Published: March 30, 2026
The 2026 Winter Olympics were a really good one for the hockey fans, myself included. With both the US Women’s and Men’s teams bringing home gold medals after beating Canada 2-1 in overtime. What was a very nice win for the teams and fans quickly turned into something controversial, leaving many people disappointed.
After their win, with Jack Hughes, a player for the New Jersey Devils, scoring the golden goal for the men’s team, locker-room videos showed them drinking and celebrating with FBI Director Kash Patel. Videos also showed the team gathered around a table listening to President Donald Trump congratulate them on their win. In the phone call, Trump invited the men’s team to attend the State of the Union, with many of them being eager to agree. However, Trump also made a distasteful joke about having to invite the women’s team as well, saying, “I do believe I would probably be impeached”. This had the men’s team laughing and agreeing with the President.
Despite a majority of the team laughing at the joke and attending the State of the Union, Jack Hughes and his older brother Quinn Hughes, who plays for the Minnesota Wild, have gotten most of the heat surrounding this situation. One fan even went as far as defacing a Vancouver Canucks jersey, the team that Quinn Hughes was previously the captain of, and leaving said jersey at the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The women’s team declined the offer to go to the White House, having prior engagements before the invitation was given. A few players from the men’s team also declined the invitation to attend the State of the Union and a tour of the White House, Brock Nelson, who plays for the Colorado Avalanche, being one of them. Alongside Nelson, players Jake Guentzel (Tampa Bay Lightning), Kyle Connor (Winnipeg Jets), and Jake Oettinger (Dallas Stars) opted out, some deciding to get right back into practicing with their respective teams after the brief Olympic break. Some players, like Jeremy Swayman and Charlie McAvoy, who play for the Boston Bruins, have spoken out since, saying that they should have reacted differently.
In addition to the Hughes brothers going on shows like Today, they made an appearance on Saturday Night Live, leaving some Heated Rivalry and Connor Storrie fans upset. In Storrie’s monologue, the brothers came on stage and asked questions about the series Heated Rivalry, saying that they haven’t had the time to watch it. Storrie and the brothers were then joined by Olympic gold medalists from the US women’s team, Hilary Knight and Megan Keller. Knight is the captain of the Seattle Torrent of the PHWL and was the captain of the women’s team at the Olympics. Keller is the captain of the Boston Fleet of the PHWL and scored the game-winning goal against Canada.
During the monologue, Keller and Knight made a joke about how it was just going to be them that was on the show, and how they thought it would be nice to invite the men. Knight made a point in a previous interview to call Trump’s joke “distasteful” and said that it is taking away from what matters, the women’s team winning the gold. Since the videos and the return to the regular hockey season, both the NHL and PWHL teams are doing a tremendous job.
