Keep Sports and Anthems Above Politics

Canadians crossed a line and soiled themselves when they booed the USA national anthem. Let's keep sporting events (and most everything else) upstream from politics, and not return the insult.

Readers here know of my affection for and experiences with our neighbors north of the 49th parallel (and even those populous sections in southern Ontario that fall below it, including its Niagara wine region, not from the famous falls).

These include formative and life-changing experiences traversing Canada as a 17-year-old guest of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets in 1974 and my service as Chair of the Canadian-American Business Council more than a decade ago. Until six years ago, I visited Canada several times a year for two decades for business and vacation. I still love hosting annual tours of the Capitol for senior Canadian government executives. They are wonderful and inquisitive guests.

It has long frustrated me that most Americans largely ignore Canada or, more likely, take it for granted. Even here, my posts about Canada have the lowest readership of anything I write. Canadians have always been the best neighbors any country could have, with the longest unprotected border in the world (over 5,500 miles), and we’re way more than shared neighbors who quibble and compete with and make fun of each other now and then. I could go on, but I’ve written about it all here, here, and here, and probably elsewhere. Too much, perhaps.

Hockey pucks emblazoned with Canada’s Coat of Arms and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's signature were distributed to his staff as mementos of his time in office from 2005 to 2015.

I’ve also been just as critical of Canada as I’ve been of my own country, especially its awful current Prime Minister. Canadians of all stripes, from previous ambassadors to fellow lobbyists, also do not shy from criticizing the United States. To their credit, they often know our history, cross-border issues, and our politics better than we do. I frequently agree with their criticisms and have lobbied with them for changes on both sides of the border. Criticism of the United States and our leaders is an international sport, and we take most of it in stride since much of it is rooted in envy and jealousy.

Want to criticize my country and its leaders? Fine. Get in line. Be grateful that you can do it, even on our soil, especially with the eager assistance of our media. Try that in Great Britain these days, in what used to be a free country. Sadly, Canada is not far behind, and if it weren’t for the 2024 elections, neither would we.

As a talking head on any American broadcast or podcast that would have me, I would probably make many short lists of US “experts” on Canadian history and politics. Unfortunately, no one here is looking for one.

I often advise my US friends making their first trip to Canada on how to strike up a conversation: Bring up ice hockey. It works with both genders. Be sure you know a thing or two. Start with a question: which teams will make the Stanley Cup final? Will Alexander Ovechkin break Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 goals, and when? Do you think Canada might finally break its Stanley Cup drought this year (a team from Canada last won the Cup in 1993)? Is Connor McDavid the best hockey player ever? Then, order a Molson, sit back, and listen. Throw in an order of poutine or steak frites for good measure.

Since the Canadian dollar is worth about 67 cents to ours, you can even pick up the tab (never mind that a steak dinner for one can cost almost $100 CND).

My favorite former Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, wrote a book on the history of ice hockey and the Toronto Maple Leafs (and extra points if you know that). While technically not Canada’s official sport—that would be lacrosse—Canadians are very passionate about their favorite winter sport. No country populates the National Hockey League (and probably others) more than Canada, although that’s slowly changing.

My then very young hockey-loving son embraces one of the Stanley Cups (there are two) at the NHL’s Hockey Hall of Fame on a trip to Toronto a few years ago.

Canadians are famous for their politeness—except on hockey rinks. I’ve attended three NHL games in Toronto and Calgary, an experience every US fan should emulate. While Canadians are always friendly and respectful to visitors wearing opposing jerseys (unlike many Philadelphia Flyer fans), they are passionate about their sport and their teams.

We saw that Saturday night when the USA faced Canada in the NHL’s first-ever “Four Nations” tournament, featuring Canada, the United States, Sweden, and Finland. After two games (one more round to go, then a “final” game in Boston next Thursday), the US leads with two victories. Too bad Russia doesn’t have a team for what should be obvious reasons. They’ve also been banned from assembling a national team at the Olympics and other international venues since they hosted the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014 for “unprecedented doping.”

Russia may have to wait until the post-Putin era to be reintegrated into official international competitions. It can’t come soon enough.

I’m told the USA vs. Canada game on Saturday was the first time the two countries had faced each other in a tournament at this level in nine years. Although I find that hard to believe, the NHL did skip the last Winter Olympics. They recently announced that they will participate in the next one in 2026, and that’s great.

And if you want to see Canadians get passionate (not in THAT way), watch them at almost any level as they watch a USA vs. Canada hockey contest. Whoa. It’s fun to watch, and I love the passionate intensity. The usually mild-mannered, soft-spoken, and erudite Canadian will put any member of the Buffalo Bills mafia to shame. At least they won’t throw snowballs filled with AA batteries at people, which is a Philadelphia Eagles fan specialty.

Note to self: write a post about your experiences with Philadelphia sports fans. But not today. For any complaints I have about Canadian sports fans in this post, I have many more about my former neighbors north of the Mason-Dixon line.

If you tuned into the USA vs. Canada “Four Nations” NHL game on Saturday night, you had to wait through three fights in the first nine seconds before a real hockey game broke out. That was presaged by both national anthems being played at Montreal’s Bell Arena. The USA anthem, performed admirably by a Member of Canada’s Armed Forces, was amply and very noticeably booed by many of the 18,000 fans. This is despite the announcer’s admonition to be respectful. Canadians then loudly sang their national anthem, which is fine.

But the booing rankled. Not just me, not just Americans everywhere (even Russians don’t boo the USA national anthem), but a few players on the ice.

There’s been a surge of Canadian “nationalism,” if you can call it that, thanks to insults from President Donald Trump. The 47th President’s calls to make Canada the 51st state and referring to their Prime Minister as “governor” clearly don’t set well, and I understand. I’ve written about the insults, and the idea of turning Canada into a vassal state is terrible and stupid. But there are ways to respond without resorting to equally stupid and demeaning insults to millions of Americans.

It troubles me that I could not find a single Canadian on X criticizing the behavior of their countrymen and women in Montreal’s Bell Center on Saturday night. Instead, they excused it, even when I tried to throw a little humor at them. They responded with memories of the War of 1812, which they think they won. Canada wasn’t even a country then—it was a British colony. Canada, the Confederation we know today, wasn’t created until 1867. Good Lord. 

Would you like to trigger a Canadian? Tell ‘em how easy it would be for the US to invade it. A Navy Seal team or Green Berets dropped in Ottawa, and an Army Calvary brigade dividing the highway between Toronto and Montreal could do it in about 24 hours, with the assistance of a National Guard F-16 squadron. Given how diminished their once-famous military has become and how dependent they are for their national defense on the USA, you think they’d be appreciative. No NATO member spends less on their national defense as a percentage of their Gross National Product than Canada. Their Air Force consists of used F-18s from Australia. They have, maybe, four aging submarines. Shall I go on?

To my point: Booing your neighbor’s national anthem when played in an international sporting contest is a bad look. I fear that a few rowdy, if not drunk, Boston-USA fans on Thursday will respond in kind and possibly worse.

Side note: Sweden and Finland are just as rivalrous as Canada versus the US. But you will NEVER hear them booing or being disrespectful to each other. We could learn a lot from our Scandinavian friends.

I risk being accused of Bushian noblesse oblige, but sometimes, the best response is to rise above and demonstrate real class. It’s not “turning the other cheek,” but it has the effect of pouring hot coals over your opponent. Very biblical.

Boston is one of America’s founding cities with its historic “freedom trail.” I pray Bostonians will rise above insults from a few thousand imbecilic Canadians in Montreal this weekend and respectfully treat the visiting squad, especially its national anthem. Of course, this assumes Canada makes the “runoff” against a thus-far undefeated Team USA. The USA must defeat Sweden on Monday afternoon, and Canada must defeat Finland to make that a reality. There are no guarantees. 

This is evidence that politics has crept too profoundly into everyday life, from family to neighbors and even our sports affiliations. There’s always room to argue about politics, but can we at least keep it out of sports?

Oh, and what happened to that Stanley Cup-hugging son of mine? He’s a two-time MVP-winning champion goalie in Denver’s top-tier men’s leagues. Livin’ the dream.

There’s much more that unites us than divides us, my Canadian friends. Starting with ice hockey.