Maple Leafs Fans Sing U.S. National Anthem After Singer’s Mike Stops Working

A classy move by our neighbors to the north.
Maple Leafs Fans Sing U.S. National Anthem After Singer’s Mike Stops Working
Maple Leafs Fans Sing U.S. National Anthem After Singer’s Mike Stops Working /
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Monday night’s Maple Leafs game gave us a sight you don’t often see: thousands of Canadians loudly singing the United States’ national anthem. 

Before Toronto’s game against the Sabres, singer Natalie Morris’s microphone malfunctioned. Morris was handed a second mic but that one was also on the fritz, leaving the arena in an awkward silence as she sung into a microphone that was not properly connected to the sound system. 

But that’s when Leafs fans jumped in to pick up the slack, joining in unison to sing the anthem of their neighbors to the south. 

Here’s what it sounded like to people inside the arena. 

It’s pretty impressive that so many fans knew the words to another country’s national anthem. How many American fans would have been able to return the favor if the audio glitch occurred on this side of the border? And this isn’t even the first time that Maple Leafs fans have come together to finish the American anthem after a technological mishap. Back in 2015, Toronto fans jumped in instantaneously when the anthem singer’s microphone cut out during “The Star Spangled Banner.”


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Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).