Sabres confirm the worst for Tage Thompson after tonight's injury

Buffalo Sabres superstar forward Tage Thompson left tonight's game against the Boston Bruins with an apparent hand or wrist injury and did not return to action.

Thompson blocked a shot from Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy and appeared to shake off his wrist as he left the ice.

Here's the play in question:

After the game, Sabres head coach Don Granato confirmed that Thompson will miss "significant time" with his injury.

From Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman:

The 26 year old forward has six goals and 12 points in 16 games to start the 2023-24 season following a break out campaign last year where he put up an outstanding 47 goals and 94 points in 78 games. Obviously his absence from the lineup is going to greatly affect the Sabres' fortunes up front. Stay tuned for an official update from the team.

And while we're on the topic of the Sabres and their game against the Bruins tonight, there was a major, MAJOR musical injustice that played out at KeyBank Center.

One of the NHL's cool little long-standing traditions is that the Sabres will play both the 'Star Spangled Banner' and 'O Canada' prior to puck drop, regardless of which teams are playing. Every other NHL building will simply play the anthem(s) of the team's in attendance for the evening, but with Buffalo being so close to the Canadian border and with the team's fanbase comprised of both American and Canadian fans, the team goes out of its way to have both anthems played at every game.

It's a cool tradition that frankly I love.

Or... at least I used to.

After tonight's mangling of 'O Canada', the Sabres might want to reconsider things.

Check out this absolute butcher job of Canada's iconic national anthem prior to tonight's game between the Buffalo Sabres and the Boston Bruins:

Uh... what?

The reaction from the Sabres fan holding his young son says it all:

To the singer's credit, he does come around and finds the proper lyrics and melody on the next line.

Incredibly though, that's not the worst rendition of a national anthem I've heard at an NHL game. Remember this cringe-worthy moment from back in 2012 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators? Then Senators captain Erik Karlsson nearly loses it when the singer shouts, "Let me hear you!"

I've got to say though... the absolute worst... the WORST singing of 'O Canada' of all time though comes from the CFL's brief foray into the United States when they hired a lounge singer to belt out the national anthem and for some reason he sang it to the tune of 'O Christmas Tree'.

Check it out if you dare:

Oh my God... kill me now.

The way he really sells the final lines of "For Thee" sends me into fits every time. Then he smiles at the camera like he's really done something special. I swear to God I would have died on the spot if I were there in person.