Sports are meant to provide an escape from politics, a chance for fierce competition to command the spotlight over policy and government rhetoric. The 4 Nations Face-Off was different, and hockey is better off because of it.

Amid President Trump’s call to add Canada as the 51st state and his threats to impose tariffs against the country, a hockey game became a symbol of national defiance and lifted a nation and a sport.

Canada claimed the championship of the 4 Nations Face-Off with a 3-2 overtime victory over the United States on Thursday night at Boston. The victory on American home ice prompted an immediate response from Prime Minister Trudeau who posted on X, “You can’t take our country and you can’t take our game.”

Mr. Trudeau couldn’t wait to bask in victory after Mr. Trump needled him by calling him “governor” and mentioning his 51st state proposal in a post on Truth Social before Thursday’s game.

“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. But we will all be watching, and if Governor Trudeau would like to join us, he would be most welcome.”

The political tone even seeped into the Canadian national anthem sung by Chantel Kreviazuk, who intentionally changed the lyrics from “in all of us command” to “that only us command.”

Canadian fans booed the American anthem when the round-robin games were played in Canada during the weekend and many Americans could be heard booing “O Canada” at Boston’s TD Garden on Thursday night.

Not since the Miracle on Ice when the 1980 U.S. men’s Olympic team defeated the heavily-favored Soviet team for the gold medal has politics fueled the passion of fans and players.

“A lot of stuff going on with Canada and the USA right now, and us playing against each other was kind of a perfect storm for our sport,” Canadian Nathan MacKinnon said, per ESPN. “It was much more popular than even we would have imagined. It was getting so much attention from our whole continent.”

Part of the perfect storm was Canada and the U.S. reaching the final. Sweden and Finland were also part of the international tournament put together by the NHL and the NHL Players Association to replace the NHL All-Star Game this year.

The USA reached the final with a thrilling 3-1 win over Canada on Saturday in a game that featured three fights in the first nine seconds. Canada posted wins over Sweden and Finland to set up the North American rematch.

This was no exhibition. National pride, honor, and the throne of international hockey were at stake, fueled by Mr. Trump’s telephone call to the American team.  “Having the president of the United States call your team about a hockey game just seems kind of crazy, but it’s pretty cool,” Vincent Trocheck said, per ESPN.

It also helped that the finale was electric. Connor McDavid scored at 8:18 of overtime to send the Canadian team into hysterics as TD Garden emptied in disappointment. “I know it’s just a quick tournament, and it’s not an Olympic gold medal or anything like that, but it means the world to our group,” Mr. McDavid said. “It’s a great game. It’s a great sport, and I hope we put on a good show these last couple of days and gained some fans. You can’t ask for a better show than that.”

The tournament raised anticipation when hockey returns to the Olympic stage for the 2026 Winter Games at Milan and Cortina, Italy. Heaven help the rest of the hockey world if Canada is the 51st state by then.