Thousands of US hockey fans sing Canadian anthem amid tensions between neighbor countries | Canada
Electric City. Nickle City. Queen City. The City Without Illusions.
Buffalo, New York, has had many nicknames over the years, but in an era of rising tensions between two traditional allies, one such moniker has extra resonance: The City of Good Neighbors.
Located at the head of the Niagara River, Buffalo has become renowned for its small-town feel and friendly atmosphere, especially for visitors crossing the Canadian border.
This week, ahead of a pivotal ice hockey game between two U.S. teams, singer Cami Clune began a tradition that has endured for more than half a century: a rendition of the Canadian national anthem. The Buffalo Sabers are an unusual team in the National Hockey league as the only team to celebrate their northern neighbors, even though it’s a matchup between two U.S.-based teams.
However, as Clune began the opening chorus, his microphone malfunctioned and his voice was cut off.
A crowd of approximately 20,000 people filled the silence.
The vast majority were Americans and knew all the words. As the anthem progressed, the crowd grew larger with cheers.
“Well, that was interesting!” Clune wrote: social media later. “Thank you all for singing with me. We have the best fans ever!”
The warm gesture came amid an increasingly acrimonious rift between the two countries that has been going on for more than a year. Last year, a mostly Canadian crowd booed the U.S. national anthem during an international tournament in Montréal. Torontonians also mocked the Star Spangled Banner before the game between the Toronto Raptors basketball team and the Los Angeles Clippers.
At the root of the tension are Donald Trump’s threats to annex Canada and impose punitive tariffs on key Canadian industries. States retaliated by pulling American wines and spirits from their shelves. Canadians are continuing their boycott of travel to the south, home to major tourist destinations, as they panic and try to mend the geopolitical rift.
But like most border communities, the geographic proximity between the two countries gave rise to a deeper and largely overlapping relationship. It can be seen from the roof of the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, Canada, and is just a 10-minute drive from the border in heavy traffic.
“I don’t think people realize how fluid the border between Buffalo and southern Ontario is. People routinely cross for small things like shopping, beach days, university, and in some cases, work,” one user wrote on Reddit. “Everything is troubled now because of geopolitics, but western New York and southern Ontario are brothers.”
Others framed the anthem He added that as a “matter of respect” for our Canadian fans, “the feeling was mutual, regardless of what our governments did or said at the time.”
