Mason Greer draws praise after bilingual anthem at Hurricanes De La Caroline

Mason Greer sang hurricanes de la caroline before the Canadiens-Hurricanes game in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday night, and the bilingual version of O Canada quickly drew praise. By Friday at noon, Greer said the response had left him surprised and honoured.

“The last 12 hours have been crazy” and “very intense,” Greer said by phone, describing the reaction after he sang a few words in French. He added that “People have written me messages directly in French, but I don’t speak a word of French,” and said he answers with “Merci beaucoup.”

Raleigh anthem and online reaction

Greer performed before a crowd at the start of the game in Raleigh, where he said the atmosphere felt unlike anything he had heard in more than a decade of singing national anthems in sports stadiums. “It feels like our eardrums are like exploding speakers, and I think that, given the emotions around it, the intensity, the meaning of the moment … It takes your breath away,” he said.

Several Internet users congratulated Greer and thanked him for thinking to sing a few words in French. He said his name appeared in the trends of the moment on some social networks, adding a layer of attention that extended well beyond the arena.

Greer’s Hurricanes history

The performance also stood out because O Canada is usually sung in English only at NHL games outside Montreal and Ottawa. Greer has been singing the national anthem at the Hurricanes’ home when visiting Canadian teams since 2018, and he lived in the Toronto area until he was a teenager before moving to Carolina.

That background helped explain why the bilingual version landed so differently in Raleigh. Greer brought experience, but the French phrases still made the moment unusual for a game in the southern United States.

Jarvis scores after 30 seconds

The on-ice action moved quickly after the anthem. Seth Jarvis scored after 30 seconds to make it 1-0 for the home side, and Cole Caufield, Phillip Danault, Alexandre Texier, Ivan Demidov and Juraj Slafkovsky later helped dampen the enthusiasm of the spectators.

Greer’s experience now sits at the intersection of sport and online reaction: a familiar anthem singer for Hurricanes home dates, a rare bilingual performance, and a flood of messages in French from people he has never met.