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National anthem booed: that’s why the Americans fought at the beginning of the match
Mathis Therrien
National anthem booed: that’s why the Americans fought at the beginning of the match
Credit: Getty Images

Seriously, despite Canada’s defeat, I still haven’t gotten over last night’s game at the Bell Centre against the United States.

I was there, and no joke, it was by far the craziest sporting event I’ve ever attended in my life, which is why many are calling it the game of the century in Montreal.

The atmosphere was simply electric and the vibe was insane, as after just a few minutes, many fans, including me and my friends, had lost our voices.

Of course, what sparked all this was partly the American national anthem being booed passionately, but it was mainly the three fights after nine seconds that sent the Bell Centre into a frenzy.

The crowd at the Bell Centre was already ecstatic even before the first face-off of the game, so I’ll let you imagine what it was like when the first fight broke out between Brandon Hagel and Matthew Tkachuk.

It was simply a magical atmosphere.

It’s a shame that aside from the first period, you would have thought you were watching a classic Montreal Canadiens game.

In short, the fights set quite a tone for the game, so hats off to the players involved.

However, the latest news indicates that these fights didn’t just happen to hype the crowd even more.

Indeed, on the American side, they knew that the crowd would disrespect the American national anthem, and thus, the three fights represented the Americans’ response.

The Americans were expecting to see their national anthem booed, just like in their first match against Finland, and they were ready to react by engaging in the three fights that occurred in just nine seconds.

Moreover, the three American fighters, the Tkachuk brothers (Matthew and Brady) and J.T. Miller, had decided to drop the gloves early in this game through a group chat earlier in the day.

It’s quite a funny situation, and it shows how premeditated all of this was on the part of the Americans.

They didn’t take the disrespect towards the national anthem lightly, starting from the very first game for the United States in the tournament.

After the game against Finland, Matthew Tkachuk stated that he didn’t like seeing his anthem being booed and that he preferred to move on to another topic.

Moreover, hats off to Matthew Tkachuk, who didn’t play a great game after his fight, as he didn’t even finish the match, likely injured and bothered by pain, but in the end, he gained the respect of all his American teammates, even though he ended the game at the end of the bench.

Even though Matthew has been playing a lot of games for two seasons now, having gone through two Stanley Cup Finals, he never hesitated to be the first to fight to defend his country, which is worth its weight in gold in the eyes of his teammates and fans.

In short, all of this proves once again that sports and politics simply cannot be separated, as there will always be situations where the two intersect.

Ultimately, fights were the response to the booed national anthem, and thus, violence answered the disrespect.

It’s quite ironic for those who are against fighting in hockey but were in favor of booing the American national anthem…


In Brief

– He was incredible, just like the rest of the American defense.

– Magical.

– Here’s the standings, as the tournament now moves to Boston.

– A sixth consecutive win for Montreal.

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