President Donald Trump will not be in attendance when Team USA takes on Team Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off final on February 20 in Boston, but he did send a message to the American team ahead of the championship game.
In a social media post, Trump wrote, “I’ll be calling our GREAT American Hockey Team this morning to spur them on towards victory tonight against Canada, which with FAR LOWER TAXES AND MUCH STRONGER SECURITY, will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important, Fifty First State. I will be speaking before the Governors tonight in D.C., and will sadly, therefore, be unable to attend.”
The president added, “But we will all be watching, and if Governor Trudeau would like to join us, he would be most welcome. Good luck to everybody and have a GREAT game tonight. So exciting!”
Trump’s tariff threats against Canada and his comments about making the country the 51st state have led to Canadian hockey fans boing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at NHL games and at the 4 Nations tournament, including before USA and Canada met for the first time in Montreal in the 4 Nations clash.
Team USA GM Bill Guerin Said They ‘Would Love It If President Trump Was in Attendance’ at the 4 Nations Face-Off Final
Bill Guerin, the general manager of Team USA, told Fox News on February 17, “We would love it if President Trump was in attendance. We have a room full of proud American players and coaches and staff. And listen, we’re just trying to represent our country the best way we can.”
Team USA and New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck told ESPN about Trump’s phone call, “It was awesome. It was one of the cooler experiences I’ve had. Having the president of the United States call your team about a hockey game just seems kind of crazy but it’s pretty cool.”
His Rangers and Team USA teammate J.T. Miller added, “Pretty cool. It was so awesome to hear the support. It’s a pretty big deal for us to take time out of his schedule to talk to us. It’s just another one of those things where we’re pinching ourselves this tournament. It’s been really fun so far to see the support from everybody up to the president is pretty wild.”
Guerin told The Athletic, “I think it was awesome. Just wanted to wish us luck. Honestly, that was the gist of it. He just wanted to wish us luck. He was saying he’s met a bunch of the guys through White House visits and stuff, and, you know, he mentioned a few guys’ names and that his wife wanted to watch the game the other night. It’s not every day you get to talk to the president.”
Guerin told The Athletic that Trump’s nominee to be the FBI director, Kash Patel, is a big hockey fan and set up the call with Trump.
Team Canada Coach Jon Cooper Was Asked About Politics Entering the 4 Nations Tournament & Said They Want to Win & ‘Make Canadians Proud’
According to ESPN, Team Canada coach Jon Cooper said about the politicization of the 4 Nations games, “Let’s be honest, you’d never get what’s going to be contested tonight. The political side of things, we feel [that] for everybody on our side of things. But for us to come here and to be in that room, it’s going to be more for us to win that game, then sit there and debate what the game means. We have to go out there and represent our country and make them proud. If we accomplish that, then I think we accomplish what we want to, which is to make Canadians proud.”
Canada’s Brad Marchand told The Athletic, “I don’t get caught up in politics. I don’t think there’s a place in the game for it. This is a place for people to escape that stuff. You go out there and you get to come watch a game and get away from all the stresses everybody has in their day-to-day life.”
The first game in the 4 Nations tournament between USA and Canada started with three fights in nine seconds. The puck drops in the championship game at 8 p.m. Eastern on ESPN and ESPN+.
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