When the mic went out during the singing of O Canada on Tuesday, Detroit hockey fans didn’t waste a moment jumping in and lending their voices.
Karen Newman, the longtime Detroit Red Wings anthem singer, was belting Canada’s national anthem before the team’s game against the Montréal Canadiens when her microphone stopped working.
Instead of waiting in awkward silence, hockey fans inside Little Caesars Arena that night helped her out by singing along.
The NHL shared a video of the moment to their Twitter account, writing: “The mic went out, but the @DetroitRedWings crowd sang the Canadian national anthem as loud as they could.”
In a sea of bad news, it seems the internet is grasping onto this unifying moment.
“Every Wings fan knows O’ Canada,” one social media user wrote. “You can’t grow up around here and not know it. I’m proud of our fans but at the same time I expected nothing less.”
Another commented: “This is why hockey fans are the best! Whether you’re neighbours to the North or neighbours to the South, we unite for a great sport… Until the puck drops!”
“How great is that. I am a Canadian and a 71-year-old life-long Wings fan,” another person tweeted. “I couldn’t be prouder of our Red Wing fans for doing this and so appreciative as a Canadian to have Americans sing our national anthem with such feeling. Well done and thank you.”
Though the Red Wings took home the win that night, their fans’ generosity in helping out Newman seems to be the real prize.
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