OPINION: U.S. Men’s Hockey Team’s visit to Trump’s White House shouldn’t come as a surprise

The U.S. Men’s Hockey Team won gold for the first time in 46 years on Feb. 22, and celebrations broke out across the country. 

In a time filled with unbridled social strife and political polarization, the wins by the men’s—and women’s—U.S. hockey teams at the Olympics in Milan felt like a suture for the rampant social divide the country is facing. 

This feeling was short-lived. When a video surfaced on Feb. 23 of the members of the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team on speakerphone with President Trump, censure was quick to come from the other side of the political aisle.

The issue was not that Trump called in to congratulate the men’s team—who were joined by U.S. FBI Director Kash Patel—but that in doing so, the president made an offhanded remark about the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team, who also brought home gold and, unlike the men’s team, have medaled every time they’ve been invited to the Olympics. 

Trump extended an invitation to his Feb. 24 State of the Union address to the men’s team, which they readily accepted. Trump went on to joke that he had to extend the same offer to the women’s team, otherwise he would be under threat of impeachment.  

The women’s team declined Trump’s invitation.

In response to the quip, the men’s team laughed uproariously. 20 of the 25 members of the team went to the White House and attended the State of the Union address—which, at one hour and 48 minutes, was the longest one to date. 

With men’s hockey finding new audiences thanks to the success of shows like “Heated Rivalry” and an uptick in TikTok trends in which women attend hockey games to visit “the boy aquarium,” the popularity of men’s hockey is at an all-time high. 

It’s important, however, not to conflate the attitudes of real-life hockey players with the thoughtful and romantic protagonists of “Heated Rivalry,” Shane and Ilya, and the quickness with which the U.S. Men’s Hockey team accepted Trump’s White House invitation is evidence of the dangers of that conflation. 

Hockey is rife with some of the most conservative attitudes in professional sports, with 43.9% of NHL players identifying as Republican and 48.6% as Independent. Some National Hockey League teams have even stopped hosting Pride nights. 

Putting male hockey players on any sort of pedestal is risky. If these men are so willing to visit the White House upon Trump’s request, during a time when his administration is facing rightful backlash regarding ICE’s imposition in major U.S. cities and their treatment of everyone—U.S. and non-U.S. citizens alike—who’s to say what the attitudes of other major league sports players are behind closed doors?