Saturday.
Today, however, “the United States has become a threat to our way of life,” Arthur wrote. “The hockey game’s big.”
Serge Savard, a renowned Montreal Canadiens player and executive, was on Canada’s team in the Summit Series. And he told AFP he understands the national furor over Trump’s mockery.
“When we’re told we should be the 51st state and that someone is going to annex Canada these are insulting words,” he said.
But Savard criticized disrespecting the Star-Spangled Banner, saying “the flag and the anthem, regardless of the country, is something sacred.”
– Staying silent –
Thursday’s final is in Boston, so the 20,000-capacity arena will be packed with Americans and US team general manager Bill Guerin says he’d “love it if President Trump was in attendance.”
Whether or not Trump is there, the Republican is already seeking to make inroads into Canadian politics — and ice hockey.
Two of the sport’s greatest ever players, Canadians Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr have expressed support for Trump.
Gretzky was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago election victory party in November and Trump has said he encouraged Gretzky to be “governor” of an annexed US-Canadian state.
Orr, who lives in the United States, publicly endorsed Trump in a full page newspaper add before the 2020 election.
Both Gretzky and Orr have not responded to Trump’s Canada mockery, earning a scathing rebuke in The Globe and Mail, days before Trump’s inauguration.
Trump “is treating Canada — historic friend, great trading partner, ally in war and peace — like an enemy. Are you, our two greatest hockey legends, going to speak out and stand up for Canada, or will you remain silent?”
bs/sms
Five reasons Team Canada will definitely beat Team USA (and vice versa)
NHL
Hey, refresh my memory, which building was that 2019 Game 7 played in? Huh, interesting.
How to watch 4 Nations Face-Off final: Canada-USA on ESPN
The stage is set for the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off final. After a week of group play, the USA meets Canada in the championship — a rematch following the USA’s 3-1 victory on Feb. 18. With the first outing filled with fights and intensity, fans are hoping for more of the same.
Though the U.S. will be without injured defenseman Charlie McAvoy, Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk are expected to play. Meanwhile, Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid will look to help Canada turn the tables in Round 2.
Who will take home the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off title? Here are more key facts about the event.
How can fans watch?
Coverage for the 4 Nations Face-Off championship begins on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET with “The Point: 4 Nations Face-Off Pregame Show” hosted by Steve Levy alongside analyst Mark Messier and P.K. Subban on ESPN and ESPN+.
USA vs. Canada will start at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes and Disney+.
Fans can catch all the action in the NHL streaming hub.
How can fans access more NHL content from ESPN?
Check out the ESPN NHL hub page for breaking news, stats, schedules and more.
Mark Messier previews the high-stakes rematch as USA faces Canada in a winner-takes-all showdown for the 4 Nations Face-Off crown. (1:58)
BOSTON — Team USA’s Matthew Tkachuk and Canada’s Brandon Hagel traded punches on Saturday night. Ahead of their rematch in the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off championship game on Thursday in Boston, they’re trading words.
Hagel said Tuesday that his fight with Tkachuk off the opening faceoff — one of three fights in the first nine seconds of Team USA’s electrifying win in Montreal — was done “for the flag and not the cameras.” He also called out U.S. players J.T. Miller and Matthew and Brady Tkachuk for preplanning their fights against Canada via group chat.
“We don’t need to initiate anything. We don’t have any group chats going on. We’re going out there playing our game and then giving it everything and doing it for our country,” Hagel said, via Sportsnet. “We’re just going to play as hard as we can and do it for the flag on the chest.”
Matthew Tkachuk was asked about Hagel’s comments on Wednesday morning.
“Maybe their team doesn’t like each other then, if they don’t have group chats,” he said.
Tkachuk and Hagel are rivals in the NHL, as Tkachuk plays for the Florida Panthers and Hagel skates for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“That’s just a player enjoying his opportunity. Our team does not care about anything that they say. There’s been a lot of chatter and talk from individuals, but we care about one thing in this room,” Tkachuk said. “We have millions of people that are watching us and supporting us around this country and we’re very prideful in playing for them. So it’s an opportunity of a lifetime for us.”
U.S. coach Mike Sullivan said that both Matthew and Brady Tkachuk — who was under the weather Wednesday and missed practice — will be available for their game against Canada.
Matthew Tkachuk missed Team USA’s game on Monday vs. Sweden out of injury precautions, after being unable to finish the game against Canada because of a lower-body injury. Brady Tkachuk was hurt in the first period against Sweden after he lost an edge while driving to the net and slammed his side into the goal cage. He returned to the ice for a 14-second shift later in the period but did not play the rest of the game.
“I think Brady and Matthew have the ability, through their personality, to give our team a whole lot of confidence and swagger,” Sullivan said. “I know what this tournament means to them personally and how important it is to put our best game on the ice. There’s a certain determination that those guys have to want to win.”
Matthew Tkachuk said he’s “very confident” his brother will be at “his absolute best” against Canada. The Tkachuks have flanked Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel on a line for the Americans.
Both Tkachuk brothers have been open about what a 4 Nations championship — and a second win over archrival Canada — would mean for hockey in the U.S.
“It’s something that we don’t take for granted. The millions of people supporting us and the generations before us — and the generations that we could add to — and the kids that are watching at home that want to be us, we could open up a whole new wave of hockey players in this country,” Matthew Tkachuk said. “So this opportunity is one we don’t take lightly. Obviously, wearing the jersey and representing your country is such an incredible honor and kind of what we play for, but the opportunity that we have tomorrow is something that I don’t even think we thought was possible and what we could create.”
