NHL insider rips into Donald Trump for "attacking the sovereignty of Canada" ahead of 4 Nations final against USA

The 4 Nations final between Canada and the US goes down on Thursday night in one of the most highly anticipated sporting events we've ever seen. The rival countries have been making headlines on and off the ice in recent weeks, and that's continued in the lead-up to the championship game.

Donald Trump, the President of the United States mentioned he was going to call Team USA on Thursday morning, wishing them good luck and giving his support ahead of the game. Trump has also made comments about wanting to make Canada the 51st American state and mentioned it once again in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday.

Daily Faceoff NHL insider Frank Seravalii shared his thoughts and disappointment about the entire political situation involving Canada, the USA, and Donald Trump:

"That's a pretty normal thing ahead of a game like this, but the fact that the antagonistic and incendiary commentary has continued ahead of a game like this. I mentioned earlier that the NHL, and I think also the NHLPA, were really uncomfortable with being caught up in this political vortex.

"They were squeamish in fact, it's now heightened this game and the intensity to another level, so they should be thankful. But then you have a game like today, instead of it just being about hockey, the idea that the President has now gone back to attacking the sovereignty of Canada is totally uncalled for. And so that part is really disappointing," Seravalli said (22:20).

Seravalli continued, explaining how he wanted to keep hockey about hockey:

"Let's make it just about the hockey. Let's like, why is it so hard to send a tweet or place a call that just, let's go USA? Yeah? Like, you know, whatever. But he can't help himself. And so that's added yet another layer to this that has taken this game from what was already at volume 11 to 14.

"Because any proud Canadian, like I've said this and made this point before, if another country's President was talking about annexing my country, I'd be doing a lot more than booing," Seravalli added.

Frank Seravalli is certainly right that Donald Trump's comments have turned the volume up a whole other level ahead of the 4 Nations final.

4 Nations Face-Off has been exactly what the NHL had dreamed of

Many were skeptical and quite frankly not looking forward to the 4 Nations Face-Off. It was widely viewed as a glorified NHL all-star game, with many of the league's best players not even participating in the event.

However, the players have shown from the very first drop of the puck that they're all in on representing their countries. Every single game has been fast, physical, and intense, which has captured the attention of fans. The ratings for Saturday night's Canada-US rivalry game drew 4.4 million viewers, which is the most viewed non-Stanley Cup Final hockey game since 2019.

It's safe to say Thursday night's 4 Nations championship game should draw an even larger audience than Saturday night's wild affair in Montreal.

The biggest hockey game in a long time goes down on Thursday night between Team Canada and Team USA. The puck drops at 8 p.m. EST at TD Garden in Boston so be sure to tune in for what projects to be a must-see 4 Nations final.