SAULT STE. MARIE - Boo in the Soo? Quite the opposite, in fact.
At sports venues across the country, booing the American national anthem has become a common refrain in recent weeks — a not-so-polite protest of President Donald Trump’s punishing tariffs and incessant musings about Canada becoming the 51st state.
Boos drowned out The Star-Spangled Banner at the 4 Nations Cup in Montreal, for example, and at Toronto FC’s home opener against Chicago last week.
Even Justin Trudeau defended the trend in his waning days as prime minister.
“We’re probably going to keep booing the American anthem,” he told reporters at a March 4 press conference. “But let me tell Americans: We’re not booing you. We’re not booing your teams. We’re not booing your players. We’re booing a policy that is designed to hurt us. We’re insulted, we’re angry.”
Which brings us to last night’s Soo Greyhounds game against the Saginaw Spirit. It marked the first time since Feb. 12 that a U.S. team had visited the Hounds’ home rink, and the first time since Trump’s trade war really turned ugly.
How did fans react? A couple of scattered boos at the start — and resounding applause at the end. The video above captures the whole scene.