In a recent hockey tournament, the national anthems of the participating teams garnered as much attention as the final results.
Canadian singer Chantal Kreviazuk's performance of her country's anthem was particularly noteworthy, though not for the reasons she might have hoped.
As reported by Western Journal, the NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off, a tournament featuring teams from the U.S., Canada, Finland, and Sweden, has been marked by political tensions seeping into the sporting arena. The U.S. national anthem was booed at Montreals Bell Centre during Americas match against Finland, a move that did not sit well with the U.S. players.
I didnt like it. Thats all I got, U.S. star Matthew Tkachuk said after the game.
The booing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" continued during the U.S. match against Canada, also held at the Bell Centre. In response, Tkachuk, his brother Brady, and J.T. Miller of the U.S. team retaliated on the ice, leading to three fights in nine seconds and a U.S. victory against the favored Canadian team, which had been on a 17-game winning streak in international play since 2010.
Matthews fight to start it off was such an energy boost, Brady Tkachuk said. I think I was more excited, more nervous than my own. And then Millsy to cap it off to go against a big guy like that, I think he did a great job.
The U.S. team lost in overtime in the final at the TD Garden in Boston, but the fact that they managed to push the supposedly superior Canadian team to overtime was seen as a moral victory. However, the national anthems played before the game drew as much attention as the match itself.
Chantal Kreviazuk's rendition of "O Canada" was particularly controversial. Her performance was lackluster, and she changed the lyrics of the anthem, reportedly as a protest against President Donald Trump's comments about the game.
Canadas SportsNet reported that Kreviazuk changed the lyric from in all of us command to that only us command in response to Trumps comments. Kreviazuk also posted to her Instagram story the phrase that only us command written on her left hand with emojis of a Canadian flag and a flexed muscle.
Kreviazuk defended her performance and the lyric change, saying it was a reflection of her emotions.
My voice probably sounded not as stable, and it was because it made me so emotional, she told the Canadian Press in an interview. I was singing for our pride, for our honor, our sovereignty, our history the good, the bad and the future.
However, her actions have been criticized as unpatriotic and disrespectful. Changing one's own national anthem for political ends and booing another country's anthem simply because of dislike for its President are not actions that reflect well on a nation's pride, honor, or sovereignty.
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