U.S. President Barack Obama barely refrains from punching Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the face during Sunday's press conference.

Hours before the United States’ ice hockey team was to square off against powerhouse Canada, U.S. President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced in a joint press conference the losing nation would concede the proper spelling of defens(c)e.

“In the spirit of competition between our two great nations, we thought this would be an opportunity to bury the hatchet on one of our longest standing disputes,” Obama said. “I fully expect in a matter of hours that we will never have to see the letter ‘C’ at the end of defense — that’s with an ‘S’ — ever again.”

Though the agreement was cordial, Harper appeared to bristle as Obama proceeded to speak several alliterative sentences (including “She sells seashells by the seashore.”) to demonstrate what an ‘S’ sounds like.

“I’m glad we’ll finally be able to put this behind us,” Harper said. “It’s cement, not sement. It’s cycle not sycle. And after today we will rightfully take back the bastardization of defence once and for all.”

After learning of the wager, Team Canada star Sidney Crosby said he was thrilled.

“This is huge, there’s a lot of weight on our shoulders now,” he said. “The proper spelling of my name is actually Cidney Crocby, but I’ve hid it from the public. Hopefully after today I’ll be able to spell it and wear it with pride.”