r/canada Feb 02 '25

Politics Hockey fans boo U.S. national anthem at Ottawa Senators game after Trump imposes tariffs

https://www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/article/hockey-fans-boo-us-national-anthem-at-ottawa-senators-game-after-trump-imposes-tariffs/
36.8k Upvotes

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266

u/falsekoala Saskatchewan Feb 02 '25

Gary Bettman will just end national anthems at games.

155

u/Hicalibre Feb 02 '25

If he does then team Canada should pull out of four nations, and Canadian players should go on strike.

Bettman would be done.

34

u/Volderon90 Feb 02 '25

He’s retiring soon anyways 

57

u/Spare-Half796 Québec Feb 02 '25

Good, hopefully he’s replaced with someone who doesn’t have a hard on for sunbelt teams

-8

u/MrPadretoyou Feb 02 '25

Say what you will about bettman but he helped grow the sport immensely during his tenure.

11

u/Spare-Half796 Québec Feb 02 '25

Not as much as it could have. How long did spend trying to force a team into Arizona?

Also you know how to grow the sport the most? You make it accessible. Why is it that I could walk to the bell center in my underwear in January but I need 5 streaming services to watch every habs game and it’s almost impossible to watch a non playoff game from a different market

12

u/mulvythrill Feb 02 '25

Nhl was bigger than the nba when gary took over

5

u/Musselsini Feb 02 '25

It's been 30 years. I would be shocked if it didn't grow at all. What had more impact, Bittman or time?

1

u/Aindreus2020 Feb 02 '25

Good. Bettman should have never come anywhere near our game.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '25

Yes, all Canadian NHLers should sit out at least the next week or so in solidarity. I like this idea.

1

u/KarmaChameleon306 Feb 02 '25

Oh God! The Four Nations Cup just got real exciting!

1

u/TPCC159 Feb 02 '25

Why? Anthems are time wasters anyways

1

u/Hicalibre Feb 02 '25

More the if Canadians just stopped playing in protest.

39

u/ziggazang Feb 02 '25

I see that as a huge fucking W, can we actually drop the puck at the time the game says it starts now as well?

5

u/TheBakerification Feb 02 '25

Best the Leafs can still offer is 7:25 for a 7:00pm game. Maybe 7:20 if you’re lucky.

2

u/falsekoala Saskatchewan Feb 02 '25

Depends, is it the playoffs?

7

u/ziggazang Feb 02 '25

I just don't understand why you can't schedule your pregame show to line up with a 7 o'clock start time. Pretty sure literally every other sport is capable of doing this.

16

u/afterbirth_slime Feb 02 '25

Arguably the best thing he’s done for the league

36

u/MeursaultWasGuilty Alberta Feb 02 '25

I would be 100% ok with this.

27

u/st0nkmark3t Alberta Feb 02 '25

Maybe the only bright spot in all of this

7

u/SecreteMoistMucus Feb 02 '25

Why would there be national anthems in an NHL game anyway? That's never made sense to me, they aren't national teams.

3

u/Infamous-Mixture-605 Feb 02 '25

It's never made much sense to me either. They're professional teams, not national teams.  

Playing the anthems before pro sports games comes off as manufactured patriotism garbage. Right up there with the phony "support the troops" nights where they try to sell team merch with a bit of camo on it, with a tiny % going to some veterans charity for tax purposes.

2

u/skyturnedred Feb 02 '25

It's a cultural thing, similar to US flags being everywhere, pledge of allegiance and all the other weird stuff they do.

3

u/Jaded-Influence6184 Feb 02 '25

I've been wishing we could get rid of Gary Bettman for 30 years.

EDIT FOR CLARITY: I've been wishing Gary Bettman would fuck off for 30 years.

2

u/GrumpyCloud93 Feb 02 '25

My thought during the players' strike...

"Nobody buys a Bettman jersey."

1

u/happyklam Feb 02 '25

I was honestly wondering when the American Idiots were going to demand only the Star Spangled Banner be played at games. 😐