A viral clip showed FBI Director Kash Patel chugging beers with the team in the locker room before a separate video showed him holding a cellphone with President Donald Trump on speaker phone joking that he’d also have to invite the U.S. women’s ice hockey team, who also defeated Canada to win gold, to the State of the Union address or he “would be impeached.”
Jack Hughes, who scored the golden goal against Canada, downplayed the criticism during an interview outside of the nightclub E11even Miami, where the team celebrated its gold medal victory Monday (February 23), via ESPN.
“Everyone is giving us backlash for all the social media stuff today. People are so negative out there, and they are just trying to find a reason to put people down and make something out of almost nothing,” Hughes said.
Hughes, whose mother, Ellen, played for and serves as a consultant for the U.S. women’s team, said the two teams grew closer during their respective journeys at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“Our relationship with them, over the course of being in the Olympic Village, I think we are so tight with their group. After we won the gold medal, we were in the cafeteria at 3:30 a.m. in the morning with them. We go from there, pack our bags and we’re on the bus,” Hughes said via ESPN. “People are so negative about things. I think everyone in that locker room knows how much we support them, how proud we are of them. The same way we feel about them, they feel about us.”
The U.S. women’s ice hockey team declined Trump’s invitation to the State of the Union address, a USA Hockey spokesperson said in a statement obtained by NBC News on Monday.
“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,” the spokesperson said. “Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate.”
“They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment,” the spokesperson added.
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