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          Singer Celine Dion involved in near hockey feud with Vegas Golden Knights and Montreal Canadiens

          • Jeremy Willis, ESPN.comJun 25, 2021, 09:39 PM

          Celine Dion is a pop music legend. The Grammy winner is also an icon in her native Canada. However, this week she found herself in a feud between her home country and its southern neighbor (the United States). It was over hockey, of course.

          During Game 5 of the Stanley Cup semifinals between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Montreal Canadiens, an image of Dion in Knights gear appeared on the video board at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Dion had also been photographed wearing a Knights jersey during a performance. That did not sit well in Canada. The Montreal Gazette called her a traitor for choosing sides against the Habs.

          Now, Dion is from Charlemagne, Quebec, about 15 miles northeast of Montreal. So, despite playing multiple residencies in Las Vegas and living in Henderson, Nevada, it would be quite a thing for her to turn her back on her hometown team. Dion then went into damage control. While celebrating Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, Dion seemed to address the photo.

          "By the way, I have nothing to do with this photo ... and you know what photo I'm talking about," Dion said in French.

          Dion's team told Noovo, a Canadian TV channel, that it was not contacted by the Golden Knights about the image. "Hockey Night in Canada," the CBC's premier hockey broadcast, then came to Dion's defense.

          However, a little photoshopping was not enough to get the Knights to the Stanley Cup Final. The Canadiens won Game 6 in Montreal and returned to the finals for the first time since winning the cup in 1993.