Some sports rivalries are generational. Others are about an underdog fight or national pride.
Canada’s hockey victory over the United States on Thursday was a bit of both. Against a backdrop of taunts by President Trump about annexing Canada and the looming economic threat of 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods, a lot was symbolically riding on the game.
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“Canada needed a win, and the players beared that on their shoulders,” Jon Cooper, Canada’s coach, said after the game. “This one was different. This wasn’t a win for themselves. This was a win for 40-plus million people. The guys knew it and they delivered.”
The game capped off a round-robin tournament called the 4 Nations Face-Off between Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States. It was the first international tournament since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey to feature some of the National Hockey League’s best players representing their countries.
The championship on Thursday took on geopolitical consequences unfamiliar to Canadian sports fans. After Canada lost the first-round match, there was a sense of urgency weighed by heavy stakes and a responsibility to prove something very important to the world.
Instead of the usual electric anticipation before sports matchups between Canada and the United States, this championship’s buildup held a bitterness. Social media was abuzz with insults in both directions. My group chat plotted how many Canadian flags would sufficiently offend at a sports bar. Bygone were the playful pregame bets between world leaders.
