Hockey Unites Us - Politics Divides Us

Hockey is Canada's game, but let's get back to keeping politics out of it.

In 1972, did we boo the U.S.S.R. anthem? Did we change our own anthem to score political points?

On a rare school night, I let my son stay up till midnight to watch the much anticipated Canada-USA final at the Four Nations Cup.

He was so excited and looked forward to it all week.

Overall, it was a great game to watch. Although it can’t be described as the best-on-best players in the world (because they are missing Russia and notably the best scorer of this generation) it was still amazing hockey. The level of skill was outstanding and you can tell everyone was treating this like a Stanley Cup Playoff game.

But the game would have been even better if I would have left it on mute the entire time.

While I do not shy away from political conversations, I generally don’t discuss these topics with my 10-year old yet. He knows our family’s values and is truly proud to be Canadian but he doesn’t have a favourite or hated politician.

Like me, he loves the United States. We have spent nearly a month in Florida over the last two winters ever since our government gave us back the right to cross borders and travel again after a three year ban. His favourite hockey team is American (Panthers) and his favourite player is too (Tkachuk) but he still absolutely wanted Canada to win this tournament.

But last Saturday, he had no idea why his fellow Canadians were booing the US national anthem. There were no good explanations. None that had anything to do with hockey or sportsmanship…

I don’t care that some people don’t like the current leader of that country. In hockey, that normally doesn’t matter. In 1972 when Canada went up against the U.S.S.R. (a country we were actually enemies with) during the Summit Series, did spectators boo their national anthem?

When my son’s team takes on their neighbouring town rivals which has a mayor that I am not a fan of, do we disrespect their arena or avoid shaking hands with them? Of course not. Because hockey is supposed to be above politics.

My son is a lot more forgiving than I am and almost nothing ever bothers him. But when he heard the Canadian national anthem last night, he was scratching his head. Right from the beginning, he looked at me and was wondering what the hell was going on?

Then at the end, he was the first to point out that what was sung was not our national anthem. But he doesn’t know why. And I didn’t really know how to explain to him. This award-winning Canadian singer started by somehow forgetting some of the lyrics and then admitted to purposely changing the anthem all on her own to suit a political motive.

What the hell was she thinking? What the hell do Canadians who support this think?

In a post-nation-state Canada, like our history, culture and people, our national anthem can just be swapped out for another version…

Swapping words in our national anthem just to make a political point is just as bad as all the rhetoric from Donald Trump.

Canada is such a proud nation with such a rich culture, people and history… But like our people, history and culture, our sacred anthem can just be swapped out with another version? We can’t just blame Kreviazuk though. The Liberals set the precedent when they applied their woke agenda to change the anthem in 2018.

The Positives

Anyhow, Canada won as they should have. But it was close. And you can bet the Americans will just keep getting stronger. This tournament got national attention in the U.S. which will pay dividends for that hockey program. Hopefully we reap some benefits too.

But to keep the kids in love with the game, let’s keep the politics out of it.