A Toronto hockey fan is hoping to bring some Canadian spirit to the Stanley Cup final.
Sandro Liburdi has started up a petition with hopes of convincing the National Hockey League to play both the Canadian and American national anthem at the games.
The finals will be a best-of-seven games showdown between two U.S. teams – the Chicago Blackhawks and the Philadelphia Flyers. The series starts Saturday at 9 p.m.
"Although there are two U.S. teams in the final, there are 38 Canadian players and only 24 U.S. and international-born players combined," he said in a telephone interview with ctvtoronto.ca. He also pointed out that the captains of both teams are Canadian.
"Those Canadian players deserve to hear their anthem."
An online petition (www.playouranthem.ca) was launched Thursday afternoon and within a few hours, more than 2,500 people signed their support.
Liburdi says he is trying to get hockey commentator Don Cherry and other sports notables on board.
Honouring Canada in an American sporting competition is nothing new. In fact, the National Basketball Association flies a Canadian flag at every game, regardless of which team is actually playing.
There is only one Canadian team – the Toronto Raptors – in the NBA while the NHL has teams in six Canadian cities: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
Furthermore, unlike hockey, Canadians are overwhelmingly underrepresented at the NBA.
"This is a North American league made up of mostly Canadian players and the respect should be paid to both countries," Liburdi said.
