The 4 Nations Face-Off final on Thursday marked the highly-anticipated rematch between the United States and Canada and emotions are running high between both nations.
Tensions boiled over quickly during their first matchup on Saturday, with three fights breaking out in the first nine seconds of play. The gloves were off even earlier than that after Canadian fans loudly booed the entirety of the U.S. national anthem ahead of the American’s 3-1 win at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
The tournament shifted from Canadian soil to the U.S. ahead of the final on Thursday and American fans enacted their revenge. Despite the announcer at Boston’s TD Garden asking all fans to refrain from booing each country’s respective anthem — ‘We kindly ask that you respect the national anthem and the players that represent each country’ — audible boos were heard as Chantal Kreviazuk began her rendition of ‘O Canada.’
U-S-A chants quickly broke out after Kreviazuk’s performance.
USA VS CANADA: Live updates, score, highlights from 4 Nations Face-Off hockey final
Astute listeners caught on that Kreviazuk changed a lyric near the beginning of the Canadian anthem. Rather than singing ‘True patriot love, in all of us command,’ Kreviazuk ended the phrase with ‘that only us command.’
A representative for Kreviazuk told CBC News ‘that the switch was intentional in response to the annexation rhetoric coming from the U.S.’
Grammy award-winning singer Isabel Leonard performed ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ alongside the Boston Pops Orchestra. Team USA fans belted out the lyrics with Leonard in the arena. No boos were picked up on the broadcast.
Ahead of the national anthem, each country’s honorary captain was introduced. Canada’s honorary captain Wayne Gretzky, who set a number of records in his 20 seasons in the NHL, received a mixed reception from the crowd as he entered the rink at TD Garden. The same can’t be said about the Canadian roster. Boo-birds poured down during player introductions.
Mike Eruzione, who scored the game-winning goal in the U.S. men’s 1980 Olympic win over the Soviet Union, received a hero’s welcome on the ice. He egged on the crowd and pumped his arms as more U-S-A chants rang out.
Canada ultimately got the last laugh, winning in overtime on a goal by Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid. ‘O Canada’ was played once again during the trophy celebration, but there didn’t seem to be any audible boos — likely due to most of the American fans having hit the exits.
This story was updated with new information.
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