Matthew Tkachuk rejects claims of tension, says Team USA men’s and women’s hockey teams fully supported each other in Milan.
Team USA’s sweep of both hockey gold medals in Milan brought the country pride, but it also drew outside attention that shifted the focus away from the ice. A controversy grew around the women’s team, and questions followed about their dynamic with the men’s squad.
Matthew Tkachuk decided to address those claims directly. His comments offered a clear look at what actually happened inside the Olympic Village.
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Tkachuk spoke about the issue during a recent appearance on “The Megyn Kelly Show”, where he rejected the idea that there was any tension between the men’s and women’s teams.
He explained that both groups stayed on the same floor in the Team USA building during the 2026 Winter Olympics, which allowed them to spend time together throughout the tournament. According to Tkachuk, that daily interaction built a strong connection between the players.
“I was just telling a story this morning about how close we were with the women’s team, how we were sharing the same floor, like the third floor of the USA building was us and the women’s team room, or sorry, floor, and we became super, super tight with them over the few weeks,” Tkachuk said.
“We went to their games, they went to ours, we had watch parties for other events, and a lot of people knew each other from before, but getting to know the rest of them, and yeah, I think it’s just all completely blown up into something that’s just not true because we were great, huge supporters of them and they were of us, and being able to sweep both gold medals for the first time ever is such an honor.”
The U.S. women’s team defeated Canada 2–1 in overtime on Feb. 19 at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Hilary Knight tied the game late in regulation before Megan Keller scored the overtime winner, and goaltender Aerin Frankel made 30 saves in the final.
Three days later, the U.S. men’s team also beat Canada 2–1 in overtime to secure its first Olympic gold medal since 1980.
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Even with both teams winning titles, public discussion took a political turn after President Donald Trump joked about the women’s team. The topic centered on the men’s and women’s teams’ invitation to the White House, which the men’s team attended, but the women’s teams didn’t. There were also speculations that there was a rift between the men’s and women’s teams.
Tkachuk made it clear that the outside narrative did not align with his experience in Milan. He described a supportive environment in which both teams attended each other’s games and shared moments throughout the tournament.
For him, the story of the Olympics is about two teams that supported one another and made history together.
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