American fans lightly boo 'O Canada' before 4 Nations Face-Off title game
Sports
The Canadian chart-topper posted a picture on Instagram of the phrase “that only us command”
BOSTON (AP) — While the American fans lightly booed “O Canada” on Thursday night at the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament, the Canadian singer ad libbed new lyrics as a response to President Donald Trump’s chatter about turning the country into the 51st U.S. state.
A smattering of jeers for “O Canada” were eventually drowned out by the fans singing along with Chantal Kreviazuk, who changed the first verse from “true patriot love, in all of us command,” to “in true patriot love that none but us command.”
Midway through Canada’s 3-2 overtime victory, Kreviazuk told the AP she did it “because I believe in democracy, and a sovereign nation should not have to be defending itself against tyranny and fascism.”
The Canadian chart-topper posted a picture on Instagram of the phrase “that only us command” written on her left hand with emojis of a Canadian flag and a flexed muscle.
“The Star-Spangled Banner” followed, with the sellout TD Garden crowd at full volume in an anthem battle that became the undercard for one of the most anticipated hockey games in decades. It ended with Connor McDavid scoring at 8:18 of overtime.
Olympic hockey hero Mike Eruzione was greeted with “U-S-A! U-S-A!” chants when he took the ice during the pregame ceremony wearing a jersey of American star Jonny Gaudreau, who died in a bicycle accident last summer. The honorary U.S. captain shook hands with his Canadian counterpart, Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky, in a sign of sportsmanship players and fans hoped would carry over to the game.
Among those taking an interest was Trump, who called the U.S. team in the morning to wish players good luck. USA Hockey posted a photo on social media showing general manager Bill Guerin standing in the middle of the locker room holding up a phone.
“It was so awesome to get his support,” U.S. center J.T. Miller said. “It’s a pretty big deal for him to take time out of his schedule to talk to us for five minutes. It’s just another one of those things where we’re kind of pinching ourselves this tournament.”
