Some civility, please - Shawn's Sense with Shawn Loughlin

On Sunday, I joined my fellow Canadians in our collective sorrow as Jack Hughes potted the winning goal in the Olympic men’s hockey final, delivering the first gold for the American men since 1980. The Canadians played very well (even Hughes was candid, saying that the Canadians likely outplayed their American counterparts that night, but that the American goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck, was the best player on the ice - a fact on which all who watched the game can agree), but, at the end of the day, it was the Americans who had the most goals.

 

My cousin Mike is American - born and bred - and a big hockey fan. So, every time our two nations lace the skates opposite each other, we pony up for a bet. It’s been everything from a loonie or a toonie to cases of beer to rounds of golf to full-blown dinners, though they’re rarely collected and more for bragging rights. 

 

And yet, even then, there’s not really that much bragging. We usually text each other as we watch the game, commenting on this or that (Sunday’s chatter was about Canada’s missed chances and the missed too-many-men call when the equivalent of the entire population of Mike’s relatively small, oceanside New Jersey town was on the ice at once), but it’s always civil, if not downright complimentary to the other side. On Sunday, again, Mike had a hard time believing the level of skill on Canada’s side of the rink, saying that if it wasn’t for Hellebuyck’s performance in the American net, the Canadians would be winning by a blowout-level goal count. 

 

That’s just how we’ve always been with each other. Of course, we’re family and we love one another, so there’s a level of mutual respect and admiration there, but we’re also just reasonable people who care about others.

 

When I broke out of that bubble, I was quickly reminded what an American win in men’s hockey means on the world scale and how it will be weaponized - for lack of a better term - by a certain kind of American man.

 

One needs to look no further than the infant that leads that country for examples of this. He was quick to post crude, symbolic images of an eagle attacking a Canadian goose and will no doubt dine out on the success of better men in his State of the Union address.

 

Speaking of the State of the Union, there is the inescapable video now circulating of the team partying with F.B.I. Director Kash Patel on a taxpayer-funded trip to the Olympics (have they drained the swamp yet?) and of the team receiving a congratulatory call from Trump, complete with sexism that gave both Trump and the players a good belly laugh.

 

Then there were other posts by American lawmakers congratulating “Governor” Mark Carney on his country’s silver medal, reaching back to Trump’s derogatory language that harkens back to making Canada the 51st state.

 

So, even as you try to do the Canadian thing and congratulate the team that bested you on the ice, the Americans have made it pretty difficult to do so. I said to Mike that I imagine it will be a long four years on the ice for Canadian NHLers in the face of this defeat. But, they’re big boys who make a lot of money, so we shouldn’t weep too uncontrollably for them, I suppose.

 

The immediate aftermath of the game has just laid bare the differences between our two countries and how the veneer of civility is flimsy indeed. In this day and age and with people like Trump voted in to lead, it seems that the era of friendly competition is over. The old adage of fighting on the ice, followed by a beer off of it, is done. It’s such a shame.