Hayley Wickenheiser calls out Canadian fans booing American anthem.

A major controversy over the weekend has prompted a response from a Canadian hockey icon.

Legendary Canadian women's hockey player Hayley Wickenheiser has taken to social media to express her feelings at the recent events taking place in National Hockey League arenas around the country of Canada, specifically as it pertains to the treatment of the American national anthem.

Over the weekend we witnessed a pair of incidents in which fans in Canada could be heard loudly booing during the performance of the American national anthem, with one incident taking place in the City of Ottawa and the other taking place in the City of Calgary.

Many have viewed these acts as disrespectful towards American fans, the American players on the ice, and of course the person who happens to be performing the anthem at the time, and it would appear as though Wickenheiser agrees that booing the anthem is a step too far. The Canadian hockey legend made it clear through her post on social media that, despite her constant battles against American players on the ice, there was always a level of competitive respect between all of those involved in the competition.

From Wickenheiser:

For 23 years and six Olympic Games, I had the honour of playing for and representing Canada on the ice and the field. For another eight years,I continued that representation inside the IOC.

Wearing the maple leaf was the honor of a lifetime—and I had the chance to do it all over the world, including in places where hockey isn’t played as much, like India, North Korea, Rwanda, and Peru.

Not once did I feel unsafe or anything but proud to have that maple leaf on my chest. In fact- it saved me from trouble many times!

And let me tell you—if someone assumed I was American, I was the first to say, “Nope, I’m Canadian,” with great pride! And I still am.

I sure despised those damn Americans on the ice—I had to in order to compete against them. If I got into an elevator and the U.S. team was already in there, I’d take the stairs! That mentality worked for me. But in the end, we always had respect.

There is nothing better than a Canada-USA Olympic hockey game. Nothing brings Canada together more—until maybe now. Canada and the U.S. are different in so many ways, and we need those differences to thrive.

It's hard now- yep ok fine- we can do hard shit! Now is the time to wear that flag prouder than ever—stick together, be brave and work as hard off the ice as we do on it. Future generations depend on it.

Team Canada. Team USA. Fierce and respectful opponents—but we never back down!

P.S. Canada 2-1, Four Nations Gold Medal Game!

I fully support the message that Wickenheiser is trying to convey here and I hope that we will see a fierce but respectful rivalry between the Canadians and Americans during the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off.