No More Mr. Nice Guy. In Fighting Trump, Canada Presents ‘Mr. Elbows’

In Canada’s escalating feud with the U.S., people here are rallying around the sharp elbows of hockey legend Gordie Howe. Another hockey icon, Wayne Gretzky, is getting an ice-cold shoulder.

Raised during the Great Depression on a farm in the Canadian prairies, “Mr. Hockey,” as Howe was known, was quick to throw his elbows up and into an opponent’s chin when confronted on the ice. It was so brutally effective that the right-winger for the Detroit Red Wings earned another nickname: “Mr. Elbows.”