Donald Trump had the last laugh on Saturday night as America defeated Canada in a brutal hockey match that saw fans in Montreal boo the US National Anthem again.
Anarchy broke out on the ice as three fights in nine seconds saw the game descend into chaos with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau watching from the stands.
It comes as tensions continue to flare between the two nations and close neighbors after President Trump recently threatened to impose tariffs on Canada.
Trump also suggested the country could become America’s ’51st state’ and called Trudeau ‘governor’, prompting backlash from a close neighbor and longtime ally.
The ferocious Canadian fans once again showed their distain for Trump by jeering ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ as it was performed.
The reaction came despite desperate pleas from PA announcers inside Centre Bell to ‘respect the national anthems’ before it played.
Donald Trump had the last laugh over Justin Trudeau as the US beat Canada in a hockey game
The Americans silenced the raucous Canadian crowd with a dominant second-half in Montreal
Fans had lined up by the hundreds to get into the arena more than 90 minutes before start time and also booed every time a US player was shown on video screens during pregame warmups.
The crazed atmosphere in the stands clearly filtered its way down to the ice because complete chaos broke out before the game had even started.
Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel dropped the gloves just after the puck was dropped to start play. Brady Tkachuk then fought Sam Bennett immediately off the ensuing faceoff.
And J.T. Miller and Colton Parayko went at it after some pushing and shoving around Canada goaltender Jordan Binnington after he covered the puck.
Before the game had even started, a picture emerged of an American fan trolling the Canadians by wearing a Canada jersey with ‘Trump 51’ on the back.
When the action finally took center stage, the Canadian fans were first to celebrate when Connor McDavid scored the opening goal.
But the Americans levelled it up when Jake Guentzel fired home to make it 1-1 at the end of the first quarter.
Matthew Tkachuk was still clearly in the mood for another fight as he was seen hitting Canada players with his stick as they left the ice to return to the locker room.
Goals from capped off a 3-1 win for the Americans as they emerged victorious on enemy territory.
There were three fights inside nine seconds during the game between Canada and America
America’s J.T. Miller and Colton Parayko of Canada exchange blows in a red-hot atmosphere
Brady Tkachuk and Sam Bennett wrestle each other to the ground as chaos broke out
Boos could be heard ringing around the Bell Centre in Montreal during the US national anthem
Canadian fans loudly booed the US national anthem before their hockey game on Saturday
The American anthem was also booed in Montreal when the US played Finland on Thursday, as well as before the NHL game between the Ottawa Senators and Minnesota.
It coms after President Trump ordered 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports and 10 per cent on goods from China, sparking major trade war fears.
Trudeau said Canada would respond with 25 per cent tariffs against $155billion of U.S. goods, including beer, wine, lumber and appliances, beginning with $30bn taking effect Tuesday and $125bn 21 days later.
Trump has – temporarily – paused his plans, giving Canada and the US a month to negotiate the planned import tax on all steel and aluminum products entering America from March 12.
On Thursday, though, Trump did threaten further tariffs on both Canada and France over their digital services taxes on US technology giants.
A picture emerged of an American fan trolling the Canadians by wearing ‘Trump 51’ jersey
Canada, seeking to address the challenge of taxing digital giants like Google parent Alphabet and Amazon.com that can book their profits in low-tax countries, began imposing the tax in June last year.
Trump tasked his economics team on Thursday with devising a plan to impose reciprocal tariffs on every country that levied duties on U.S. imports.
A White House fact sheet, stating that ‘only America should be allowed to tax American firms,’ complained Canada and France used digital services taxes to each collect over $500 million per year from U.S. companies.
‘Overall, these non-reciprocal taxes cost America’s firms over $2 billion per year. Reciprocal tariffs will bring back fairness and prosperity to the distorted international trade system and stop Americans from being taken advantage of,’ said the fact sheet. It gave no further details.
