People & Culture
The Canadian author, who’s covered both Parliament and the puck, highlights why 2025 feels like a turning point for Canada
Since the beginning of the year, hockey, politics and Canadian patriotism have collided — with the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament at the centre. The February tournament, planned a year earlier, took on a significance no one could have predicted, shaped by the on-going political tensions between Canada and the United States. But the relationship between hockey and politics, says veteran journalist Roy MacGregor, who has covered both extensively, has always been there. Now at the forefront of Canadian identity more than ever before, their explosive mix has reignited a sense of national pride and unity among Canadians.
This tournament is not quite up there with 1972 (the Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union), but it’s pretty damn close. And it’s close only because of what’s going on with Donald Trump and tariffs and the Canadian election. ’72 was purely a test of world hockey skills; 2025 was very much a political hockey game. But the 4 Nations Face-Off didn’t have Russia. So it was a great tournament, but it wasn’t perfect. The perfection of it came from it being Canada versus the United States in the final, and Canada triumphed when our country needed something.
When I went from Parliament Hill to covering hockey, I used to say that it’s almost exactly the same thing, except the politicians don’t have numbers on their backs. You have the scrums at the end, you have the “BS” going on, you have the little inner workings. But hockey and politics have been blended [for a long time]. We grew up hearing that somebody was stick-handling some legislation through the House of Commons, that somebody in the House of Commons was filibustering, which meant they were ragging the puck. We even had ex-hockey players like Syl Apps becoming a cabinet minister. Red Kelly ran for office when he was still playing and was there for three years, going back and forth between Ottawa and the Toronto Maple Leafs! Ken Dryden became a cabinet minister and did very well. The link has always been there, but I don’t think it ever reared its head as high as it did during the 4 Nations Face-Off.
I covered referendums. I was there at Oka. I’ve been there when everybody thought it was the end of the world and it wasn’t. This time, what I truly believe began as a joke turned into a real story that Trump really wanted to [make Canada the 51st state] and hurt us. I don’t have to go down the list of what we have done for the United States. We have been an ally that has been 100 per cent reliable and more. And then suddenly we find out that our so-called closest friend is dumping on us, accusing us of things that aren’t true, attacking us and trying to disorient us. In 50 years of journalism, and all my life, I never thought I would cover not only a person but a group so unaware of reality, so obsessed with their own selves, so wrong and so unwilling to listen.
I’m old, but not old enough to remember what Canadian soldiers did for Europe or the United States when they got into various predicaments. And there would be these incredible moments of pride. I imagine after World War II, it was way up there. But it’s up there now at a level that we have never seen or felt before and, frankly, it feels pretty good. In some small way, I’m kind of glad this happened because it showed my country that we are the people we thought we were. And even though they joke about us being so polite and so harmless, we’re actually pretty tough.
The booing of the U.S. anthem [at 4 Nations] was so un-Canadian. Can you imagine anything more un-Canadian than for us to show disrespect to another country’s anthem? But it changed us, that funny cliché, “elbows up.” That’s a hockey term too, of course, from Gordie Howe. I’ve liked it. I’ve felt good these last few months about being Canadian and seeing Canadians who usually are at odds with each other, depending on where they live, locking arms. I’m not running around thinking that, I’m not Alberta, I am not Quebec, I’m not this and that. I am all those things, I hope. I hope they feel they are all these things as well. Canada is Canada is Canada.
This story is from the July/August 2025 Issue
People & Culture
The award-winning journalist explores the intersection of hockey, politics and patriotism, highlighting Canada’s 2025 4 Nations Face-Off victory over the U.S. amid tensions from Trump’s tariff war
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