POLITICAL tensions between the United States and Canada came to the fore in a captivating international ice hockey tournament organised by the National Hockey League (NHL).

The Four Nations Face-Off, played this year instead of the league’s All-Star game, featured NHL-based players representing Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States. They faced off in a round-robin before the top two teams contested a final on Thursday night.

International matches between Canada and the USA are always highlights in any sport, but this head-to-head brought with it extra political tensions.

The booing of the US national anthem at the first game between the two in Montreal kicked things off, and there were three fights in the opening nine seconds of the game. 

Even for a sport in which fighting is part of the game, this was notable and reflected the hostilities between the two countries instigated by the new US administration.

Boos for the US national anthem have been heard at NBA and NHL games in Canada since US President Donald Trump adopted an arrogant attitude towards the neighbouring country.

He announced plans for 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports to the US and has threatened to annex Canada. Trump regularly refers to Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, as a governor, as if Canada was merely a US state.

Trump supporters within the US hockey team took umbrage to the booing of the anthem and this raised competitive emotions on the ice.

The USA won the first game between the two in the round-robin, but they were always likely to meet again in the final as favourites to finish first and second in the group stage.

Canada’s overtime win against Sweden in their opener was key to their progress, and the USA’s only defeat came against the Swedes meaning the tournament got its USA versus Canada final in Boston on Thursday.

“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,” Trump posted on his own social media website on Thursday.

“I will be speaking before the governors tonight in DC, and will sadly, therefore, be unable to attend. 

“But we will all be watching, and if Governor Trudeau would like to join us, he would be most welcome.”

The final went all the way to overtime before Connor McDavid scored a stunning goal to win it for Canada after some key saves from goalie Jordan Binnington.

“You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game,” Trudeau posted on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform X, formerly Twitter, after Canada’s overtime triumph.

The four nations involved in this tournament were chosen based on the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) rankings when the tournament was announced.

Russia (3rd) were excluded on the back of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, and Germany (5th) don’t have enough NHL players to make up a team, so sixth-ranked Sweden made the cut.

The exclusion of Russia meant many of the world’s best hockey players weren’t present at the tournament, and though the NHL has supported the Russian athletes who play in its league, it followed other international sports organisations on this issue.

“I think we have been pretty open about the fact that we don’t condone or support the aggression in Ukraine,” said NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly.

“We support our Russian players and we certainly don’t hold what’s going on geopolitically against our individual Russian players.

“We thought given the totality of the circumstances, where the IOC is, where the IIHF is, it probably was not the right time to include the Russians as a team.”

Russia is currently second in the IIHF rankings behind Canada but is not listed on the federation’s official documentation, with a blank space between first and third.

Washington Capitals’ Russian forward Alex Ovechkin, who is one of the best players in the NHL and on course to be remembered as one of the greatest of all time, has previously voiced support for Vladimir Putin and has been booed at games on the back of this.

“I have never hidden my attitude towards our president, always supporting him,” he wrote in 2017.

“I am confident there are many of us supporting Vladimir Putin. So let’s unite and show everyone a united and strong Russia!”

Since 2022, Ovechkin has been less explicit in his support and has stated “I am not in politics, I’m an athlete. Please, no more war.”

Another Russian NHL player, Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers, has criticised Putin and shown support for the late Alexei Navalny, while Boston Bruins defenceman Nikita Zadorov has spoken out against the Ukraine war.

Back on the ice rink, this tournament once again raised the question as to whether individual athletes should be punished for the actions of their nations’ governments.

Russian athletes across the sporting world will also be questioning why the same measures haven’t been applied to other aggressive imperialist nations such as Israel.

Involving Russia in a future Four Nations Face-Off would politically charge the event, but this year’s tournament has shown it already is charged.

However, if the next tournament were to be organised now with Russia’s inclusion, it would feature Canada, Russia, Finland and the Czech Republic, omitting the USA after it dropped to sixth in the IIHF rankings.

As a sporting contest alone this was one of the best and most competitive exhibitions of hockey you will see. The political tension added a further competitive edge, with Canada coming out on top in a sport it prides itself in being the best at. 

Fans will hope for more editions of this tournament in the future as it was much more enjoyable and competitive than the All-Star game it replaced.

Meanwhile, the face-off between Trump and Trudeau looks set to rumble on.