Auburn's Bruce Pearl Talks About Whether Fans Will Boo Canadian Anthem In The NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off
Everyone and their mother is fired up about the 4 Nations Face-Off Championship game between the United States and Canada. It's tracking to be the biggest international hockey game in years, and the excitement will ramp up even before the opening faceoff, because we're all wondering how the crowd at Boston's TD Garden will respond to the Canadian national anthem.
Will they take the high road, or will they do what I would expect a Boston crowd that's been drinking in the lead-up to the game to do and boo it into oblivion?
Well, Boston native and Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl joined OutKick's Dan Dakich on Thursday's edition of Don't @ Me with Dan Dakich to discuss the 4 Nations Face-Off and how the Beantown fans will respond to the anthems.
This is how big the 4 Nations has proven to be. We've got the coach of the top-ranked team in college basketball fielding hockey questions.
I love it.
Dakich asked if he thought the home crowd would boo, after broadcaster Sean McDonough — who will call the game for ESPN — asked the fans not to do so.
Bruce Pearl On 4 Nations Cup
"I hope not," Pearl said. "In fact, what I hope they'll do is; I hope they sing "O, Canada," alright? Loud and proud and show them how to do it the right way.
"Two wrongs don't make a right, and I hope [the fans] are classy enough to do that."
While Pearl is hoping for the high-road approach, remember, he's a Boston guy.
"At the same time, I've been to Bruins games at the ‘Garden’," he said. "I'm not sure I can count on (them). It depends how warmed up they get in pregame. If they get warmed up in pregame, they may be showering the boos."
Pearl went on to add that Boston is perhaps a hockey town more than it is a football or basketball town.
"Boston is a hockey town, that's what people don't realize," he said. "More than it is a football town with the Patriots or a basketball town with the Celtics."