"Wokeism has no end" "Extremely disrespectful to all Canadians": NHL fans react to O' Canada in Punjabi at Jets vs Avalanche

Ahead of the Winnipeg Jets' clash against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, the NHL made history by featuring a beautiful rendition of O' Canada in Punjabi.

The Canadian national anthem was sung in Punjabi for the first time in league history, which left NHL fans divided. The featuring of O' Canada in Punjabi was part of the Jets' celebration of South Asian Heritage Night at their home in Canada Life Centre.

The beautiful rendition of the Canadian national anthem in Punjabi was performed by students from Amber Trails School kindergarten to grade 8 choir. Notably, this is also the first school in Manitoba to offer a bilingual English-Punjabi program.

Fans took to X, formerly Twitter, to give their reactions to O' Canada in Punjabi. One tweeted:

"I am of Punjabi background and can’t understand the need for this. Wokeism has no end."

Another chimed in:

"This is extremely disrespectful to all Canadians."

Here are some more reactions on X:

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This was not the first time O' Canada was used to honor other cultures

The singing of the Canadian national anthem during the Jets' clash against the Avalanche was not the first time it was used by the Jets to honor the people of other cultures.

In 2020, the Winnipeg Jets honored the Indigenous peoples' heritage by offering the Canadian national anthem in the Ojibway language, which was sung by a choir of kids.

Moreover, apart from the Jets, in 2022, another popular rendition of O' Canada was performed in Edmonton to celebrate the Ukrainian heritage and show solidarity with the people of the country following the outbreak of the war against Russia. The rendition of the anthem in Ukrainian was performed by locals.

As for the Canadian national anthem in Punjabi, hockey is quite popular among Punjabi-speaking Canadians. Notably, the NHL also featured Hockey Night in Canada in Punjabi, which featured play-by-play commentators and analysts speaking Punjabi.

Moreover, the Punjabi language is quite popular in Canada. As per Stats Canada, the language is the fourth-most spoken in the country with more than 500,000 people using it as their primary language.

Whatever your language and culture represent, the celebrations in the NHL are a testament to the welcoming nature of Canada to the people of different languages and cultures to its land.