CNN
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Jon Cooper is still marveling that one of the biggest achievements of his career became a surreal international drama: A long-awaited chance to indulge in the friendly Canada-United States hockey rivalry in the 4 Nations Face-Off was quickly overtaken by geopolitical events that supercharged the already heightened emotions.
“A sport that is supposed to unite everybody united and almost divided at the same time,” the Canadian told CNN.
In February, Canada ran into the United States team in the NHL’s inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. It was the first time in a decade that the two countries had met with their strongest lineups available, “best on best” as they say in hockey, and most of the players had never experienced anything like it before.
Days before the tournament got underway, President Donald Trump began referring to Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a ‘governor’ of the ‘51st state.’ Crippling 25% tariffs on cross-border imports were promised and – although hastily postponed – two longtime allies and trading partners found themselves contemplating a profoundly different future, virtually overnight.
The US National Anthem, which had always been played and applauded at NHL and NBA games on the northern side of the border, was booed in the days leading up to the game. When the puck dropped, the tension was clear.
“So, this is brand new to everyone, a decade in the making,” Cooper added. “The players are amped up, and then you have a new incoming president and a political landscape that is changing. I hate to use the term ‘perfect storm,’ but it all came together at the right time.”
By the time Canada skated against the United States in the group game in Montreal, the atmosphere was akin to a powder keg. Within nine seconds of the puck being dropped at the start of the game, no less than three fights had broken out on the ice.
“From our perspective, we’ve been the friendly neighbors of the North,” Cooper said about the amped-up atmosphere. “We’ve had a great partnership and now all of a sudden there’s some dilemmas in there.”
The United States edged Canada in that game at the Bell Centre, but they were destined to meet again in the final five days later in Boston.
Cooper says he tried not to use politics to motivate his players, but there was no way that any of them could ignore what was happening outside of the locker room.
“Growing up in Canada, hockey is a lifeblood,” he said. “It was hard enough to go best on best, trying to win this tournament, without saying, ‘Oh by the way there’s over 40 million people on the edge of their seats and a lot of it might be politically charged as well as athletically charged.’”
“I did not want to put that added pressure on the players. We tried our hardest not to make it a distraction, but deep down you knew they were feeling it.”
‘For a brief time, it was all brought together’
Rumors that Trump himself would be in attendance for the tournament’s final between the same two sides proved unfounded, but he injected himself into the buildup on the morning of the contest with another provocative message on his Truth Social website, saying that he’d call the US team “to spur them 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”.
As if they didn’t have enough motivation already, the Canadian players responded with a gutsy performance, scoring the opening goal and a decisive overtime tally from their superstar Connor McDavid, which secured the trophy and perhaps something much more important: A moment of intense national pride.
“It was pretty remarkable to be part of,” reflected Cooper. “You watch sport to get away from life, and for a brief time it was all brought together. It was surreal.”
He said that if he could have imagined how the tournament might have played out, he could never have conceived of a finale like that.
“The way it started, the way it progressed, the political side of things, the national pride side of things and winning for our country. I think the game of hockey won overall; it was just amazing to be a part of,” he said.
Cooper has now returned to coaching his Tampa Bay Lightning team in the NHL, hoping he can lead them to a third Stanley Cup title in just six years. The Canadian coach will lead his American team over the border, where they may well hear the anthem being booed again. But he echoes the sentiments of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said that the fans aren’t booing the players or the team, but instead some controversial and damaging policies.
“I explained this to the players; people pay for their ticket, and nobody can stop them showing their feelings. It’s a statement of political pride in a venue where they have a voice. They’re not booing the game; this has nothing to do with that,” Cooper said.
A hope for wounds healing soon
In just over a year’s time, the United States, Canada and Mexico are due to collaborate and welcome 45 other countries as they co-host the biggest-ever FIFA World Cup.
It’s impossible to predict how the tournament might be compromised if relations become even more strained in the meantime. But Canada’s American soccer coach Jesse Marsch has already spoken out directly against Trump, describing his 51st state rhetoric as “unsettling and frankly insulting.”
Marsch later told CNN, “I think I made it very clear how I felt about this idea of the 51st state. It doesn’t belong in the discourse and Canada deserves so much more.”
On March 4, one month after Trump had threatened but then postponed a 25% levy on imported Canadian goods, he followed through and enforced the tariffs. Canada quickly responded with countermeasures on goods crossing the border in the opposite direction.
Trudeau accused Trump of “trying to ruin the Canadian economy,” calling the tariffs “dumb.”
“Canadians are reasonable and we are polite,” he said, “But we will not back down from a fight, not when our country and the well-being of everyone in it is at stake,”
The showdown is set to drag on. Trump on Thursday delayed some of the tariffs on Canada for another month on about 36% of the imports that come into the US over the northern border.
It’s an intense period of strife between two traditional geopolitical friends. Cooper is hopeful that cooler heads will soon prevail.
“I think, will this stop? I think, will everything come together eventually, and the fences be mended? I do,” he said. “I truly believe that.”