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A road trip for a group of U.S. peewee hockey players to a tournament in Montreal turned into a foray into enemy territory as the boys were barraged with anti-American insults and witnessed protesters trashing the American flag, reports the Globe and Mail.The paper said the 11- and 12-year-old boys from Brockton, Mass., had been looking forward to the trip, which soured soon after their "Coach USA" tour bus rolled into downtown Montreal on March 20.(2003)
Hundreds of college students were marching through the streets in an anti-war demonstration and seized upon the bus as a target for its anti-U.S. venom. Several demonstrators made obscene gestures toward the bus, and an American flag was dragged through the street.
"We felt horrible," Brockton Boxers coach Ernest Nadeau said. "How would you feel if the Canadian flag was dragged down the streets in the U.S.A.? This is a country that's supposed to be our ally," he told the paper.
At another demonstration, the Americans watched as a crowd cheered when a protester waved the Iraqi flag, and booed the U.S. flag. Next, the Stars and Stripes were doused with kerosene and ignited.
"It went up in a puff of smoke and flames, and the crowd went wild. They were all cheering," said parent Bill Carpenter.
"I said to my kids, 'These folks disagree with our government, not you personally,'" he told the paper. Carpenter's 24-year-old son is a U.S. Marine who was sent to retrieve bodies of Americans killed in the 2001 terrorist bombing of USS Cole in Yemen. He has canceled his family's planned summer vacation to Quebec.
At the Montreal Canadiens-New York Islanders game at the Montreal Bell Center that night, the U.S. national anthem was widely booed by the crowd, creating confusion for the visiting youngsters.
Parent David Cruise felt so uncomfortable that he left with his son after the first period.
"Whether you're for or against the war, we have guys over there dying," he said. "The next time, we'll stay in the States. I'm not going back there again."
The insults grew personal when the players hit the ice. During a game against the Beverly Bandits, a team from Beverly, Ont., the boys said their Canadian counterparts were verbally abusive during face-offs.
"They told us we s----, gave us the finger and said 'Down with the U.S.A.' or 'The U.S.A. s----," Nadeau said.
Making matters worse, the referee chimed in, "I agree with you," following one Canadian player's derogatory comment.
"It was a shock to go to a tournament and have kids saying this to us. These are our friends that are doing this," Nadeau said. "We didn't expect Canadian players - especially young boys - would take things to that extreme."
"We were very offended by the whole thing," said Carpenter. "I understand the opposition to the war. But we were made to feel unwelcome just about anywhere we went. ... As Americans, we felt in the past that Canada was our closest ally and friend. No one told us we were heading into unfriendly territory."
A Canadian father contacted WorldNetDaily after hearing about the story to "apologize on behalf of all decent Canadians."
"I want to express my regret that such a thing happened. I am a hockey dad and it made me see red when I read that story," George Wannan told WND. "The majority of non-French Canadians feel outraged that our French Canadian prime minister and his predominantly French Canadian cabinet have made all of us appear to be anti-American. That just isn't the truth - not at all."
Wannan emphasized that it was French Canadians who dished out the insults, "and they are French, after all," he said.
"God Bless America!" Wannan said in concluding his comments to WND. LINK