The gold-medal-winning U.S. men’s hockey team’s postgame phone call with President Donald Trump went viral, and the fallout continues. Players are facing questions about returning to NHL teams after a controversial moment when Trump invited the U.S. men’s team to the White House and delivered the State of the Union address, then joked that the women’s team had to be invited or “I might get impeached.”
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Goaltender Jeremy Swayman was asked about the incident on Wednesday and admitted he and his teammates, some of whom laughed after Trump’s remarks, could have handled the moment better.
“We should have reacted differently,” Boston Bruins star Swayman said, via Evan Malinowski of New England Hockey Magazine .
“We know we are very excited for the women’s team. We have great respect for the women’s team and sharing a gold medal with them is something we are forever grateful for.”
Many considered the men’s team’s reaction degrading, considering the women’s team won the gold medal in equally dramatic fashion at the Milan Cortina Olympics, beating Canada 2-1 in overtime.
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Earlier this week, on “Good Morning America,” U.S. men’s hockey star Jack Hughes spoke about it with his brother, Quinn, who captured the gold medal with the famous overtime winner.
New Jersey Devils center Jake explains how the U.S. men’s and women’s teams celebrated together in the cafeteria at 3:30 a.m. after Sunday’s win in Italy. Later in the interview, Quinn also expressed some thoughts when it came to the U.S. women’s hockey team’s refusal to accept an invitation to the State of the Union address.
“I’m glad you brought up the women’s team again,” Minnesota Wild guard Quinn said.
“We’re very happy for them,” he said. “Obviously [there’s] many things [around] There’s a lot of social media going on right now about our team and their team, but we’ve done a lot of training with them over the past few summers and know a lot of the girls very well. “
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U.S. men’s hockey players who didn’t make trip to Washington explain why
The few players who were unable to make it to Washington, D.C. mostly said they had busy schedules after returning to their NHL teams. Tampa Bay Lightning center Jake Guentzel is one of five players missing.
“It’s just a moment for me and my family,” Guentzel said Wednesday, 95.7 WDAE’s Samuel Cohen reported. “I definitely didn’t turn down the request to go.”
Guentzel later said of the Stanley Cup championship he won with the Pittsburgh Penguins: “I was lucky enough to go in 2017 during the Trump administration. But I think… we have a lot of games the rest of the year. It’s going to be a tough schedule. With two weeks off from the Olympics, I thought it would be best to go home to rest and recover and try to spend some time with my family before we go.”
Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger also cited turnaround time and the opportunity to care for his three-month-old baby at home as reasons for missing the trip when speaking to reporters on Wednesday. He called the invitation a “huge honor,” according to Leah Acemakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News.
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As for Trump’s virality, Ottinger said, per Asimakopoulos:
“The way I look at it is, no one supports women’s hockey more than me. I know a lot of those girls personally. I think if you were at a bar with me watching a women’s hockey game, no one was as excited as I was when they won the gold medal.
“They are incredible and they deserve all the credit in the world. They dominate. I’m so happy for these girls. Getting to know some of them makes it even cooler. The fact that both men and women have gold medals now is pretty cool.”
According to NBC News, the women’s ice hockey team declined an invitation to travel to Washington, D.C., due to what a USA Hockey spokesperson described as “previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Olympics” and the timing of the event.
U.S. women’s hockey icon Hillary Knight told ESPN SportsCenter on Wednesday that Trump’s widely circulated postgame comments after Trump scored the tying goal in the gold-medal game against Canada to send the game into overtime were “a disgusting joke.”
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“Unfortunately, it overshadows a lot of the success that only women have accomplished at the Olympics for Team USA and that amazing gold medal feat,” said Knight, who scored 15 goals in her Olympic career, the most by a U.S. women’s hockey player.
She later said she believed there was “genuine support” and “respect” between the men’s and women’s teams.
Trump said during his State of the Union address that the U.S. women’s hockey team would soon travel to the White House to join him, but Front Office Sports reported on Wednesday that a U.S. women’s hockey team spokesperson told “FOS” that whether the U.S. women’s hockey team will commit to visiting the White House is “to be determined.”
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The women’s team is made up of multiple college players and the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four will be held this year from March 20-22. The PWHL regular season doesn’t end until the end of April.
