National Anthem Singer Improvises ‘O Canada’ at NHL Game After Forgetting the Words Mid-Song

Tuesday provided sports fans with another botched national anthem when the singer at the Buffalo Sabres game forgot the words to “O Canada.”

The singer, whose name is Christian Kramer, did just fine for the first few lines of the anthem. About halfway through, however, things suddenly took an unexpected turn.

Kramer was supposed to say, “From far and wide, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.” Instead, what came out was “O Canada, we stand arise. We stand on guard for thee.”

Unfortunately for Kramer, the Sabres are the only U.S. team in the NHL that does the Canadian anthem in addition to the American one because of the city’s proximity to the U.S.-Canadian border. Because of this, many fans in the crowd immediately noticed the error.

As the anthem was being sung, the broadcast showed various shots of the crowd and players. When Kramer made his mistake, a section of fans could be seen visibly confused by what they just heard. A man holding a child had a puzzled expression on his face before turning to the child and saying something, likely letting the child know what just happened. To their right, another fan turned and looked away from the big screen and looked similarly confused. Behind him, another fan turned to his friend and simply shook his head in disappointment.

The slip-up was only a brief one and Kramer finished the anthem without any other issues.

Watch above via NESN.