This Gold Medal Match Is About Far More Than Hockey

Written By Mike Kimelman, Posted on February 25, 2026

Via Michael Kimelman at Sovereign Sunday Substack 

To My Canadian Friends,

I write to you today not as a rival from south of the border, but as a neighbor who’s watched your great nation with admiration, envy, and now, growing concern. We’ve shared borders, battles, and barbecues for generations. Our histories are intertwined like the roots of ancient pines along the Great Lakes. But let’s cut to the chase: I’m hoping your hockey team loses today. Yes, in this gold medal showdown, I’m pulling for the upset, the heartbreak, the collective gasp that echoes from Vancouver to Halifax. Not out of spite, mind you, but out of love. Because sometimes, the kindest thing you can do for a friend is to let them hit the ice hard and realize it’s time to lace up differently.

Hear me out before you toss this letter into the snow. Canada, my dear companions in the Great White North, you’re teetering on the edge of something profound, a precipice that looks suspiciously like the failed states we’ve all read about in history books. Your economy? It’s been idling in neutral for three decades, a once-roaring engine now sputtering on fumes. Per capita GDP has flatlined while the rest of the world surges ahead, leaving your youth, those bright-eyed dreamers, with a staggering 14.6% unemployment rate, the highest since the dark days of 2010. And that’s not just numbers on a spreadsheet; that’s futures stalled, ambitions curtailed, all while resource-rich provinces like Alberta watch their potential bottled up by bureaucratic red tape that chokes pipelines and prosperity alike.

Then there’s the political capture, that insidious drift toward woke progressivism that’s turned your halls of power into echo chambers of identity over ingenuity. It’s not just policy; it’s a cultural siege. Your population has been fundamentally reshaped by a mass influx of immigrants, Muslims, Indians, and others, without the assimilation that once wove newcomers into the fabric of your society. Downtown Ottawa, that bastion of maple-leaf pride, now feels like a stroll through the Middle East, with more veiled women than unveiled, Palestinian flags fluttering like autumn leaves, and rallies that simmer with unbridled tension. Immigration without integration isn’t progress; it’s invasion by another name. And with 26.5% of your population now first-generation arrivals, the very soul of Canada, the rugged individualism, the quiet resilience, the “eh?” at the end of every quip, is being diluted, drop by demographic drop.

Morally? The slide is steeper than a black diamond run. You’ve let the left’s embrace of woke ideology erode the values that made you strong: family, freedom, fortitude. Your vaunted universal healthcare, that envy of the world, now means waiting six months for a doctor’s nod while the truly affluent hop the border to American clinics or shell out for private care. And euthanasia? Legalized, normalized, even encouraged for the depressed, the disabled, the despairing. It’s a compassionate mask on a grim reaper, a societal shortcut that whispers surrender instead of support.

Meanwhile, in Alberta, the secession whispers have turned to shouts. Lines stretch around blocks as fed-up folks petition for independence, eyeing the U.S. as a natural ally. Even our Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, sees it: Alberta’s wealth of natural resources makes it a perfect partner, perhaps even a future star on our flag. They’re not alone in their frustration; across your provinces, a groundswell is building against the authoritarian creep, the gun bans, the child-transing zeal, the cozying up to China, that’s turning your democracy into a manic episode of control and collapse.

It’s like watching a friend spiral into addiction, clinging to that last high while everything else crumbles. And here’s where hockey comes in, that glorious, frozen ritual that’s more than a game; it’s your national heartbeat. The Stanley Cup quests, the Olympic triumphs, the way a single goal can unite a country from coast to coast. It’s the last untainted thread of pride in a tapestry that’s fraying at the edges. A win today? It’d be a shot of adrenaline, a fleeting euphoria that papers over the cracks, letting you trudge through another couple of years of slow decay. You’d cheer, you’d chant, you’d forget, just long enough for the rot to deepen.

But a loss? Today is one of those rare times when a loss is actually a win.

Mike Kimelman

Michael Kimelman is a bestselling author, serial entrepreneur, and leading voice on disruptive innovation, antifragility, and financial sovereignty. A former M&A attorney with Sullivan & Cromwell and founder of a New York-based hedge fund, Michael now leads Dekryption Advisors, a strategic advisory and investment firm focused on digital assets, healthcare, and asymmetric opportunities across emerging sectors. With over 30 years of experience in global M&A, portfolio management, and private equity, Michael bridges Wall Street rigor with future-facing insight. He’s also a sought-after high-performance coach helping leaders unlock their full potential through radical frameworks that fuse ancient wisdom with cutting-edge neuroscience. Michael is the creator of Sovereign Sunday, a provocative Substack newsletter that challenges conventional wisdom and inspires a new class of independent thinkers to thrive in the age of disruption.