Anaheim Ducks' Trevor Zegras (11) and Vancouver Canucks' Conor Garland (8) fight during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, B.C., March 5. The Canadian Press via AP-Yonhap

"Elbows up." The phrase conjures images of hockey violence, gloves dropped, teeth knocked out.

When Canadians booed the U.S. national anthem at the start of a hockey game, in direct response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff provocations, it seemed surreal and a bit childish — but oh so cathartic. Sports can hardly reflect the complexities of the real world, and what happens on the ice is no substitute for diplomacy or conflict.

But it certainly sent a message when Canada, a liberal democracy beleaguered with economic and territorial threats, went on to trounce that Goliath on their own soil in the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. That victory over a global superpower, one apparently in the throes of a technofascist coup d'etat, is a message that I hope Americans received and understood properly in context.

During last year's election cycle, many Americans insisted the world was laughing at them under the doddering leadership of Joe Biden, and no amount of non-Americans could convince them the reality was exactly the opposite. Their claims later evolved to say that with Trump's return to power — claims that, mind you, came years after the failed violent coup of........

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