{"id":820,"date":"2026-05-23T12:34:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T12:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=820"},"modified":"2026-05-23T12:34:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T12:34:40","slug":"national-anthems-bilingual-twist-at-canes-stanley-cup-game-draws-mercis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=820","title":{"rendered":"National anthem\u2019s bilingual twist at Canes Stanley Cup game draws \u2018mercis\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Mason Greer doesn\u2019t speak French.<\/p>\n

Not a lick, he says.<\/p>\n

He has an ounce or two of French lineage from distant relatives on his mom\u2019s side. French classes were mandatory at St. Ann\u2019s Catholic Elementary School in Ancaster, Ontario, but he forgot every bit \u2014 except for \u201cmerci\u201d and \u201cbonjour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Which ‘Off Campus’ Stars Originally Auditioned for Different Book Roles?<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet every time the Montreal Canadiens, hailing from Canada\u2019s Francophone province of Quebec, come to play the Carolina Hurricanes, Greer sings the Canadian national anthem partly in English and French. He continued the tradition Thursday before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Hurricanes and Canadiens.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just felt, since I had known it from past events that I had done, I figured it would be nice to just add that touch to pay respects,\u201d Greer said.<\/p>\n

Greer\u2019s performance of \u201cO Canada\u201d went viral on social media, garnering many a \u201cmerci beaucoup\u201d from Canadiens fans and Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois alike.<\/p>\n

One fan posted on a Hurricanes subreddit<\/a> \u2014 a Reddit page focused on a specific interest \u2014 telling Greer he \u201cdidnt [sic] have to, but you did. Thank you, from a habs fans [sic].\u201d<\/p>\n

As a teenager growing up in the Canadian town of Ancaster, not far from Toronto, Greer performed the anthem at five Toronto Maple Leafs games between 2015 and 2016. The big local paper, the Toronto Star, anointed him as a \u201cfan favorite\u201d<\/a> in April 2016.<\/p>\n

Not long after, Greer and his family moved to North Carolina and quickly became Hurricanes fans. Around 2018, his mother suggested he send the team his resume and clips of his national anthem renditions. Maybe the Canes would call him back.<\/p>\n

The Canes called him back. No further tests necessary \u2014 the team would see him again when he sang against the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 18, 2018.<\/p>\n

Performing at his first Canes game was a pleasant surprise for Greer. For one, the mic feedback at the then-Air Canada Centre meant a half-second delay between when he sang and when he could hear himself.<\/p>\n

And another positive: the fans. Maple Leafs fans had said lovely things to him, but even so, the atmosphere was so serious \u2014 a \u201cpowerhouse,\u201d Greer said. He compared it to college sports in the Triangle. At Canes games, it felt more like family.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt more like a tight-knit community, because you see all the same faces all the time going to these games, and I saw that pretty quick,\u201d Greer said.<\/p>\n

Read more Woman accused of shooting attorneys at Raleigh courthouse has history of lawsuits<\/a><\/p>\n

Greer said it was his idea \u2014 and the Canes gave him the thumbs up \u2014 to sing the anthem partly in French whenever the Canadiens and Ottawa Senators (Ottawa borders Quebec) come to town.<\/p>\n

For other Canadian teams, Greer said he sings the anthem in all English to avoid sparking the flames of rivalry. When the Canadiens played Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Tampa Bay Lightning on May 3, Habs fans felt so strongly about the Canadian anthem\u2019s rendition they theorized their Florida opponents were playing mind games, MarkerZone.com reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Greer didn\u2019t hear about the controversy until after his Thursday performance. But he\u2019s more charitable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe anthem gig is a very difficult thing to do, especially with all that kind of attention,\u201d Greer said. \u201cEspecially when you\u2019re singing an anthem from a country that you don\u2019t reside [in].\u201d<\/p>\n

Greer would know. Back when he lived in Canada, he once had to learn the Swedish, Finnish and Czech anthems to perform at the World Ringette Championships<\/a> near Mississauga. When he did classical training, it helped to learn songs in different languages from teachers who insisted on precise pronunciation.<\/p>\n

And he does his homework.<\/p>\n

Ahead of Thursday\u2019s performance, Greer felt his pronunciations needed to be tighter, so he watched the man who performed the Canadian anthem before the Canadiens played the Buffalo Sabres in Game 6 of Eastern Conference Semifinals. Beyond that, Greer said his pregame routine is nothing special.<\/p>\n

He gets the same gameday haircut: a buzz fade with an undercut trim. While he\u2019s driving from Greensboro to Raleigh, he sings to the tunes in his library to get his voice warmed up. He arrives at the Lenovo Center two hours early.<\/p>\n

A sound check 15 minutes later, and then he waits, greets stadium workers and takes the moment in \u2014 he\u2019s a fan like everyone else, after all, Greer said. Twenty minutes before the game starts, he\u2019s down on the ice.<\/p>\n

Greer said he doesn\u2019t quite have the vocal aerobics of the Canes\u2019 American anthem singer, Adam Lee Decker. But Greer likes to keep it simple and allow the crowd to interact with the anthem.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only are you paying respect to your opponents or your own anthem, but also, it\u2019s not just me performing,\u201d Greer said. \u201cIt\u2019s also the crowd \u2014 the crowd\u2019s paying respect, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Justin Gainey adds two NC locals to upcoming roster. Who\u2019s joining the Pack<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mason Greer, an Ancaster-born Hurricanes fan, sang the Canadian anthem partly in French at the Lenovo Center before Game 1, earning praise from Canadiens fans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nNational anthem\u2019s bilingual twist at Canes Stanley Cup game draws \u2018mercis\u2019 - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=820\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"National anthem\u2019s bilingual twist at Canes Stanley Cup game draws \u2018mercis\u2019 - 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