The Ugly Underbelly of the US Hockey Victory
Company
/
February 23, 2026
The real Olympic heroes were the athletes who fought for each other and against Trump.
The U.S. team poses after winning the men’s gold medal hockey game between Canada and the United States on February 22, 2026 in Milan, Italy.
(Monika Majer/Getty Images)
The U.S. Olympic hockey team beat Canada 2-1 in overtime in the gold medal game at the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Games on Sunday. The Canadian team showed up angry. Our neighbors to the north were unhappy with President Donald Trump’s bellicose and erratic nature toward the nation he proposed to make the 51st state.
“Canadians feel insulted by those they thought were their allies. It’s a matter of pride,” a Nova Scotia fan told The New York Times.
As for the American team, they were ready to fight – literally – because Trump felt that Canada, Canadian bacon-the style, the enemy and the players were ready to follow orders. Team USA was filled with Trump supporters who were more than willing to provide a photo op for Vice President JD Vance and embarrassing FBI Director Kash Patel.
When Trump called American skier Hunter Hess a “real loser” for expressing nuanced “mixed feelings” about representing the United States, American hockey player Brady Tkachuk sided with Trump, saying: “Representing the United States at this point in the Olympics is one of the greatest honors I’ve ever had, so I’m really grateful to be here representing the red, white and blue.” »
Unlike other American Olympians who spoke out against this regime, men’s hockey players chose to be spit-lickers. In that regard, this hockey team is part of a rather ignominious gold medal tradition in American hockey. A fan of the Milan Cortina 2026 Games donned a hockey sweater with “1980” emblazoned across the chest, the year an American hockey team became a legendary symbol of national unity. But in the years since, Republicans have used the legend to sow division.
Current number
Trump has incredible nostalgia for the “Miracle on Ice” Olympic hockey team of 1980. It was the team that, in one of the greatest Olympic upsets of all time, beat the USSR in the semifinals before winning the gold medal. Pundits have made the victory a right-wing symbol. This showed that the country had moved away from the social struggles of the 1960s and 1970s and had adopted the crypto-fascist variant of patriotism best exemplified by the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.
In 2020, many members of that 1980 crew rallied behind Trump in Las Vegas, wearing their MAGA hats, mocking Trump’s mockery of the Oscar-winning film. Parasitenodding solemnly asking why they don’t make movies like Gone with the Wind more, and praising Trump repeatedly. For some reason, Trump asked team captain Mike Eruzione to tell the crowd that he was a good golfer and Eruzione responded, “Whatever you say, sir.” »
That team is now in their 60s and 70s, and Trump — as he did when he was partying with Jeffrey Epstein — is looking for younger role models. The gold medal winning team at the Milan Cortina Olympics includes players who have worn the president’s cap. Last year, during a visit to the White House after the Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup, Matthew Tkachuk (Brady’s older brother) praised Trump: “It’s kind of like this icing on the cake…to be here at the White House today and meeting the President of the United States and having the chance to see him honor us is just so cool and something I honestly never imagined.” » Speaking directly to Trump, Tkachuk added: “This is such an incredible day for me. You wake up every day very grateful to be an American, so thank you.”
We are in 1980 cosplay, but unlike that era, the ugly belly is there, visible to everyone. Afterwards, Patel was partying with the players, drinking beer, jumping around and banging the table like a drunk frat boy. It was a humiliating display. He was there to represent Trump — and given Patel’s cowardly and clumsy cover-ups about Trump’s ties to Epstein — there couldn’t have been a better replacement for Trump himself.
The real Olympic heroes are the athletes who do not want to – as the right-wing noise machine screamed – “shut up and ski”.
Eileen Gu, a superstar freestyle skier who herself faced extreme online abuse when she chose to represent China rather than the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics, responded: “I’m sorry that the title that overshadows the Olympics has to be something so unrelated to the spirit of the Games. It really goes against everything that the Olympics should be about.”
Hess himself responded to Trump — and the torrent of MAGA vitriol he unleashed — like a champ. Acknowledging that being attacked by a sitting US president led to “probably the most difficult two weeks of my life”, he channeled his stress into humor. After completing a halfpipe race, he made an L sign with his hand and said of his imbroglio with Trump: “I definitely wear [it] with pride. Hess added with a wink, “Apparently I’m a loser.” I’m leaning into it.
American snowboarder extraordinaire Chloe Kim also defended Hess. “It’s important in times like these that we come together and stand up for each other in the face of what’s happening,” she said.
Afterwards, cross-country skier Zak Ketterson also defended Hess, saying, “I think it’s pretty childish to go after someone for exercising their right to free speech, and given that side of the political spectrum always defends free speech, it’s a little, I think, surprising to see them so excited.” »
He was supported by fellow American cross-country skier and medalist Ben Ogden, who said: “I choose to believe that I live in a country where people can express their opinions without backlash. » He had the courage to mention the president directly: “Certainly not…with no reaction from the president. And it was really disappointing to see, but I hope it doesn’t continue like this.”
That’s exactly it. At the Milan Cortina Olympics, Trump was the grumpy, disgruntled one who attacked an American Olympic athlete playing in a lesser-known sport. Seeing Team USA’s richest and most privileged athletes — the Tkachuk brothers playing in the NHL, where their salaries dwarf those of freestyle skiers like Hess — isn’t just disappointing; it’s nauseating. But the solidarity shown by the other Olympians was encouraging. This is a moment of choice in America, and they chose the right one.
More than The nation
The basketball great once said he wanted to be like Muhammad Ali. He cannot do this and ignore Israeli war crimes.
David Zirin
The sports media ignores the story, but wealthy sports figures are all over the Epstein files.
David Zirin
His joyful, internationalist, worker-centered vision was a declaration of war against Trumpism.
Greg Grandin
The Puerto Rican artist’s performance was a joyous rebuke of Trump’s death cult and a celebration of life.
David Zirin
The Super Bowl will showcase the overlords of legalized gambling, even though they have already colonized every other facet of the human experience.
Matt Alston
