Sean McDonough on navigating politics at 4 Nations Face-Off: ‘I felt like I had to say something’

The 4 Nations Face-Off wasn’t just about hockey; ignoring the political undercurrent that crept into what became one of the world’s most prestigious in-season tournaments was impossible. Whether you wanted politics to invade your sports experience or not, there was no escaping the fact that it would be politicized.

It just was what it was.

There was also no escaping the fact that President Donald Trump threatened that the United States would annex Canada, in addition to placing tariffs on imports from its northern neighbor. Trump drew the ire of Canadians as he, among other things, referred to their prime minister, Justin Trudeau, as “Governor” and to Canada as the “51st state.”

It’s not that Trudeau is beloved or even popular north of the border. In fact, the 53-year-old leader of the country’s liberal party will not seek re-election and will resign upon the election of a new leader come March.

However, Trump was seemingly crossing a line.

In Montreal and throughout the 4 Nations Face-Off, Canadian fans made their disapproval known— despite objections from some — by loudly booing the American anthem as a sign of protest against his divisive rhetoric.

ESPN’s lead announcer for the 4 Nations Face-Off didn’t want to see Americans do the same in Boston.

“I really hope our people don’t boo the anthem,” McDonough said on WEEI Afternoons last week. “Let’s be better than that. I think we all have a lot of respect for what a great country Canada is. And the political things that have led the Canadians recently … I understand it from their perspective, especially having been up there for several days. So let’s be better than that and be respectful of their anthem and cheer like hell for our own.”

McDonough addressed that head-on, as The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch was interested in how he approached — or how he wanted to approach — the very clear nexus of geopolitics and sports when it came to the 4 Nations Face-Off Final, which Canada won 3-2 in overtime.

“Well, it was interesting, right? Because we had those conversations as a group,” McDonough told Deitsch on his Sports Media podcast. “[Vice President of Production] Linda Schulz now oversees our hockey coverage, and I asked her, ‘How are we going to cover this?’ So, I think part of it is you have to wait to see what actually happens. And we, particularly talking about the game in Boston — the championship game — would there be a response from the American fans to the Canadian folks booing the U.S. national anthem Saturday night in Montreal?

“So, now, one of the problems that you have and that I talk about with Linda is they sing the Canadian national anthem first. Then, they sing the U.S. anthem. Now, this has happened a few minutes ago. And then it’s basically goalie, goalie, puck drop… You don’t want to miss the build-up to the face-off, and it all has to be based on what actually happened.”

Despite the political tension, McDonough made a point to emphasize the importance of handling the situation with care. When a few boos interrupted Chantal Kreviazuk’s rendition of the Canadian anthem in Boston, the crowd quickly drowned them out, with the singing growing louder and the atmosphere shifting back to hockey.

“There was a smattering of boos when this woman started to sing — and that ended pretty quickly,” he said. “It was very noticeable that actually, some people in the crowd started singing; the signing of the Canadian national anthem got louder. People were singing along with her, and clearly, there was many Americans doing that. So, I acknowledged that and then kind of let it go. There really wasn’t much more time. And I don’t really know what else really you could say.

“I had said before — it’s amazing how our business works. I’m on a couple of talk shows, I got asked about the booing, and I said, ‘I hope they don’t boo.’ ‘I just hope the Americans don’t boo. I understand why the Canadians are upset: the tariffs, the 51st state stuff.’ And to the point that people are more interested in this because of that, that was much more, in my experience, an issue in Canada than it was in Boston. There were people talking about ‘Oh, the politics of it,’ where in Canada, they were.”

“It’s interesting how our thing works,” he added. “I said, ‘Well, I hope they don’t boo.’ Well, then the headlines on these articles become ‘Sean McDonough [inaudible] not to boo,’ like I called a press conference and said, ‘Do not boo.’ All I said was ‘I hope they don’t boo.’ But it’s like I called a press conference and begged people not to [boo]. I answered a question and said, ‘I hope they don’t boo.'”

But McDonough also understands how the sports media (and aggregation) ecosystem works.

He felt like he couldn’t leave this to the pregame; he had to say something.

“I think in this instance, we had to say something,” he says. “I felt like I had to say something because it was an issue — and I guess I contributed to it by what I said on the radio show, but there needed to be some acknowledgment.

“What I wish I also knew, and I didn’t know this at the time, the woman who sang the national anthem, Chantal [Kreviazuk]… as you know, she changed the words that only us command. Well, when she was doing it, I had a headset on. I turned to Ivan Sokalsky, who’s our stage manager, and I said to him, ‘She botched the words.’ I thought she just screwed up; I didn’t realize this was intentional at the time, and I wasn’t exactly sure what she even said. I wish I had known at the time she was going to do that and what exactly it was that she said because I would’ve acknowledged that.

“I thought that was awesome on her part — I really did.”

In that moment, McDonough felt something needed to be said. It all happened quickly—it wasn’t the same as the loud, sustained booing in Montreal. Instead, he sensed that the people singing were trying to drown it out, showing their support rather than feeding into the hostility.

But to answer Deitsch’s question, McDonough believes these kinds of moments are best handled in the pregame. That said, he knew he couldn’t stay silent once it happened. He had to acknowledge it, even briefly, because ignoring it entirely would have felt like a disservice to the moment unfolding in real-time.