Champagne was still squirting in the locker room of the USA team that won its first Olympic men’s hockey gold medal in nearly 50 years, but President Donald Trump called for a celebration, sparking the latest culture war in the country that has pitted the sport’s top stars against each other.
After New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes scored the game-winning goal in overtime to beat Canada 2-1 on Sunday, the group gathered in the locker room with FBI Director Kash Patel, and the Athletic reported that they were invited to celebrate by U.S. national team general manager Bill Guerin.
Amid the chaos, Patel pulled out her cell phone and called Trump, who invited the men’s team to Tuesday’s State of the Union address.
The president also joked that if he didn’t invite his female colleagues (who also won the gold medal by defeating the Canadian team in overtime), “I believe I’d probably be impeached.”
The men burst into laughter.
The moment, captured on video, has since sparked outrage online, sparking a flood of negative comments about the men’s team, which appeared to be quick to belittle their female teammates for agreeing with Trump. (In the video, one athlete can be heard saying “absolutely” when President Trump says women must be invited, while another yells “two for two” in recognition of men and women winning gold medals).
The episode sparked a heated exchange online between fans who criticized the men for laughing at President Trump’s comments and others who felt the need to rush to judgment during a moment of national unity. Conservatives, on the other hand, praised the players for making unabashedly patriotic statements after their wins and how proud they were to be Americans.
The controversy comes amid a unique year for hockey, after the sport gained new fans through the Olympics and the popularity of “Heat Rivalry,” a hockey romance show centered on gay relationships. The National Hockey League adopted the show as part of a long-standing effort to expand the sport’s appeal.
Despite online backlash, the men’s hockey team appears scheduled to attend the State of the Union after a short stay in Miami. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said he intended to find seats for the players in the House chamber and “shove them in” following President Trump’s request to give the team space.
A Tuesday Instagram post from Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk, a member of Team USA, appeared to show most of the team preparing to board a government flight to Washington, D.C.
“We’re going to meet them and we’re going to celebrate them tonight,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said of the men’s team at a news conference Tuesday.
However, the women’s team declined Trump’s invitation, with a spokesperson saying that while they were “deeply grateful for this recognition of their extraordinary accomplishments,” they were unable to attend the State of the Union address due to prior commitments. The team did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News. (Some members of the women’s team “liked” an Instagram post criticizing the men’s team’s response to President Trump’s comments.)
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Dominik Hasek, a Hall of Fame former NHL goaltender who has been outspoken on many issues, including the war in Ukraine, praised the women who rejected President Trump’s invitation.
“Yes, your president is a big liar and a fraud who abuses his position to insult and bully his fellow citizens,” Hašek, a Czech, wrote to X. “Nonetheless, I believe you must have shown great heroism in making this decision, and for that I thank you.”
In lieu of the State of the Union address, Flavor Fluff invited the women’s hockey team to Las Vegas for a “real celebration,” which he said would include “a great dinner, a show, and a good time.” (He added that he would also invite a skeleton team and a bobsled team.)
Flavor Fluff wrote in what he described as a “formal invitation” sent to the women’s hockey team, “I have seen an article stating that the men’s team has been invited to the White House and that the women’s team’s invitation is not yet complete.”
“If your team is interested in coming to Las Vegas and celebrating with Fluff, we’ll work it out and make it a wonderful experience,” the invitation added.
It was not immediately clear whether the women had accepted Flavor Flav’s invitation.
Jack Hughes and his brother Quinn Hughes, who emerged as Team USA’s most recognizable names during the Olympics, are currently facing intense scrutiny over their reactions to Trump’s comments.
“We’re very proud to represent America. If we have the opportunity to go to the White House and meet the president, we’re proud to be Americans and it’s very patriotic,” Jack Hughes told the Daily Mail on Monday. “Whatever your opinion, we’re really looking forward to going to the White House tomorrow and being a part of it.”
During the match, some comments were critical of the government. Skier Hunter Hess said it’s “a little difficult” to represent the U.S. now, considering “there’s a lot of stuff going on that I’m obviously not a big fan of, and I don’t think a lot of people are.” In response, President Trump called Hess a “real loser.”
The Hughes brothers also came under fire for making fun of President Trump’s comments because their mother, Ellen Hughes, is a well-known female athlete who serves as a consultant for the women’s team.
She told the TODAY show that the two gold medals “speak very much to USA Hockey and the place of our sport in this great country.”
When asked about the video of the men’s team talking with President Trump, she said “it’s all about this country” and that people on both sides of the aisle were celebrating the men’s and women’s gold medals.
“If you look at what we see from the inside and what men and women share, the dorm rooms and the halls and the flex floors, the camaraderie and the synergy, the women rooting for the men, the men rooting for the women, that’s what it’s all about,” she said. “And other things that they can’t control. They care about humanity. They care about unity. They care about nationhood.”
Despite the backlash, Jack Hughes told TODAY on Tuesday that the support he has felt since scoring the golden goal has been incredible.
She added that when she scored the winning goal, she thought of Megan Keller, who scored the golden goal to win the women’s tournament a few days earlier. On Monday, Keller posted a photo on Instagram of the two athletes hugging each other with their gold medals in hand.
“If there were cameras on me and Quinn when the women’s team won, we would look like the biggest superfans ever,” Hughes said. “We were just jumping up and down. I couldn’t believe it…One of my first thoughts was about her. I’m so proud to join her as a gold medalist.”
