Hockey fans conflicted over travelling to U.S. to see their teams in NHL playoffs

Montreal Canadiens fans sit in the stands ahead Ivan Demidov's NHL debut against the Chicago Blackhawks in Montreal, Monday, April 14, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Jack Gurevitch is a Montreal Canadiens superfan and a proud Canadian who’s upset by United States President Donald Trump’s tariffs and threats to annex Canada, but he says he won’t let the political situation influence whether he travels to U.S. cities to support his team in the playoffs.

Not everyone in his family agrees.

“In anticipation of this call, I shared with my sister my opinion, and she went, ‘Absolutely not. Do not go. Do not go into the United States during this time. It’s not being patriotic. It’s not being a good Canadian,’” Gurevitch said in a phone interview.

“I just kind of disagree with her.”

Five Canadian teams — Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Edmonton — have made the NHL playoffs this year, and the Canadiens are set to face off in Round 1 against the Capitals in Washington on Monday night.

Gurevitch often travels to the U.S. to watch hockey or baseball, and while it’s still just the start of the playoffs, he says he may travel south to cheer in person if he’s able.

“I’d love the experience of going into Washington and chatting with the fans there and just building that bond and feeding off it and having pleasant banter. It’s fun. That’s what it’s all about — connecting with people and enjoying the sport,” Gurevitch said.

“And of course, having the Habs win another Cup, that would be nice.”

But Sunil Peetush, another Canadiens devotee who has a “Habs cave” in his home and has already been to the U.S. this year to see regular season games, has been having second thoughts about American travel after his family’s recent cruise that departed New Jersey last month.

“We just didn’t feel right as Canadians. We felt like we were betraying our country,” Peetush said, noting that going to Washington, the centre of U.S. government, would feel even worse.

“We have a cruise booked in August and it’s going to Alaska, and we haven’t really decided whether we’re going to do it or not.”

The U.S. political situation has already cast a shadow over professional sports in Canada. American sports teams have endured boos during their national anthem in Canada over the past two months, and even Wayne Gretzky has been the subject of a debate over his loyalty to his native Canada due to his ties to Trump.

British Columbia Premier David Eby, reacting to a California campaign to re-engage Canadian tourists, said last week that Canadians need to “keep the pressure up” on the U.S. by buying local and avoiding travel there.

In Alberta, Edmonton Oilers fan Jasen Reboh says he’s a patriotic Canadian but doesn’t think that would stop him from going to a U.S. game if his team advances.

Reboh, a season-ticket holder who went stateside to watch three of the Oilers Stanley Cup matchups against the Florida Panthers in-person last year, rejects the argument that he should avoid the country in order to exert economic pressure.

“There’s a lot of stuff that’s currently happening in our country that I don’t have a lot of control over, so if I was picking and choosing who deserves my money and who doesn’t, I think that’s a slippery slope,” Reboh said, noting he thinks stories about Canadians being hassled at the U.S. border have been blown out of proportion.

Thirty-five-year-old Canadian actress and entrepreneur Jasmine Mooney was held in detention for 12 days last month after reapplying for a work visa at the American border in San Diego and then banned from the U.S. for five years.

“If I saw value in a vacation for my family or to go there for something that I needed to go there for, I’m going to keep living my life the way I should,” said Reboh, who noted he knows the economic ramifications of Trump’s tariffs.

Gurevitch, meanwhile, when defending his belief that U.S. travel is OK, argued hockey unites people.

“There’s a lot of bad in the world these days and if I had an opportunity to just enjoy the team and enjoy that playoff run, then yeah,” he said.

Peetush, despite his own reluctance, said he wouldn’t discourage other Canadian fans from heading south to cheer on their teams.

He also said he will be there if the Canadiens make it to Game 7 of a final series against another Canadian team.

“Absolutely, 100 per cent, I’ll be there,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2025.

Rob Drinkwater, The Canadian Press