Olympic hockey fans raise Greenland's flag during USA's dominant win over Denmark, sparking viral reaction
During Team USA's comeback men's hockey win over Denmark at the Winter Olympics, two fans raised the flag of Greenland in the stands to protest President Donald Trump's intent to acquire Greenland for the U.S.
The flag was raised enthusiastically after Denmark took an early lead. However, the U.S. came back to win the game 6-3.
Vita Kalniņa and her husband Alexander Kalniņš, fans of the Latvian hockey team who live in Germany, held up a large Greenland flag during warmups and again when the Danish team scored the opening goal of the preliminary round game against the U.S., which ultimately beat Denmark 6-3.
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"We are Europeans, and I think as Europeans we must hold together," Kalniņš told The Associated Press.
"The Greenlandic people decide what will happen with Greenland, but, as it is now, Greenland is a part of the Danish kingdom and, as Greenland is a part of Denmark, as in this case, we support both countries against the U.S."
A Danish fan at the game, Dennis Petersen, said, "It doesn’t matter whatever sport it is — it could be tennis, it could be bobsledding, it can be ice hockey, it could be football — it has nothing to do with politics. … They are athletes, not politicians."
An American fan at the game, Rem de Rohan, said, "I think this is the time for people to kind of put that down and compete country versus country and enjoy," he said. "We love rooting on every country that’s been here."
Fans on social media had their own reactions to the flag display and the result of the game.
"Now that the USA is up 4-2 could we place a wager that if the USA wins the game, Denmark gives up Greenland?" one fan wrote in response to the flag.
One fan wrote, "Team USA won, do we get Greenland now?"
Another fan similarly said, "How did that turn out? we won, we get greenland now."
Some American conservative influencers used the U.S. victory as a springboard to make viral jokes about annexing Greenland.
The comeback victory by the U.S. appeared uncertain early in the game.
After trailing 2-1 through the first period, the Americans dominated on offense to take a 6-3 victory over Denmark Saturday in the Milan Cortina Olympic Games.
The Americans scored three unanswered goals to open the second period, with 4 Nations hero Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators), Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights) and Noah Hanifin (Vegas Golden Knights) finding the back of the net.
Both sets of brothers on the team — Brady and Matthew Tkachuk and Jack and Quinn Hughes — each had a point in the contest. Fourteen players had points for the Americans with a different goal scorer each time the lamp was lit.
The Americans had 47 shots on goal compared to Denmark's 21.
The U.S. ends preliminary play Sunday with a game against Germany at 3:10 p.m. ET. The Americans will once again be heavy favorites, and a victory will put them into the knockout stage.
The Americans can also go right to the knockout stage with an overtime loss. With a regulation loss, their fate would be determined by Canada's game against France and point differentials with Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.
But as a heavy favorite against a German team with just eight NHL players, the U.S. may not need to worry.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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