A legendary Canadian ice hockey player renowned for his aggressive play has inspired the country’s emerging rallying cry of “elbows up” in its battle against US President Donald Trump.
Throwing an elbow — in your opponent’s face or ribs — is hardly rare in hockey, but the move is closely associated with Gordie Howe, one of the sport’s greatest players. Howe, known to many as “Mr Hockey,” was notorious for using his elbows to ward off opponents when battling for the puck.
“We’re a country that will be diplomatic when we can — but fight when we must: ‘Elbows up,’” outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said to a cheering crowd of Liberal Party supporters in his farewell address in Ottawa on Sunday.
Photo: AP
Rising to their feet, the crowd chanted “elbows up” in response.
The catchphrase had been gaining traction online and was propelled to a new level last weekend when Toronto-born comedian Mike Myers mouthed it during the closing credits of the US show Saturday Night Live.
Trudeau warned in his speech that Canada faced “an existential challenge” from Trump, who has repeatedly spoken about annexing the country and initiated trade tariffs that could devastate the Canadian economy.
A statue honoring Howe in his hometown of Floral, Saskatchewan, shows him on skates, holding a stick, with his left elbow pointed straight up.
“If a guy slashed me, I’d grab his stick, pull him up alongside me and elbow him in the head,” Howe, who died in 2016, once said.
Any country facing annexation from the world’s largest military power might want to be armed with more than pointed elbows, but in Canada hockey references can be unifying.
British Columbia Premier David Eby, whose government has banned the sale of alcohol from US “red states” that support Trump, offered an explanation for the phrase.
“‘Elbows up’ means the other team is trying to take advantage, and if they come at you, they’re going to feel it,” he said.
A crowd of about 1,000 anti-Trump protesters on Sunday met on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and chanted “Elbows up, Canada,” ahead of a Liberal Party meeting that culminated with former central banker Mark Carney being named as Trudeau’s successor.
TO THE TOP: After securing the international title on Saturday, Team Taiwan were to face Las Vegas to potentially win their 18th Little League World Series championship A team from Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School won the Little League Baseball World Series’ international title on Saturday by defeating Aruba 1-0 in the annual baseball tournament held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Taiwan team, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, were after press time last night to face a team from Las Vegas, Nevada, which beat a team from Fairfield, Connecticut, in the US championship 8-2. Taiwan are seeking to win their first Little League Baseball World Series title since 1996. “Really haven’t taken a moment to data dump right now on Taiwan,” Nevada manager T.J. Fescher said. “They’re a
‘CATASTROPHE’: Despite losing several key forwards in the summer transfer window, Bayern were up 3-0 in the first half before Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in the second Harry Kane hit a hat-trick, Michael Olise a double and newcomer Luis Diaz also scored as Bayern Munich made a “statement” against RB Leipzig 6-0 at home in the Bundesliga season opener on Friday. Bayern’s big-money arrivals, all brought in from the Premier League across the past three seasons, were dominant as the Bavarians begun their title defense in style. Olise scored twice in the first half, either side of a Diaz strike. Not to be outdone, Kane scored three goals in the second half — with two assists coming from Diaz, to bring Bayern’s total to 6-0. Kane told the Bundesliga
Marc Marquez continued his winning streak as he cruised to victory in the Hungarian GP sprint by two seconds on Saturday night to pad his championship lead. It was a seventh straight Sprint victory for the Spaniard, who has also won the last six longer Sunday grand prix races on his factory Ducati. Fabio Di Giannantonio, an Italian with the VR46 Ducati satellite team was a distant second at Balaton Park, followed by his team-mate and compatriot Franco Morbidelli third. Marquez, a six-time world champion, started the race from pole position. “I felt someone really close on the first corner, from there I
Russian Diana Shnaider continued her impressive winning streak in tour-level finals at the Monterrey Open on Saturday, beating compatriot Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the WTA 500 event’s final. Shnaider had little trouble in the opening set but struggled in a topsy-turvy second, as Alexandrova clinched the set’s fifth and decisive break at 5-4 to force a decider. Third-seed Shnaider carved out an advantage early on in the third set when she broke Alexandrova in the first game and held serve to go 2-0 up, an advantage she would not relinquish. World No. 12 Shnaider is now unbeaten in her last five
RSS