As Cami Clune sang the Canadian national anthem before a National Hockey League playoff game in Buffalo on Tuesday night, she faced a singer’s nightmare: Her microphone started cutting out.
So the Buffalo Sabres hockey fans at KeyBank Center stepped in. As Ms. Clune’s mic malfunctioned, they belted the lyrics to “O Canada” along with her.
“Well that was interesting!!” Ms. Clune wrote on social media afterward. “Thank you all for singing along with me. We have the best fans ever!”
At most N.H.L. arenas in the United States, “O Canada” is performed only when the visiting team is Canadian. But in Buffalo, which borders Ontario Province and has close economic ties with Canada, the Canadian anthem is sung before each game.
The moment of amity presented a contrast to ongoing U.S.-Canada tensions over President Trump’s tariffs and threats to Canada’s sovereignty.
Among other points of friction, the countries have yet to reach a formal trade deal following a Supreme Court ruling in February that struck down many of President Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods. And Canadians have criticized Mr. Trump for repeatedly suggesting that Canada should become the 51st American state.
The tensions have occasionally spilled into the sporting world.
At a hockey game between the two countries’ national teams in Montreal last February, the crowd jeered during the “The Star-Spangled Banner.” That was days after some N.B.A. fans in Toronto booed the American anthem as it was played before a Toronto Raptors home game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
In many respects, the N.H.L. illustrates the closeness of U.S.-Canadian ties. Teams regularly travel across the border for games. Americans play for Canadian teams and vice versa. Two Canadian squads, the Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs, are captained by American stars.
There are plenty of signs of U.S.-Canadian bonhomie in Buffalo, including a “peace bridge” connecting the city with Fort Erie, Ontario. Some people own homes on both sides of the border, and Canadians have typically generated 35 to 40 percent of the Buffalo region’s annual tourism revenue, according to Visit Buffalo, Erie County’s tourism and convention bureau.
After the anthem on Tuesday, the Sabres lost to the Boston Bruins in overtime, putting them down 3-2 in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series. But some people in Buffalo pointed to the “O Canada” moment as a positive.
“Before the game we had a really cool moment with Cami Clune leading us all in a moment of kinship with our Canadian brethren,” Joe Thomas, whose band Mayday Buffalo also played at the game, wrote on social media.
Ms. Clune, a finalist for the American singing competition show “The Voice” in 2020, was looking ahead to the next game in the series.
“Truly grateful for this city,” she wrote, adding: “On to Game 6, let’s go!!”
Jin Yu Young is a reporter and researcher for The Times, based in Seoul, covering South Korea and international breaking news.
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