On February 22, the men’s USA hockey team won gold against Canada, 2-1. After their win against Canada, the USA hockey team took their celebrating into their locker room. They were celebrating with the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States, Kash Patel. While there has been controversy with Patel’s presence during the celebration, more controversy followed when the President of the United States called the USA hockey team and invited them to the White House to elongate the celebration. 

The controversy heightened when Trump made comments about the women’s USA hockey team, who also won gold against Canada three days before the men’s team did. 

“…and we have to, I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that? [If I didn’t] I do believe I’d probably be impeached.” 

During the call, the men’s hockey team appeared to be laughing. The video sparked outrage from the public, as many people believed that the men’s hockey team was disrespectful to their counterparts. A portion of the public believed that the men’s hockey team laughing at the joke was discrediting the women’s hockey team’s hard work. 

The women’s team did not attend the White House. They released a statement that they would not be able to accept the extended invitation due to timing, academics, and professional commitments. 

One of the players on the women’s US hockey team, Hilary Knight, said that the joke Trump made was distasteful and was overshadowing the accomplishments that were made by the women’s hockey team.  

The majority of the men’s hockey team accepted the invitation to go to the White House, all but five players. The five players gave their respective reasons for not attending, all which were for scheduling conflict reasons or personal reasons. 

Jack Hughes and his brother Quinn were asked about the situation in an interview, and Hughes stated that the men’s hockey team’s relationship with the women’s hockey team is “tight.” He defends that their relationship with the women’s team is strong, “I think everyone in that locker room knows how much we support them, how proud we are of them.” 

The speculation of the issue has continued, and the “joke” of it has hit Saturday Night Live. 

SNL featured a rising star, Conner Storrie, from the new hit show Heated Rivalry. The show is largely about hockey, and Storrie makes a joke that he didn’t quite “pull off” the look of being a real hockey player. The Hughes brothers come in and receive a large round of applause and laughter from the audience. The bit plays along, and Storrie makes a remark, hoping that at least some hockey players have seen the show before. Hillary Knight and Megan Keller walked in and received an arguably much bigger response from the crowd. 

“It was going to be just us, but we thought we’d invite the guys, too,” opened Hillary Knight. The comment was clearly targeted towards the controversy of Trump’s comment. 

Opinions and quarrels still circulate around the situation, but many of the players have now turned to humor, like the SNL skit, to make light of the situation. The women’s and men’s team still reign victorious, and some argue that is what truly matters.