Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reacted after Canada’s win over the U.S. team in the Face-Off championship game amid growing tensions between the two countries.
“You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game,” Trudeau posted on various social media platforms after Canada’s win.
Connor McDavid scored at 8:18 of overtime in the final to give Canada a 3-2 victory over the United States on Thursday night as the North American rivals turned what had been a tune-up for the 2026 Olympics into a geopolitical showdown over anthems and annexation threats as much as international hockey supremacy.
Trudeau also posted a video of him and Immigration Minister Marc Miller celebrating McDavid’s goal.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who posted a picture of himself wearing a McDavid jersey, posted, “The raising of the Canadian flag in Boston, what a beautiful sight to see. Canada Forever!”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said, “Canada’s game. Canada’s legacy. The true North, strong, free and golden.”
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The game took place in a politically charged environment, with the threat of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs looming over Canada and Trump’s barbs that Canada should become 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,” Trump posted on Wednesday on his Truth Social platform.
Trump referred to Trudeau as “Governor Trudeau”, a jibe he has repeatedly made, in his post.
Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Bennett also scored for Canada. Jordan Binnington made 25 saves in the first three periods and six more in the extra period on the same ice where he helped the St. Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup five years ago.
Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson scored for the Americans, and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 22 shots in regulation and three more in OT.
The already ripe rivalry took on an added intensity with the cross-border animosity following President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state. Trump called the American team Thursday morning to wish it well, then turned to Truth Social to poke Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau with more annexation chatter.
The political backdrop combined with the quality of the round-robin game, which the United States won 3-1 on Saturday, to bring the atmosphere of a Stanley Cup Final or Olympic gold medal game to the TD Garden. Fans in their team jerseys waved flags, shouted for their countrymen and continued the ritual booing of the opposing national anthem that has become an nightly undercard for what most agree has been one of the best international hockey competitions in decades.
The American fans chanted “U-S-A! U-S-A!” to spur on the home team; in the third period, a cheer of “Johnny Hockey! Johnny Hockey!” reminded the players that they were playing for the memory of former Boston College and Calgary Flames star Johnny Gaudreau, who was killed by a drunk driver while bicycling in New Jersey at his sister’s wedding last summer.
–With files from Associated Press.
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