The 38th National Hockey League All-Star Game was held February 4th at the Hartford Civic Center…… which is the home to the Hartford Whalers…..as “O Canada“, the national anthem of Canada by an unknown singer prior to the start of the game. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony….when Calixa Lavallée composed the music….after which, words were written by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier…..with the original lyrics being in French….followed by an English translation published in 1906. Multiple English versions ensued….with Robert Stanley Weir’s version in 1908 gaining the most popularity….and eventually serving as the basis for the official lyrics enacted by Parliament…..whereas Weir’s lyrics have been revised three times….with the most recent being when An Act to amend the National Anthem Act was enacted in 2018…..while the French lyrics remain unaltered.
