Three fights broke out within nine seconds of an ice hockey match between the US and Canada after choruses of anti-Donald Trump booing.
The puck had barely hit the ice when players started throwing punches and the 4 Nations Face-Off quickly descended into a mass brawl.
Fans in Montreal had already loudly booed the US national anthem for the second time in two games at the NHL-run international tournament.
Credit: ESPN
The sporting clash came after relations between the countries were frayed by Trump’s threat of major tariffs against the US’s northern border-neighbour.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was among dignitaries in attendance for the blood-and-thunder game. Public address announcer Michel Lacroix had appealed for calm in French and English as spectators arrived. “In the spirit of this great game that unites everyone, [we ask] that you kindly respect the anthems and the players that represent each country,” he said on the loudspeaker.
Subsequent boos at the Bell Centre were said to have been tempered slightly compared to jeers which lasted for the entire anthem before the US’s game against Finland on Thursday.
But tensions spilled onto the ice as soon as the puck was dropped, with Matthew Tkachuk asking Brandon Hagel to drop the gloves just two seconds in.
Brother Brady Tkachuk then did the same with Sam Bennett the moment the puck was dropped again on the ensuing face-off a second later.
Then, after an opening rush into the Canadian zone, a scrap involving just about everyone broke out, and JT Miller and Colton Parayko got into a fight of their own.
Fighting is an established tradition in North American ice hockey. Players escape serious punishment so long as they drop their sticks so as not to use them as a weapon.
Canada coach Jon Cooper, a two-time Stanley Cup winner, denied the fights against the US were “planned”.
“That wasn’t two coaches throwing guys over and saying ‘this is happening’ – none of that happened,” he said. “That was as organic as it gets.”
It had been the first time that the US and Canada had been on the ice in a best-on-best format since 2016 in the World Cup of Hockey.
The US ultimately beat Canada 3-1, wrapping up a spot in the tournament’s championship game on Thursday in Boston. They could face Canada again in that game.
Cooper called the first minute “mayhem”. “It was, I guess, 10 years of no international hockey exhaled in a minute and a half,” he said.
Dylan Larkin, who scored the go-ahead goal in the second period, said: “That was one of the best experiences of my life – just an unbelievable hockey game.
“The Tkachuk brothers and Millsy [Miller], what a start, and credit to those guys for answering the bell. And the crowd, just a great night for our sport and a great night for this rivalry.”
Booing for the US anthem has become a regular occurrence in NHL and NBA games played in Canada.
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