US men’s hockey team visit White House as some players with Minnesota ties stay away | USA ice hockey team
The victorious U.S. Olympic men’s ice hockey team visited the White House on Tuesday, despite several notable absences.
Donald Trump invited the team to celebrate in Washington DC after beating Canada in a dramatic Olympic final on Sunday. He also invited the U.S. women’s team, which declined citing “timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments.”
“I recognize every single one of you. I know every single one of you,” Trump said as he welcomed the players to the Oval Office. The president then shook their hands. “Big guys,” he said.
While most of the team was in attendance, five of the 25-member roster were absent: Brock Nelson, Jackson LaCombe, Jake Guentzel, Jake Oettinger and Kyle Connor. Nelson, Lacombe, Guentzel and Oettinger were born in Minnesota or spent much of their education there. The state has been the site of a severe immigration crackdown by the Trump administration.
Connor, who plays for the Winnipeg Jets in Canada, said he skipped the meeting at the White House because he wanted to focus on the rest of the NHL season, which resumes Wednesday.
“I’m just preparing. We play on Wednesday,” he told The Athletic. “It’s a big second half so I just wanted to make sure I was ready.”
The other players missing are members of teams scheduled to play Wednesday.
Quinn Hughes, Matt Boldy and Brock Faber, who play for the Minnesota Wild, were in attendance alongside Jack Hughes, who scored the game-winner in Sunday’s final, and Charlie McAvoy. Jack Hughes and McAvoy have expressed support for social causes that the Trump administration has pushed back on.
On Tuesday, Quinn Hughes said the U.S. players were “excited to go” to the White House.
“It’s not something you do every Tuesday,” he told Good Morning America. “It’s going to be special for us.”
The U.S. men’s gold medal was the first since the Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Winter Olympics. The U.S. women’s gold medal was the first since 2018.
