BOSTON >> The U.S. and Canadian hockey teams tried to skate back the geopolitical tension that has infiltrated the 4 Nations Face-Off as they looked ahead to the championship game tonight for what has turned into one of the best international hockey tournaments in decades.

Setting aside the animosity that has been building over tariff talks, anthems and annexation, the players and coaches said they wanted to leave their fans with an appreciation for the game like the one they picked up from iconic events like the United States’ “Miracle on Ice” victory over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics.

“That event in USA Hockey inspired a generation of players: my generation,” said U.S. coach Mike Sullivan, who was 11 when the Americans won the gold medal in Lake Placid.

“I think this group that we have in our dressing room have an opportunity to do that and inspire the next generation. And I think they recognize that,” said Sullivan.

After sitting out the last two Winter Olympics, the NHL’s best returned to international play this month for a tournament that replaced the league’s All-Star Game, a midseason exhibition that mattered little and was treated by the players as such.

Instead, the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden all sent their stars. And something happened once they started playing for their countries: The hockey has been historic, especially the fight-filled round-robin matchup between the North Americans on Saturday that was the most-watched non-Stanley Cup Final game in a decade.

“Anybody that thought they were going to come in here and see an All-Star Game was sorely, sorely mistaken. This has been anything but,” Canada coach Jon Cooper said Wednesday. “It’s been all-stars, but it’s not been an All-Star Game.”

Add in the cross-border tension following President Donald Trump’s tariff war and his calls for Canada to be made the 51st state, and the tournament has much of the flavor of the Cold War meeting with the Soviets in Lake Placid.

Canadian fans loudly booed the U.S. national anthem Saturday night in Montreal. in Boston on Monday, when the TD Garden public address announcer called for respect, the payback for “O Canada” was tepid; instead, the Americans belted out “The Star-Spangled Banner” at full throat.

“All that stuff — throw it all out the window. It’s one game here, and one game for everything,” U.S. forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “Our team’s helped grow the game here in this country already. And I think a win can just knock that door right down and open up a whole new wave of hockey players throughout the whole country.”