He’s calling out Canadian fans.
U.S. hockey star Zach Werenski criticized Canadian fans for booing during the U.S. national anthem at the 4 Nations Face-Off at Montreal’s Bell Centre on Saturday.
As Team USA prepared to play against Canada, fans in the arena once again booed during the Star-Spangled Banner, a trend that has been happening throughout the tournament. Werenski expressed his displeasure with the ongoing behavior.
“We expected it,” Werenski said, according to Fox News. “It happened in the previous game, and we’ve seen it before in the NHL, so we knew it would happen again tonight. We don’t appreciate it.”
The U.S. anthem had also been booed during Team USA’s game against Finland earlier in the series.
“It’s frustrating, but we anticipated it,” Werenski added. “We tried to use it as motivation and managed to come out with a win. But it’s definitely something we don’t like.”
Despite the boos, U.S. player Jake Guentzel highlighted the positive aspects of playing in Canada.
“The atmosphere was amazing,” Guentzel said. “Playing in Canada is always special. There was a lot of excitement from our team, especially when we saw how packed the arena was during warmups. It was a great experience.”
The game also quickly turned heated with several on-ice fights breaking out early on. However, despite the home crowd’s energy, Canada was unable to secure a victory, and Team USA triumphed 3-1. This marked the U.S.’s second win of the series, following their earlier 6-1 victory over Finland.
