I thought I would make a few comments on the subject.
 
Being a History Teacher, it is my understanding that Francis Scott Key
wrote the poem "The Star Spangled Banner."  The music comes from a British
Pub drinking song.
 
While I was enrolled at Bemidji, someone brought up the point of why "Oh
Canada" wasn't played before games.  It was stated that they were an
American institution and the Banner was the only one that had to be played.
 Also, if they did play the Canadian Anthem, they would have to play the
anthem of all the countries of all the foreign students enrolled at BSU.
 
In the NHL, the cities only play the other country's anthem when a team
from that country is visiting.  If two Canadian teams are playing, only the
Canadian anthem gets played and the same is true with the American teams.
 
Just some useless info:
Troy Mills
 
Bemidji State (96)
NAIA Hockey Champs:  1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1979, 1980
NCAA III Hockey Champs:  1986
NCAA II Hockey Champs:  1984, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997
NCAA I Hockey Champs:  ????
 
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