When they played “O Canada” for the second time, there were no American fans left in the arena to boo. Instead, the Canadian team stood at the blue line, arm in arm, player and coach, wearing their championship hats while the maple leaf flag was lowered behind the 4 Nations Face-Off trophy and the national anthem reverberated across

The result was the culmination of a midseason tournament that featured stars from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States — and a surprisingly political atmosphere.