National anthem’s bilingual twist at Canes Stanley Cup game draws ‘mercis’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Mason Greer sang the Canadian national anthem partly in English and French before Game 1.
- Greer has sung national anthems for NHL teams including the Maple Leafs and Hurricanes.
- Greer’s bilingual anthem rendition went viral and earned praise from Canadiens fans.
Mason Greer doesn’t speak French.
Not a lick, he says.
He has an ounce or two of French lineage from distant relatives on his mom’s side. French classes were mandatory at St. Ann’s Catholic Elementary School in Ancaster, Ontario, but he forgot every bit — except for “merci” and “bonjour.”
Yet every time the Montreal Canadiens, hailing from Canada’s 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.
“I 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,” Greer said.
Greer’s performance of “O Canada” went viral on social media, garnering many a “merci beaucoup” from Canadiens fans and Québécois alike.
One fan posted on a Hurricanes subreddit — a Reddit page focused on a specific interest — telling Greer he “didnt [sic] have to, but you did. Thank you, from a habs fans [sic].”
Greer isn’t new to the spotlight
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 “fan favorite” in April 2016.
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.
The Canes called him back. No further tests necessary — the team would see him again when he sang against the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 18, 2018.
Performing at his first Canes game was a pleasant surprise for Greer. For starters, no mic delay at the then-PNC Arena. Back in Toronto, the mic feedback at the then-Air Canada Centre meant a half-second delay between when he sang and when he could hear himself.
And another positive: the fans. Maple Leafs fans had said lovely things to him, but even so, the atmosphere was so serious — a “powerhouse,” Greer said. He compared it to college sports in the Triangle. At Canes games, it felt more like family.
“It 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,” Greer said.
How Greer approaches the Canadian anthem
Greer said it was his idea — and the Canes gave him the thumbs up — to sing the anthem partly in French whenever the Canadiens and Ottawa Senators (Ottawa borders Quebec) come to town.
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’s rendition they theorized their Florida opponents were playing mind games, MarkerZone.com reported.
Greer didn’t hear about the controversy until after his Thursday performance. But he’s more charitable.
“The anthem gig is a very difficult thing to do, especially with all that kind of attention,” Greer said. “Especially when you’re singing an anthem from a country that you don’t reside [in].”
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 near Mississauga. When he did classical training, it helped to learn songs in different languages from teachers who insisted on precise pronunciation.
And he does his homework.
Ahead of Thursday’s 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.
He gets the same gameday haircut: a buzz fade with an undercut trim. While he’s 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.
A sound check 15 minutes later, and then he waits, greets stadium workers and takes the moment in — he’s a fan like everyone else, after all, Greer said. Twenty minutes before the game starts, he’s down on the ice.
Greer said he doesn’t quite have the vocal aerobics of the Canes’ American anthem singer, Adam Lee Decker. But Greer likes to keep it simple and allow the crowd to interact with the anthem.
“Not only are you paying respect to your opponents or your own anthem, but also, it’s not just me performing,” Greer said. “It’s also the crowd — the crowd’s paying respect, too.”
This story was originally published May 23, 2026 at 7:00 AM.
.jpg)