Trump takes crosscheck at Trudeau before USA-Canada hockey final

With the deep hockey and political rivalry between Canada and the United States heading into overtime, US bench boss Donald Trump took another major misconduct with his latest smack talk about Canada’s sovereignty just hours before Team USA and Team Canada face off in the 4 Nations Face-Off final.

Posting on Truth Social, Trump once again floated his long-shot dream of Canada becoming the ‘51st state’ even as he took cheap shots the nation’s hockey prowess.

“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,” Trump wrote, going full forecheck on Canada’s independence.

Tensions between the two nations have been heating up faster than the fisticuffs in Game 1, with Trump repeatedly chirping Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — this time mockingly inviting him to a US governors’  meeting in Washington on Thursday.

“I will be speaking before the Governors tonight in DC, 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,” Trump added.

For Canadians, Trump’s remarks were a clear case of skating past the red line with his head down. The last game saw tensions boil over, with three fights breaking out in the first nine seconds and loud boos raining down on the US national anthem in Montreal.

The same is expected tonight in Boston, where Canadian fans have already made their presence known.

Trump’s repeated attacks on Canadian sovereignty — including his tariff threats and calls to annex the country — have only added fuel to the fire ahead of tonight’s game. 

Team USA’s chief agitators, Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, revealed that the Americans texted each other before the game about their plans to have multiple fights.

On the Canadian side, fighter Brandon Hagel said he fought with Matthew Tkachuk out of national pride and then took a dig at the Americans.

"Listen, what happened the other night, I did it for the flag and not for the cameras," Hagel said. "We don't have any group chats going on," he added, per OutKick.

Meanwhile, Team USA General Manager Bill Guerin — who took a page from the Reggie Dunlop school of hockey on Saturday — said the American squad was honoured by Trump’s call. 

“We have a locker room full of proud Americans, and when the President of the United States takes the time to speak to our players, it means a lot,” said US head coach Mike Sullivan.

For his part, Trudeau — who was in Montreal to witness the first anthem-booing incident firsthand — took the high road and has not responded to Trump’s latest chirps. 

That contrasted with Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who couldn’t resist a little trash talk of her own. 

Speaking to Fox News the diminutive Republican siren responded with a taunt on behalf of her boss: “He (Trump) looks forward to watching the game tonight and we look forward to the United States, beating our soon to be 51st state, Canada.”

Which goes to show that for many Canadians, tonight’s final is about more than just hockey — it’s about proving on the ice, that it isn’t about to let its biggest rival skate away with both the trophy and its national dignity.

With the puck set to drop at 6 p.m. MST in Boston, all eyes are on the rink. And if Trump’s dream of making Canada the 51st state is still alive, Team Canada is ready to shut him out where it matters most: on the scoreboard.