Champions on ice, complicit off ice

Illustration by Sami Seyedhosseini, Cartoonist

The night that Team USA won gold should’ve been about history, but instead it became about a laugh.

Even if you aren’t a hockey fan, you might have heard about the controversy over the U.S. men’s ice hockey team laughing at a “joke” President Donald Trump made after they won gold at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

Maybe some of those players are supporters of Trump, maybe all of them are, but I don’t think this has much to do with politics. I think that many of those players — and I hope all of them — genuinely do support the women who play hockey and work just as hard as they do. 

I am not surprised that FBI Director Kash Patel showed up in the locker room, and I am not surprised that Trump would make a joke at the expense of the U.S. women’s team.

I am surprised that the team chugged beers with Patel and laughed in harmony at Trump’s joke.

These are players who show up for NHL Pride Night and speak in support of inclusion in hockey. I don’t think this is the best representation of the values of this team, but I do think it would have been very easy to take accountability for how the situation played out and to apologize. 

I can understand the biggest win of your life taking you out of the moment, but it doesn’t excuse what happened. If you support the women, then why can’t you just say you’re sorry? If you have pure intentions, I think people can understand. But if you’re still sitting here and saying that the music was loud, then your privilege is allowing you to be tone deaf in the situation.

This wasn’t just men laughing at women; these are Olympic gold medalists. This means playing in a tournament that is supposed to bring cultures and people together, becoming some of the most visible athletes in the world. When the team reacts to a joke that diminishes women, they’re not thinking about the influence they have. 

This will continue to happen if we don’t acknowledge the issue and if we reinforce to younger generations that this is okay and show them that there are no consequences. 

As someone who grew up playing and watching hockey, this moment was pretty sad to see. Playing in a predominantly male sport wasn’t always easy, but there were so many male and female players I looked up to. I had plenty of male and female coaches who supported my teammates and me, who never thought less of us because of our anatomy. 

I don’t want to delve too much into the Hughes brothers, but with them having a mother who raised them in their hockey careers and won a silver medal herself, I feel like these men would have a bit more empathy for the situation. However, she didn’t see an issue herself, which was made clear in an interview with TODAY.

“Heated Rivalry” star Connor Storrie hosted this week’s episode of “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) and SNLNetwork had announced that U.S. team member Quinn Hughes (of the Hughes brothers) was set to appear on this show. This caused the comment section to quickly fill with sayings like “the women's hockey team should have been there” or “I hope the crowd boos.” 

My initial thought was that “SNL” would definitely be bringing Jack Hughes, Hilary Knight, Megan Keller and, of course, Storrie’s co-star Hudson Williams to make light of the situation. This was exactly what happened, and I think the show handled it perfectly. 

They brought Quinn and Jack out, and soon enough, the brothers stepped aside for Knight and Keller to join them on stage. I recommend that everyone watch the monologue for themselves, but it was a moment that let the women reclaim the narrative and allowed these iconic players to show their connection and support for one another amidst the drama.

The best part was the overwhelming roar of applause that followed the entrance of Knight and Keller. A big difference from what was heard as the brothers entered, and a clear sign of the audience’s bias.

It’s upsetting that a story like this has blown up the internet, taking away from the achievements of both teams. I also want to acknowledge that by writing this story, I am adding to it. But as a woman who played ice hockey and has experienced both the feeling of being put down by men in the sport and also being fully uplifted by them, I wanted to share my opinion. 

I had the chance to skate with Hilary Knight many years ago, and in my early years of playing, I trained under former NHL player Dimitri Afanasenkov. There was no shortage of passion for the game and inspiring those who will follow in their tracks on either side. 

Winning gold is historic, but how you represent the game is what truly defines you.