The aftermath of a viral postgame phone call with President Donald Trump continues for the gold medal-winning U.S. men’s hockey team. After the controversial moment, in which Trump invited the American men to the White House and the State of the Union and then joked about having to invite the women’s team or else “I probably would be impeached,” players are facing questions as they return to their NHL teams.
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Goalie Jeremy Swayman was asked about it on Wednesday and admitted that he and his teammates, several of whom laughed after Trump’s delivery, could have handled the moment better.
“We should’ve reacted differently,” said Swayman, who stars for the Boston Bruins, via New England Hockey Journal’s Evan Marinofsky.
“We know that we’re so excited for the women’s team. We have so much respect for the women’s team, and to share that gold medal with them is something that we’re forever grateful for.”
Many have found the men’s players’ reaction demeaning, considering the women’s team also beat Canada 2-1 in overtime to win gold in a similarly dramatic fashion during the Milan Cortina Olympics.
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Earlier this week, on “Good Morning America,” U.S. men’s hockey stars Jack Hughes, who clinched gold with his famous OT winner, and his brother Quinn addressed the matter.
Jack, a center for the New Jersey Devils, explained how, after Sunday’s triumph in Italy, the American men’s and women’s teams were celebrating together in the cafeteria at 3:30 a.m. Later in the interview, when it was mentioned that the U.S. women’s hockey team declined its invitation to the State of the Union, Quinn offered some thoughts as well.
“I’m glad you mentioned the women’s team again,” said Quinn, a defenseman for the Minnesota Wild.
“We’re extremely happy for them,” he said. “Obviously [there’s] a lot going [around] on social media right now surrounding our team and their team, but in the last couple summers, we did a lot of training with them and got to know a lot of those girls really well.”
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U.S. men’s hockey players who didn’t make D.C. trip explain why
Tampa Bay Lightning center Jake Guentzel was among a group of five players who weren’t in attendance for the D.C. trip. He and others pointed to busy schedules in the wake of the Games.
“Just kind of a timing thing for me and my family,” Guentzel said Wednesday, per 95.7 WDAE’s Samuel Cohen. “I was definitely not denying the request to go.”
Guentzel later said, referencing the Stanley Cup title he won with the Pittsburgh Penguins: “I was fortunate to go in 2017 when Trump was in office. But just thought … we got a lot of games coming up the rest of the year. It’s going to be a tough schedule. Two weeks of Olympic break, I thought it would be good to just kind of come home, rest and recover and just try to spend some time with my family before we get going.”
Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger also cited the turnaround time and an opportunity to take care of his 3-month-old baby at home as reasons why he missed the trip, when talking to reporters on Wednesday. He called getting invited “a tremendous honor,” per The Dallas Morning News’ Lia Assimakopoulos.
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As for the viral Trump call, Oettinger said, per Assimakopoulos:
“My opinion on that is there’s no one that supports women’s hockey more than me. I know a lot of those girls personally. I think if you would’ve been at the bar watching the game with me where I was, watching the women’s hockey, there was no one as excited as me when they won the gold medal.
“They’re incredible, and they deserve all the credit in the world. They’re dominant. I was just so happy for those girls. To get to know a few of them personally made it that much cooler. The fact that the men and the women both have the gold medal right now is pretty cool.”
The women’s team turned down its invite to D.C. due to what a USA Hockey spokesperson described as “previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games” as well as the timing of the event, per NBC News.
U.S. women’s hockey icon Hilary Knight, who scored a game-tying goal to force overtime against Canada in the gold-medal game, characterized Trump’s widely circulated postgame comment as a “distasteful joke,” in a Wednesday appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
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“Unfortunately that is overshadowing a lot of the success, the success of just women at the Olympics carrying for Team USA and having amazing gold-medal feats,” said Knight, who now has 15 goals in her Olympic career, the most any U.S. women’s hockey player has recorded.
She later said that she believes “there’s a genuine level of support” and “respect” between the men’s and women’s teams.
During Trump’s State of the Union address, he indicated that the U.S. women’s hockey team would soon be joining him at the White House, but, according to a Wednesday report from Front Office Sports, a USA Hockey spokesperson told FOS that it’s “TBD” whether the American women are committed to making a White House visit.
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The women’s team features a handful of college players, and the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four will take place this year on March 20-22. The PWHL regular season doesn’t end until late April.