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Ryan S. Clark
BOSTON — Other than the game itself, both Canada and the United States were talking about President Donald Trump hours before playing one another in the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off championship game.
Trump was a topic of conversation for both teams Thursday with many Team USA players speaking about the call they shared with the president with Team Canada sharing some of its thoughts about Trump once again stating that Canada would become the “51st state” in the country.
“It was awesome. It was one of the cooler experiences I’ve had,” Team USA’s Vincent Trocheck said of the Trump phone call. “Having the president of the United States call your team about a hockey game just seems kind of crazy but it’s pretty cool.”
Team USA and New York Rangers forward J.T. Miller echoed a similar sentiment.
“Pretty cool. It was so awesome to hear the support,” Miller said. “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.”
Miller said that Trump told the team to enjoy the moment and have fun with it with Team USA defenseman Zach Werenski saying he “kind of blacked out” because of the significance of the moment.
Team USA received a call from the President this morning to wish them luck ahead of tonight’s #4Nations championship game. pic.twitter.com/he1kIgUVGW
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) February 20, 2025
A reporter then asked Miller if Trump mentioned making Canada the 51st state.
“I don’t think he brought that up,” said Werenski, who plays for the Columbus Blue Jackets. “He left that one out.”
Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier Thursday that he planned on calling Team USA while later adding that “on toward victory tonight against Canada … will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important Fifty First State.”
With political tensions already in place prior to the 4 Nations, those feelings have only amplified with hockey as its latest avenue. It started with fans on both sides booing during each country’s respective national anthems.
It further escalated during the first Canada-U.S. game last Saturday. There were three fights in the first nine seconds of a contest which ultimately ended with the U.S. winning 3-1 in Montreal. The game itself became the talk of the North American sports landscape and only added to the anticipation of a potential rematch, something Canada secured Tuesday with a 5-3 win against Sweden.
Canada coach Jon Cooper was asked if the political discussion regarding the two countries has entered the dressing room.
“Other than the talk of [Canada becoming] the 51st state and then somebody saying, ‘Wow, we’d have one hell of a hockey team,'” said Cooper, who is the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Cooper then further elaborated on the subject.
“Let’s be honest, you’d never get what’s going to be contested tonight,” Cooper said. “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.”
ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski contributed to this report.