Canadian sports fans have been booing the American national anthem for weeks, and it was no different as Team USA played its first game of the 4 Nations Face-Off in Montreal. After the game, Matthew Tkachuk had a clear, five-word message for the crowd booing him and his teammates.
Fans across Canada have jeered the U.S. national anthem at NHL, NBA, and other sporting events in recent weeks, following President Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs against their country. As tensions between the nations continue to rise, Canadian fans once again made their stance clear on Thursday when Team USA took the ice for its tournament opener.
Canada started the tournament with a thrilling 4-3 overtime win over Sweden. For the USA, it was a much easier path to victory as they dominated Finland 6-1. However, much of the post-game discussion focused on how the Canadian crowd behaved before and during the match. Once again, they booed the U.S. national anthem and jeered every time Auston Matthews—Team USA’s captain and the Toronto Maple Leafs’ star—touched the puck.
Matthew Tkachuk’s response
After the game, Matthew Tkachuk, who was named Player of the Game, had a blunt response to the crowd’s reaction.
“I didn’t like it, and that’s all I got,” Tkachuk said.
J.T. Miller, on the other hand, took a different perspective, choosing to embrace the hostility.
“I think we like it—not politically, but just in the sense that we know where we’re at in Canada, and I think that fires us up more than anything,” Miller said. “So, it’s great.”
Head coach Mike Sullivan downplayed the situation, emphasizing that Team USA is focused on hockey.
“The anthem—I’m not sure there’s any influence there,” Sullivan said. “That’s really not something we can control. We just want to play hockey. We want to compete. We want to represent our nation the right way.”
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