Stupid, pointless, classless thing to do.  They can’t possibly be inebriated this early, so that isn’t even available as an excuse.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 04/15/07 at 05:33 PM ET

Lack of class aside: do the moron fans in Pittsburgh think their team has no Canadians? Wonder how Crosby felt about the booing?

Posted by Mike from DC on 04/15/07 at 05:48 PM ET

That makes me sick to my stomach.  Get some class Pens fans.

Posted by Bethany on 04/15/07 at 05:55 PM ET

Heard this through a community I frequent, but Dean Brown of Senators’ play-by-play fame made the speculation that perhaps they were booing the Ottawa Senators graphics and pictures on the jumbotron which popped up during O, Canada, and not O, Canada itself.

Take that as you will.  I’m about as scathing of an anthem-booing critic as the next person, but it’s worth considering.

Posted by Michael from Columbus, OH on 04/15/07 at 06:06 PM ET

That good to know Michael.  I would imagine the booing was more directed at the team than the Anthem itself.
Just better to avoid any of that type of controversy in the future.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 04/15/07 at 06:14 PM ET

Otherwise we’d have to remind them where their star is from, and oh, the owner, and the goalie and Staal, and on and on and on…  Maybe the game they’re excited to see? 

I mean, when I was a kid I thought I WAS Canadian because hockey was my favorite sport.  This was in the days when most players came from Canada, so all the guys I loved to watch were Canadians.  Kids do like to emulate their favorite players—so in my heart, I was Canadian. 

Posted by snafu on 04/15/07 at 06:22 PM ET

It seems that every time there’s a playoff series between a US and a Canadian team, one anthem or the other gets booed. There was a big to do about this last year in one of the Edmonton series, and I remember finding stories about the same thing (sometimes an American arena booing O Canada and sometimes a Canadian arena booing The Star Spangled Banner) for a number of years in the past. The Pittsburgh fans aren’t at all egregious in this respect. In a quick google, I saw references to Detroit fans booing O Canada before an NBA playoff game against the Raptors, San Jose fans doing so before a game against the Oilers, Islanders fans doing so before a game against the Leafs, and Canucks fans booing the Star Spangled Banner before a playoff game against the Red Wings. I’m sure this isn’t an exhaustive list. That doesn’t make it right, of course, but, like I said, there’s nothing special about Pens fans.

Posted by alice on 04/15/07 at 06:27 PM ET

Penguins fans should be EMBRASSED and this the same team that has “Greatest Fans in Hockey!” printed on center ice

Posted by FlyersFan on 04/15/07 at 06:48 PM ET

Penguins fans should be EMBARASSED and this the same team that has “Greatest Fans in Hockey!” printed on center ice

  Thats exactly how I see it FlyersFan

Posted by Tony from Mid-Michigan on 04/15/07 at 08:27 PM ET

It only takes a few jerks to ruin things for everyone.  Keep that in mind before you condemn all Pens fans. 

To the jerks, cut it out.  No one needs this kind of garbage.

Posted by Tapeleg on 04/15/07 at 10:51 PM ET

Not many fans were doing it just a few jerks like in every American and Canadian city ,  I am going tomorrow and I’m sure the vast majority will be very respectful

Posted by dennyfrompitt from McKees Rocks, PA on 04/16/07 at 05:28 PM ET