On Thursday night, during Team USA’s first hockey game in the 4 Nations Face Off, our boys in red, white, and blue were booed before and during the game. Instead of an NHL All-Star game, the 4 Nations Face-Off is a short tournament with four nations.   

The first best-on-best tournament to feature NHL players since 2016’s World Cup of Hockey, the 4 Nations Face-Off sees top players from the US, Canada, Finland and Sweden compete for the right to call themselves the best in the world.

Canada, specifically the province of Quebec, is hosting the first round. The French speaking, snail-eating “Quebecians” are unhappy with the prospect of being a part of the USA, unhappy with the current state of statehood and tariffs.  

The crowd booed the Americans during the Star-Spangled Banner rendition and continued throughout the game.     

As the team took the ice, the team was vigorously booed by the crowd, who continued to cheer on Finland all night. 

The fans also booed the playing of the “Star-Spangled Banner,” despite the public address announcer asking the fans to respect the anthems. 

The Canada-USA hockey rivalry is long-lived, but the hostility from Canadian sports fans has grown since President Donald Trump’s threats to issue tariffs on the country and saying Canada could become the “51st state.”

Because this event is replacing the NHL All-Star game, the teams are manned by NHL stars like Matthew Tkachuk, William Nylander, and Connor McDavid.  

Tkachuk might be used to being booed personally, but it was his country that was being booed. 

“I didn’t like it. That’s all I got,” Team USA star Matthew Tkachuk said postgame. 

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Tkachuk was part of the Florida Panthers Stanley Cup winning team last season. He spoke at the White House while the team was celebrating the victory with President Donald Trump.  

“Thank you, Mr. President, for having us today. We greatly appreciate it. Being one of the few Americans, who loves this country so much, it’s such an incredible day for myself. You wake up every day really grateful to be an American. So, thank you,” Tkachuk said. 

The booing seemed to motivate Team USA and specifically Tkachuk. Finland scored the first goal. The Canadian crowd went wild for Finland. It was downhill from there for the future 51st Staters. America scored the next six goals, blowing out the Fins and setting up a match against the Canadians.  

Saturday will pit the 51st Staters against Team USA. The match will, again, be in Montreal. There is no word yet if Govenor Trudeau will attend Saturday’s match.  

The finals will be held in Boston. If, as expected, Team Canada and Team USA meet for a second match, American fans shouldn’t boo the 51st Staters. Let’s not be rude. No reason to kick them while they’re down. A Canadian team hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1993. That might change when they become Americans.