Ice hockey may have found itself a whole new legion of fans just in time for the Winter Olympics thanks to Heated Rivalry, but they’ve been left sorely disappointed with the reality following USA’s gold medal win.
The American team’s victory over Canada in a nail-biting final match has since been shrouded in controversy thanks to a post-match phone call with President Donald J. Trump.
Unfortunately for fans new and old, the USA Ice Hockey controversy only spiralled from there. Here’s what you need to know.
The fallout began following the USA men’s hockey team gold medal win, with footage from a change-room phone call with President Trump showing the team laughing along to a joke Trump made about having to invite the women’s team – who days prior also beat Canada for the gold – to the State of the Union only to avoid impeachment.
“I just told my people … I said, we’re giving the State of the Union speech Tuesday night … if you would like to, it’s the coolest night,” Trump said as a way of inviting the team to the event.
“What would really be cool — and we’ll do the White House next time — we’ll just have some fun, we have medals for you guys. And we have to, I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that?”
As the clip circulated online, outrage at the dismissive and misogynistic comments grew.
“All of them laughing about inviting the women’s team. Every single one of them,” one social media user wrote.
“Team USA, USA Hockey do you have anything to say about the scene in your men’s team’s locker room where the women’s team who made history in multiple ways and delivered you a gold medal was insulted and mocked and turned into a misogynistic punch line?” another asked.
“The fact that it’s still considered “woke” in 2026 to think that women deserve respect is insane,” another pointed out.
Some tried to defend the players, blaming their behaviour on the high of winning and intoxication on alcohol.
But as one user aptly put it: “When you get drunk the alcohol does not change your entire political ideology and morals.”
Naturally, when an invite to the State of the Union was extended to the USA women’s hockey team, they politely declined. We don’t blame them.
“We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal–winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement,” a USA Hockey spokesperson said, per NBC News. “Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate.”
The spokesperson added, “They were honored to be included and grateful for the acknowledgement.”
As the backlash continues, some members of the team have since deleted the clip from their social media accounts. It seems, many still intend on attending the State of the Union, as revealed by the Hughes brothers, Jack and Quinn, in an interview with Good Morning America.
“We’re so proud to represent the US and when you get the chance to go to White House and meet the President, we’re proud to be Americans and that’s so patriotic,” they said.
The players, whose mother is Ellen Weinberg-Hughes a former USA player herself, added: “We’re really happy for them [the women’s team].”
“[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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