BUFFALO, N.Y. \u2014 Shane Doan stood beside his wife in KeyBank Center on Tuesday night and hoped the world noticed what was unfolding.<\/p>\n
The Buffalo Sabres were one victory away from eliminating the Boston Bruins in Game 5 and advancing in the postseason for the first time since 2007. But that wasn\u2019t the moment that had Doan gobsmacked. Nor did it have anything to do with his son, Sabres forward Josh Doan, skating in his first Stanley Cup playoff series.<\/p>\n
Shane Doan, the 402-goal scorer and Olympian from the Alberta prairie, was in awe before the game began. Seconds into \u201cO Canada,\u201d national anthem singer Cami Clune\u2019s microphone malfunctioned. A dutiful crowd of 19,070 \u2014 Shane and Andrea Doan included \u2014 rushed to her aid with a full-throated, word-for-word reinforcement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith all the things in the world we\u2019re bombarded with, somebody, please, make a big deal out of this,\u201d Doan recalled thinking. \u201cPeople always are so quick to point out the things that separate us, and realistically there isn\u2019t much.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou hoped that people understood how special it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amid cross-border tensions that have included U.S. tariffs and rhetoric mocking Canada\u2019s sovereignty, what happened in Buffalo was rejuvenating.<\/p>\n
The eager audience took over from the third line, which begins \u201cTrue patriot love,\u201d as Clune\u2019s microphone cut in and out. She continued to sing until the end, although the mic mostly went silent around the first \u201cWe stand on guard for thee.\u201d Seemingly aware of the significance, the fans\u2019 chorus grew louder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe response from the crowd brought me to silent tears,\u201d said Seymour Knox IV, watching from his usual perch. \u201cI think it was one of the highlights in the 30 years of the arena.\u201d<\/p>\n
Knox\u2019s father and uncle, Seymour Knox III and Northrup Knox, co-founded the Sabres in 1970. They chose to spell it that way to conform to the Old English style used in Canada. The Knoxes also wanted both national anthems played before every home game \u2014 even if the opponent was a U.S. team \u2014 to honor Canadian players and fans.<\/p>\n
Fifty-five years later, Sabres fans know the words to \u201cO Canada\u201d almost as easily as \u201cHappy Birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n
What added to the gravitas Tuesday night was that it raised the bar on what national anthems should be. Recent geopolitical turbulence has caused fans to react boorishly. At last year\u2019s 4 Nations Face-Off, fans in Montreal booed \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner,\u201d<\/a> causing fans in Boston to boo \u201cO Canada\u201d in response.<\/p>\n But not in Buffalo, known as \u201cThe City of Good Neighbors.\u201d Besides, it\u2019s practically a Toronto suburb, with Canadian television and radio stations penetrating the airwaves. Labatt Blue is considered a domestic beer. Tim Hortons is as common as McDonald\u2019s.<\/p>\n \u201cThe beauty of what happened is that it was completely spontaneous and was all about helping somebody out,\u201d said Buffalo State history and social sciences education chair Andrew Nicholls. The Midland, Ont., native teaches British, Canadian and European history.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving lived here for 30 years, this is kind of the equivalent of 19,000 people pulling over in a snowstorm to help somebody whose car is stuck in a snowbank. That\u2019s just what people here do.\u201d<\/p>\n Nobody should assume Canadians comprised a disproportionate share of the singers.<\/p>\n