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Another flub makes us wonder: why do we play national anthems before sporting events?

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When we list the worst renditions of “O Canada” ever in the United States, what John deCausmeaker did Thursday night in St. Paul doesn’t top the list.

That honor would go to lounge singer Dennis Casey Park, who succeeded transform Canada’s national anthem into a version of “O Christmas Tree” prior to a CFL game in Las Vegas in 1994.

In DeCausmeaker’s case, he simply got the lyrics wrong and repeated the phrase “from far and wide” twice in the span of 10 seconds prior to the Wild-Flames game at the Xcel Energy Center.

What’s remarkable is that Causmeaker’s rendition wasn’t even the worst performance of the Canadian national anthem at an NHL game this week. That distinction goes to Sholanty Taylor’s version of “O Canada” starting Monday at the UBS Arena on Long Island.

Taylor’s sped-up and sloppy 59-second version of “O Canada” before the Maple Leafs-Islanders game was deplorable at best.

Offensive at worst.

And these two gruesome anthems continue a trend we’ve seen several times in 2023.

In March Ryan Michael James suddenly forgot the words to the Canadian national anthem mid-chant before a Maple Leafs-Panthers game in Sunrise, Florida. James later admitted on a Toronto radio station that he was trying to learn the lyrics to “O Canada”. two hours before his performance, as he was a last-minute replacement.

In November, Buffalo national anthem singer Christian Kramer messed up the lyrics to ‘O Canada’ halfway through the national anthem.

At one point Kramer sang: “O Canada, we stand our eyes.”

So after four failed Canadian anthems at NHL games in 2023, it’s time to question the practice of performing the anthems before every sporting event in North America.

Maybe it’s time we save the anthem for the games and moments that really matter.

The first documented instance of a national anthem being played before a sporting event dates all the way back to May 1862, when “The Star Spangled Banner” was played before a baseball game in Brooklyn, NY. The practice then occurred sporadically in subsequent years. for decades, with the national anthem being played before major sporting events such as the World Series.

Playing the national anthem then gained traction during World War II.

As North American professional sports leagues continued to play abroad during the conflict, teams began playing the national anthem as a symbol of wartime support and patriotism. When World War II ended, NFL Commissioner Elmer Layden was convinced that the tradition should be continued.

“Playing the national anthem should be as much a part of every game as kickoff,” Layden said. “We should not drop it simply because the war is over. We must never forget what it stands for.”

NHL clubs have given the order the home team would honor their own country prior to the matches in 1946. About a decade later, both “O Canada” and “The Star Spangled Banner” were played before NHL games – regardless of where the game was taking place.

However, in 1969, Canadian opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War opened the door for the NHL to allow the Maple Leafs and Canadiens to play only “O Canada” before their home games – opting to play the “Star Spangled Banner” to skip. A vintage CBC broadcast shows a game between Toronto and Boston from Maple Leaf Gardens in November 1970, in which only an instrumental version of “O Canada” is played before the game. The same thing happens a few weeks later in a game between the Bruins and Canadiens at the Montreal Forum.

But in 1987, the NHL had made it mandatory that both anthems be played in games involving a Canadian team against an American opponent. In Buffalo they play both the Canadian and American national anthems, regardless of the Sabres’ opponent.

This is a uniquely North American phenomenon.

In Europe, national anthems are reserved for major international competitions, or when an urgent or important national situation arises.

Earlier this year, for example, the Premier League asked its clubs to play the British national anthem before matches to mark the coronation of King Charles III.

When folk songs are played infrequently and saved for special occasions – as is done elsewhere in the world – they have more weight and meaning.

In North America, we have diluted the tradition to the point where the national anthems are played thousands of times a year, creating awkward and disrespectful moments like those described above.

The national anthem should be played sparingly and reserved for moments that evoke genuine feelings of national pride.

In 2014, all of Canada was shocked by the death of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, who was killed by a gunman at the National War Memorial in Ottawa. Days later, fans in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa sang the national anthem at the same time in a coordinated show of national unity. It was moving, sincere and profound.

That same week in 2014, the Pittsburgh Penguins played “O Canada” prior to a game against the Philadelphia Flyers as a show of solidarity with their northern neighbors.

And we should never lose the ability to experience these heartfelt moments.

But when you bring in anthem singers who don’t even know the lyrics so you can meet your quota of 82 games a year, it makes the whole exercise feel unfair and performative.

Save the playing of the national anthem for opening night, home games in the Stanley Cup playoffs, international competition (when we return to a best-on-best format), and special occasions when warranted.

Arguably the best and most moving rendition of an anthem before an NHL event took place in January 1991. Against the backdrop of the Gulf War, Wayne Messmer sang “The Star Spangled Banner” to a raucous crowd at Chicago Stadium before the game. NHL All-Star Game. It was a goosebump moment.

Whitney Houston’s version of “The Star Spangled Banner” the following week at the Super Bowl might be the greatest anthem performance of all time.

Those moments felt genuine, emotional and powerful. It was a confluence of world events and major sporting moments.

That same magic simply won’t exist when the Florida Panthers visit Edmonton this weekend. Or when the Canucks are in Chicago. In these cases, the playing of the national anthem becomes staid and monotonous. And it’s almost an invitation for something to go wrong.

In 2021, Dallas Mavericks fans and media played thirteen games before realizing the club had stopped playing the national anthem before their home games. It was tangible proof that anthems are not as intrinsically intertwined with North American sports as we might think.

So would hockey fans really notice – or care – if NHL teams took the same approach full-time in the future?

(Photo of Sholanty Taylor singing the U.S. national anthem before a New York Islanders game earlier this month: Jay Anderson / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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