For the 2025 mid-season break, the NHL decided to mix it up by eliminating the traditional All-Star game and creating the Four Nations Face-Off. Little did they know, the tournament would become more than just a sporting event, but an event wrapped up in the politics of two competing nations.
The Four Nations Face-Off was seen as a huge success in the world of hockey, drawing in incredible numbers of viewers. The new All-Star idea consisted of the USA, Canada, Sweden, and Finland’s best teams competing in a championship-style tournament. However, the most-watched games were easily the USA vs. Canada matchups. The first game drew in 4.4 million viewers, more than all of last year’s Stanley Cup games excluding the final. The final match had almost four times that viewership, with 16.1 million viewers in just North America. In both matches, there were tensions between the two teams, but the players in the first game acted on it. With three fights in the first nine seconds, it left viewers wondering exactly why these NHL players, some of whom played on the same teams, were so visibly upset with each other. The answer is that the hockey game wasn’t just a game, it was political too.
But how did a simple hockey game have political undertones? American citizens are well aware that President Trump wants to continue expansion into Greenland, buying or annexing it from Denmark, but he recently made a remark that Canada would be much better off joining the United States as the 51st state. Many Canadians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, took offense to this statement and flatly refuted it, saying that Canada would never join the United States. In addition to the comment, President Trump also recently threatened stiff tariffs on Canada, among other countries. This drew swift Canadian retaliation, with them saying they’ll match the 25% tariffs, and worsened the growing tensions between Canada and the US.
These tensions came to a head in the round-robin game between the US and Canada on February 15. When the two countries’ national anthems were played, the Canadian fans booed the Star-Spangled Banner. This action angered the US, with Blue Jackets player and Team USA player Zach Werenski saying that the players obviously don’t like it, but that it provided some fuel for the game.
Almost as soon as the puck was dropped, Matthew Tkachuk threw down his gloves to fight Canada’s Sam Bennett. Following Matthew’s lead, his brother Brady Tkachuk started one a few seconds later, and then J.T. Miller, also of Team USA, fought as well. They later said that those 3 fights in 9 seconds were an energy boost for the game, and that it got the crowd going and provided the enthusiasm for Team USA to win the game 3-1. Still, some question whether it could’ve possibly been the anger of the Star-Spangled Banner being booed that led to the swift retaliation from Team USA.
The retaliation continued on February 17th, when Canada played their next game against Finland. While the announcer asked fans on both sides to respect the national anthems, some fans booed the Canadian national anthem, but only lightly. Canada went on to beat Finland 5-3, and earned a spot in the finals for a rematch against the USA.
The friction between Canada and the US mounted in the final game on February 20th, where the game remained close the whole time. With many players injured or sick on the US team, they were playing catch-up almost the whole game. However, they capitalized on the opportunities they had, going up 2-1 in the second period. Canada tied it 2-2 going into the third period, which remained scoreless and led the two teams into overtime. 8 minutes in, Canadian Connor McDavid put it into the far corner with no one around him, winning the game for Team Canada.
Just as in the previous US-Canada game, politics played a role here too. President Trump called Team USA before the championship game. He encouraged them and repeated his previous statement about possibly making Canada the 51st state, even calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “governor” instead of his title as prime minister. These matches between the US and Canada weren’t just hockey games, they were reflective of the current tensions between the two nations. Prime Minister Trudeau proved this when, after the US loss, he tweeted, “You can’t take our country- and you can’t take our game”.
