The Four Nations Face-Off is an international tournament organized by the NHL to replace the annual All-Star Game. The four best hockey teams were supposed to participate, but due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and a lack of players, some teams were eliminated (Russia and Germany). Afterwards, the participants were Canada, the USA, Sweden, and Finland.
Canada was in a critical state — politically speaking— with the departure of the prime minister, Justin Trudeau; furthermore, the relationship between Donald Trump and the Canadian country is going downhill quickly. This explains why the game was highly anticipated by all.
The American President even called the USA team before the match to cheer them up by, again, talking about the 51st state. “I’ll be calling our GREAT American Hockey Team this morning to spur them on towards victory tonight against Canada, which, with FAR LOWER TAXES AND MUCH STRONGER SECURITY, will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important, Fifty First State,” posted the President on Truth Social, his social media platform.
This game wasn’t just a casual final; it was way more than that. In fact, for the Canadians, winning this match meant that even though they’re currently in a political low, they still are the best at their sport: hockey. A fan even built a sign “Welcome to the USA, Canada’s 11th province” to taunt the opposing team.
During the USA anthem in Montreal, Quebecers even booed loudly to show their loathing for the Trump administration.
The game was very stressful and fun to watch as both teams were giving it all. In the first period, the game started off with a first goal by Team Canada; afterwards, Team USA managed to score a goal to tie it off. The second period looked almost identical to the first one: one goal from the Canadians and one goal from the Americans. In the third period, no goals were made: furthmore, the game got prolonged to an overtime period.
Connor McDavid scored the winning goal during overtime. He made many Canadians proud, for he is a good, popular, and Ontario player.
