Canada’s Anthem Booed In Boston At 4 Nations Face-Off Final

Fans in Boston booed the Canadian national anthem ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off final between Team Canada and Team USA – but there was singing heard in the crowd as well.

After fans in Montreal booed the American national anthem ahead of Team USA’s games against Finland last Thursday and Canada last Saturday, and despite P.A. announcer Al Murdoch asking the crowd to respect the anthems for both countries on Thursday, boos were audible during O Canada.

As the anthem continued, more fans were heard singing along with Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk instead.

The 4 Nations Face-Off comes as U.S. president Donald Trump has repeatedly said Canada should be the 51st state of the United States and repeatedly referred to Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau as “Governor Trudeau.” Trudeau said there’s “not a snowball’s chance in hell” that Canada would become part of the United States. The United States also announced tariffs on Canada on Feb. 1, which led to retaliatory tariffs. Both countries’ tariffs are paused.

Kreviazuk posted to her Instagram story a photo of her hand with the words “that only us command,” which she sang in Boston instead of the original lyrics “in all of us command.” A representative for Kreviazuk said to CBC News in an email the switch was intentional in response to annexation comments coming from the United States.

Trump called Team USA for roughly five minutes earlier Thursday, which players Brock Faber, J.T. Miller and Noah Hanifin each described as cool when talking to reporters.

“It was pretty cool. So awesome to hear the support,” Miller told reporters. “It’s a pretty big deal for him to take time out of his schedule to talk to us for five minutes, and just another one of those things where we’re kind of pinching ourselves this tournament.”

Although the round-robin game between Canada and the USA began with three fights in nine seconds, no players dropped the gloves in the first period in Thursday night’s championship game.

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