Sharks fans boo ‘O Canada’ before Game 5
No political motive suspected, fans just apparently don't like the Oilers
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SAN JOSE, Calif. - San Jose Sharks fans loudly booed the Canadian national anthem Sunday night before Game 5 of their team’s second-round playoff series with the Edmonton Oilers.
The vociferous booing started from the opening notes of singer Annmarie Martin’s rendition of “O Canada.” While other fans attempted to drown it out by singing along, the boos were audible until the final notes.
Pregame anthem booing was a hot-button issue in sports shortly after the beginning of the war in Iraq, with fans in Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Montreal’s Bell Centre and other arenas booing their neighbors’ anthem from 2002-04.
There was no apparent political motive for the booing in San Jose — just a questionable expression of the fans’ dislike of the Oilers, who won the last two games in Edmonton to tie the series at two games apiece.
The Shark Tank fans didn’t boo “O Canada” before the first two games, and fans in Edmonton didn’t boo “The Star-Spangled Banner” last week.
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