US-Canada ‘grudge match’ ends up being mostly about the hockey
- The San Juan Daily Star
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
By MOTOKO RICH and TARIQ PANJA
It was a game destined to be played under the shadow of politics, but in the end, fans mostly put aside the growing animosity between the Trump administration and Canada’s government to cheer on top-tier ice hockey at the Winter Olympics.
As the men’s squads from Canada and the United States squared off for a gold medal at the Santa Giulia Arena in Milan on Sunday — with the United States winning in overtime, 2-1 — a tense atmosphere had mostly dissolved by the sportsmanly medal ceremony.
Canadian and American fans cheered players from both teams as they received their medals. There was no booing when the American national anthem played, unlike at the Four Nations tournament in Montreal a year ago.
But the respect shown by the fans and players — who praised the quality of their opponents — did not extend to the White House, which posted a meme of an eagle stomping on a smaller bird that resembled a Canada goose. President Donald Trump made a video call to the American players to congratulate them, “expressing how proud he was,” said Mike Sullivan, the U.S. coach.
The FBI director, Kash Patel, whose aides had said he was in Italy for official meetings, watched the game from a box while wearing a white U.S. hockey jersey. Then he celebrated with the players in the locker room, according to a social media post in which he thanked them “for representing the greatest country on earth.”
Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, congratulated his country’s team “on a hard-fought and well-earned silver,” saying, “You made your country proud.”
Before the contest, the political undertones were unavoidable. Fans dressed in the red and white of Canada seemed to dominate the 14,000-seat arena, highlighting that the game meant even more than usual to the many Canadian fans who flew in for one of the marquee events of the Winter Olympics.
Magda Palczynska, who was raised in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, took a large gulp of air as she considered the significance of Sunday’s encounter.
“Let’s be honest, it’s a grudge match,” Palczynska said, her husband vigorously nodding in agreement. “Canadians feel insulted by who they thought were their allies. It’s a matter of pride.”
Inside the arena, spectators from both sides waved their flags, decked out in team gear. One American wore a hockey jersey with 1980 emblazoned across the front, reminding everyone of the last time the U.S. men’s team had won Olympic gold, its upset of the Soviet Union at the Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York.
That was perhaps the last time that ice hockey carried so much political significance. Canada last won the men’s gold in 2014. The U.S. women’s team won the gold medal against Canada on Thursday.
Before the game Sunday, the arena announcer, perhaps sensing the early mood, told fans not to “disrespect the other team.” A notice on the video board reminded spectators that the Olympic Games are “built on the values of respect, friendship and excellence” — a sign not seen at figure skating or speedskating.
Nevertheless, as the U.S. team took the ice for its pregame warmup, boos were audible. When the Canadian players skated out after them, cheers mostly drowned out jeers. By the second period, the fans were exchanging rhythmic chants in tandem, with “Let’s Go Canada!” followed by “U.S.A.!”
The tension occasionally translated to the ice, with players engaging in a few skirmishes, skirting Olympic rules barring fighting.
On the plaza in front of the arena, where fans lined up to buy beer and to have their photos taken in front of the Olympic rings, Jeff Hunt, 50, a hockey coach in Virginia, Minnesota, said that it was “OK to be the underdog.” Canada had been a slight favorite before the game, though both teams were packed with NHL stars, as the league’s players participated in the Games for the first time since 2014.
Hunt added: “We share borders so we have to be friendly, but when it comes to hockey, this is serious business.”
He and Rick Lehecka, 51, a retired business owner from Spring Grove, Illinois, paid $2,600 per ticket last week to secure front-row seats, including for Lehecka’s son, Kyron, 14. Lehecka, who wore a red “Make America Great Again” cap, said that he did not see the match as political, but recalled Canadian fans booing at the Four Nations tournament.
“I think they took it political,” he said. “I would never boo their national anthem. If they don’t like Trump, we elected him.”
Some Canadian fans saw the match in unabashedly political terms. “It is political for us, absolutely,” said Lloyd Tucker, 67, a fan from Toronto. “It never was, but it is now. It means more to us than it would normally.”
After the game, Wade Leslie, 51, a shipping executive from Vancouver, British Columbia, expressed “bitter disappointment,” especially given the political tensions. “But this is just a game,” he said.
As a fan of the Winnipeg Jets — the team that the U.S. starting goalie, Connor Hellebuyck, plays for — Leslie added that he sometimes “did not know who to cheer for.”
The significance of the win was not lost on the American players. Brock Nelson, whose uncle played on the 1980 U.S. team and whose grandfather played on the only other American squad to win gold, in 1960, left the arena wearing his gold medal and an American flag draped on his shoulders. He said that he hoped the victory would have positive consequences beyond sports.
“I think there’s a whole lot to be proud of, so much to be proud of being from the United States, and a win like this brings a whole lot of people together,” Nelson told reporters.
Canada’s starting goalie, Jordan Binnington, who plays for the St. Louis Blues, said that it was a “a privilege to play for this country and wear this jersey.” He said that he knew the Canadian fans were “behind us no matter what.”
In the arena concourses, some Canadian fans congratulated and shook hands with spectators draped in American flags, and U.S. fans mingled with fans wearing Team Canada gear.
“A bunch of our players play for the Canadians” in the NHL, said Vince Giron, 62, a contractor from Denver. “Out there it was hard not to root for all the guys.”
Jeannine Sielinski, 66, said she lives in Seattle but has dual citizenship with Canada. She was rooting for Canada, she said, because she objected to Trump’s policies.
But in the end, she said, “there was no hint of animosity.”
“It was really all about the Olympic spirit.”
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