In the true spirit of the games, British Columbia native crooner Michael Bublé had kind words for both his beloved Canadian hockey team and their longtime rival U.S. squad after the American NHL all-stars won a thrilling 2-1 overtime game to score a gold medal on Sunday (Feb. 22) at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
“First off, I would like to congratulate Team Canada, all the members, coaches, players who worked so hard and made us so proud,” said Bublé in a video in which he wore the iconic Team Canada black and red jersey. Bublé said he was “so proud” to watch his squad in the game, noting that he woke up at 5 a.m. to catch the live feed from Italy, with his kids confirming from off-camera that it was an early morning rooting on the home team.
“Well, obviously, we were all, you know, disappointed,” he added of the loss to the U.S. squad, which had not won an Olympic gold in men’s hockey since the legendary 1980 “miracle on ice.” Bublé said, “we hoped for the gold. We’d also like to congratulate Team U.S.A and our brothers and sisters across the border. We love each other. We’re family, you know?” As many commentators noted, and Bublé agreed, the thrilling, action-packed showdown between the two greatest teams on the planet was good for the game and Bublé’s olive branch to the lower 48 was a pointed rejoinder to the Trump administration’s repeated threats to annex our neighbor’s to the North.
“Even though it hurts me to say [it] ‘Congratulations U.S.A.,’” Bublé mustered with good cheer, making his kids repeat the well-wishes as well. “OK, now we got a rivalry, a great rivalry and next time it’s ours.” The victory by the men’s squad came after the women’s team collected a gold medal a day earlier in their own OT victory over Canada; since women’s hockey debuted at the 1998 Winter Olympics, the U.S. women have won gold three times, silver four times and bronze once.
Check out Bublé’s video below.
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