Hockey fans are up in arms after a controversial performance of The Star-Spangled Banner before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers.
The anthem, sung by Adam David – the most recent winner of ‘The Voice’ – was panned for its length and its lack of clarity for the lyrics.
David appeared to mumble his way through the first verse of the song at Amerant Bank Arena in Florida – having a particularly troublesome time of getting through ‘at the twilight’s last gleaming’.
Not only that, but David appeared to drag out the song – as he crooned his rendition to last a whopping length of two minutes and eleven seconds.
According to entertainment site AudioPhix, the average length of the anthem sung at the Super Bowl is about 1 minute, 43 seconds long.
David, who just won Season 27 of NBC’s singing competition days ago, was lambasted on X, formerly Twitter, as fans were furious over his perceived butchery of the song.
Fans at Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs’ Eastern Conference Finals were irate on Saturday
Adam David was blasted for his lengthy and crooning anthem which lasted over two minutes
A native of South Florida, David recently won Season 27 of NBC’s The Voice
ESPN hockey writer Greg Wyshynski joked, ‘The military hero of the game is 100 years old. I think he’s now 102 after that anthem.’
One user remarked, ‘This guy should not sing the National Anthem ever again…way too slow and didn’t even sing “at the twilight’s last gleaming” but instead mumbled who knows what.’
‘#Panthers anthem singer might be having a stroke,’ remarked another user on the social media platform.
One fan wondered, ‘What was the name of the word-slurring inebriated dude who just “sang” the national anthem at the #CarolinavsFlorida hockey match?’
‘Terrible anthem in FLA ….dragged it onnnn and onnnn. Cmon it’s not about you dufus. I thought that 100 year old vet was gonna stop saluting and Hai Karate his a**. Winner of The Voice ugh,’ complained another.
‘Anthem singer in Florida just seemed to forget the words in front of a 100-year-old WW2 vet. Brutal,’ said Dylan Housman, Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Caller.
One fan questioned, ‘Sometimes I wonder if the anthem singers a[re] vetted because that was not the American anthem. Dude has a good voice but that was not how you do the anthem.’
Another fan sarcastically joked, ‘congratulations, canes fans!!! your dogs**t anthem singer SOMEHOW WASNT THE WORST.’
Social media was awash with criticism over David’s performance at the game
That’s in reference to fans complaints about the Hurricanes’ anthem singer from Game 2, who used a bit too much of his vocal range in his rendition.
All year long, the NHL in particular has been at the center of multiple national anthem controversies.
In Canada, the US anthem was booed repeatedly at NHL games nationwide as well as NBA games in Toronto. In turn, Americans booed the Canadian anthem in Nashville.
Those boos from Canadians were over a cultural and economic war waged on their country by President Trump – who threatened tariffs and turning the nation into the ’51st state’ repeatedly.
When the two nations met in the final of the ‘4 Nations Face-Off’, the singer of the Canadian anthem changed the lyrics on purpose and was panned for that as well.
The Panthers entered the night up two-games-to-none in the series, looking to take a dominant 3-0 lead in the conference finals.
