The U.S. president is threatening the long-time ally with tariffs and is even publicly proposing to annex it as the 51st state of the Union, too much to go unnoticed in the reaction of the Canadian fans present at the Bell Centre in Montreal, a facility with a capacity of more than 20,000 people.

Last night came a moment that has been awaited for nine years in the second presentation of the teams in the 4 Nations tournament, the United States-Canada duel, with great stars on the ice who play in the National Hockey League (NHL), the elite of the discipline on the planet.

The home fans whistled the anthem of the US as much as they could, to the point that an intervention was necessary, in both English and French, demanding sanity and respect for The Star-Spangled Banner and for the spirit of the great sport.

As if the tense scenario were not enough, a U.S. fan provoked the Maple Leaf crowd with a T-shirt bearing the 51 Trump lettering, a clear evocation of the Republican president’s controversial annexation comments.

The electric atmosphere at the Bell Centre, which was attended by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and the latent extra-sporting issues were not left out of the train wreck between two field hockey powerhouses, with three fights breaking out between the rough-and-tumble players in just nine seconds.

Brutal and chaotic were some of the media’s descriptions of the interesting encounter, which culminated in a 3-1 victory for the visitors.

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