Canadian fans boo American national anthem during NHL game.

Oh boy this is not pretty.

There was a disappointing scene on Saturday night when a certain contingent of hockey fans in the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada decided to use Saturday night's game between the Minnesota Wild and Ottawa Senators as their own personal political pulpit.

Prior to the start of the game both the American and Canadian national anthems were performed for the crowd in attendance, as is tradition, but in a drastic break from tradition there were very audible boos and jeers from the Canadian crowd during the performing of the American anthem. There was no mistaking the sound as it was both loud and prolonged, carrying on throughout much of the anthem.

Here are a few videos of the incident:

While I can certainly understand why Canadian fans are frustrated given the proclamations made by American president Donald Trump regarding tariffs that will be imposed on Canada, this display is an unfortunate one. The American players on the ice have no power to influence these decisions nor does the singer who performed the anthem, both of whom must have felt incredibly uncomfortable as the crowd booed and jeered during the performance.

That being said this does stand in stark contrast to behavior we have seen from Canadian fans in the past. Roughly 10 years ago, in November of 2014, Canadian hockey fans finished the American national anthem after a singer performing in Toronto experienced technical difficulties, a moment that brought hockey fans on both sides of the border closer to gether.

Hopefully we can get back to moments like this one sooner rather than later.