MONTREAL — The highly anticipated game Saturday night between the United States and Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off started with three fights in the first nine seconds.
Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel dropped the gloves just after the puck was dropped to start play. Brady Tkachuk fought Sam Bennett immediately off the ensuing faceoff. And J.T. Miller and Colton Parayko went at it after some pushing and shoving around Canada goaltender Jordan Binnington after he covered the puck.
Canada got a power play out of the third fight, with Miller penalized for cross-checking as well as fighting.
It all happened after a large percentage of the sellout crowd at Bell Centre loudly booed the U.S. anthem. Fans lined up by the hundreds to get into the arena more than 90 minutes before start time and also booed every time a U.S. player was shown on video screens during pregame warmups.
It’s the second time “The Star-Spangled Banner” drew that reaction in two games the United States has played at the NHL-run international tournament.
And it came after public address announcer Michel Lacroix asked the crowd, in French and English, “In the spirit of this great game that unites everyone that you kindly respect the anthems and the players that represent each country.”
This time, far more of the fans at Bell Centre booed than Thursday night before the U.S. game against Finland, and the booing lasted for the entire length of the song.
“I paid no attention to it,” U.S. starting goaltender Connor Hellebuyck said after beating Finland 6-1 on Thursday. “You have free speech. You can do whatever you want. If you’re going to boo the anthem, we sing it for the troops that protected our freedom. That doesn’t really mean anything to me. You can do whatever you want. But I don’t use it at all.”
U.S. coach Mike Sullivan did not think the booing had anything to do with the U.S. starting strong Thursday night.
“That’s really not something that we can control,” Sullivan said. “We just want to play hockey. We want to compete. We want to represent our nation in the right way.”
Fans across Canada have booed the U.S. anthem at NHL and NBA games since President Donald Trump began making repeated references to the country becoming “the 51st state.” Trump also threatened tariffs against the country, prompting backlash from a close neighbor and longtime ally.
Asked Friday at practice about fans booing the U.S. anthem, veteran Canada defenseman Drew Doughty voiced opposition to it.
“Obviously I know what’s going on, and I understand the Canadians’ frustration, but I think we should respect the anthems and stuff like that,” Doughty told reporters in Brossard, Quebec. “I don’t think anyone should be booing.”