(Gray News) — Five members of the U.S. men’s hockey team did not go to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Donald Trump, nor did they attend the State of the Union address.
The five members of the team notably absent from the celebration in Washington included:
The Colorado Avalanche told KDVR that Nelson skipped the White House trip to come back to Denver with his family, and he is expected to play in Utah on Thursday.
Guentzel also told reporters he wanted to spend time with his family and to “rest and recover” after the Olympics before playing NHL games again.
“I was definitely not denying the request to go,” Guentzel said.
Oettinger had a similar sentiment, telling WFAA he “had basically been living in Italy for a month” and had a 3-month-old baby waiting for him at home.
In a locker room interview, LaCombe blamed his schedule.
“I love our country, and you know, I love whoever’s in office, so it was such an honor, but I just wanted to be back here for the game, and it was a tight window, so I couldn’t really make it work,” LaCombe said.
Connor said he wanted to concentrate on the rest of the NHL season, which resumes on Wednesday.
“I’m just getting ready. We play on Wednesday,” he told The Sporting News. “It’s a big second half, so I just wanted to make sure I was ready.”
Like Connor, Team USA goalie Connor Hellebuyck also plays for the Jets, and he attended the White House gathering and the State of the Union speech.
Trump said he will be giving Hellebuyck a Presidential Medal of Freedom for his exceptional performance at the Olympics.
None of the players who skipped the visit to the White House has specifically indicated that their decision has anything to do with political ideology.
However, a report from The Guardian notes that Nelson, LaCombe, Guentzel and Oettinger were born in Minnesota or spent large parts of their upbringing there. The state has been the site of a severe immigration crackdown by the Trump administration.
But Team USA members who currently play for the Minnesota Wild — Quinn Hughes, Matt Boldy and Brock Faber — all attended the presidential events.
Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils and Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins also attended the presidential events, though they have previously voiced support for social causes that the Trump administration has pushed back on.
The U.S. men’s hockey team had been invited by Trump to meet with him at the White House and to attend the State of the Union address after the team’s gold-medal win in Milan.
The team has received backlash on social media for partying with FBI Director Kash Patel in the locker room after their big win and for speaking with Trump over a phone call.
In videos posted on social media, Trump can be heard on speakerphone inviting the men’s hockey team to the White House and then making a joke about “having to” invite the gold‑medal‑winning U.S. women’s hockey team.
“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 gonna have to bring the women’s team, you do know that?” Trump said with a laugh.
The team erupted in laughter.
“I do believe that I would probably be impeached [if the women’s team were not invited],” Trump said.
Since the videos of the phone call went viral on social media, the men’s team has received criticism.
After the men’s team arrived back home on U.S. soil, Hughes told The Daily Mail he felt that people were “making something out of almost nothing,” referring to Trump’s joke about inviting the women’s team.
“Everyone’s giving us backlash for all the social media stuff today, but 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 told The Daily Mail.
He added, “People are so negative about things. I think everyone in that locker room knows how much we support them [the women’s team], how proud we are of them, and we know the same way we feel about them, they feel about us.”
When asked whether he was excited to meet Trump, Hughes said, “Yeah, we’re excited. Everything is so political. We’re athletes. We’re so proud to represent the U.S. 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. No matter what your views are, we’re super excited to go to the White House tomorrow and be a part of that.”
The women’s team declined Trump’s invitation to the State of the Union address scheduled for Tuesday night. It’s unclear whether they will attend any future events at the White House.
“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 told NBC News. “Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate.”
U.S. women’s hockey captain Hilary Knight told ESPN Wednesday that she believed Trump’s joke was “distasteful.”
“I thought it was sort of a distasteful joke, and 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,” Knight said. “We’re just focusing on celebrating the women in our room, the extraordinary efforts, and continuing to celebrate three gold medals in program history as well as the double gold for both men’s and women’s at the same time. And really not detract from that with a distasteful joke.”
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