Canada and the US are battling it out on the rink in a championship recreation that guarantees to be about extra than simply ice hockey.
On any atypical day, the ultimate match of the 4 Nations Face Off would have been a major one for the 2 neighbouring nations who’ve lengthy been pleasant rivals on the ice.
However heating up the rivalry this time was the looming menace of an economically damaging commerce warfare, in addition to Donald Trump’s persistent musings to annex Canada and make it the 51st state.
Trump himself was invited to attend the sport in Boston by Group USA’s normal supervisor Invoice Guerin. The US president was unable to make it, however made a degree of calling the workforce to want them good luck.
He additionally repeated his want to soak up Canada, writing in a Reality Social publish forward of the sport that he hoped the nation “will sometime, possibly quickly, grow to be our cherished and crucial, Fifty First State”.
Canada’s public security minister David McGuinty later informed reporters he took Trump’s quip as an indication that the president was “fearful in regards to the end result” of the sport.
For followers throughout North America, the ultimate was a “dream match-up,” ice hockey author Daniel Nugent-Bowman informed the REPORTAHOLICS. Not for the reason that 2014 Winter Olympics had the highest males’s ice hockey gamers from Canada and the US confronted off in such a consequential recreation.
Each nations boast a few of the largest stars within the Nationwide Hockey League (NHL), like Canadians Mitch Marner and Connor McDavid, and People Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel. The sport was an opportunity for this new era of gamers to show themselves.
However in Canada, the sport was additionally a private one, giving each die-hard and informal followers a chance to take pleasure in nationwide delight at a time when the nation’s sovereignty appears to be threatened by its closest neighbour.
The primary recreation between Canada and the US of this match, performed on 15 February in Montreal, noticed the American nationwide anthem booed by Canadian followers, regardless of the announcer asking followers beforehand – in each English and French – to indicate respect to the opposing workforce.
Vocal protests of the US anthem have grow to be a typical sight at sports activities video games in Canada over the previous month since Trump threatened a 25% tariff on all Canadian items.
When it got here to singing the Canadian anthem, followers – together with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – belted it out on the prime of their lungs.
Three fist fights then broke out on the ice within the first 9 seconds of the sport between the American and Canadian gamers. It was an astonishing sight, even by ice hockey requirements the place fights are frequent.
Matthew Tkachuk, a Group USA participant who was amongst these concerned within the brawls, informed reporters afterwards that his workforce wanted to ship a message that “It is our time proper now.”
Maybe the loudest message despatched that day was Group USA’s decisive 3-1 win in opposition to Canada.
Few Canadians would dispute how integral ice hockey is to the nation’s nationwide id.
The game has served as a backdrop to a few of the most patriotic moments in Canada’s historical past, like Sidney Crosby’s time beyond regulation gold medal objective on the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Traditionally, Canada has had the higher hand in opposition to the US. The 2 nations have met 20 occasions in best-on-best tournaments for the reason that 1976 Canada Cup, with Canada profitable 14 of these video games.
