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Don La Greca may be biased, as he watches Jack Hughes play every night, but the New Jersey Devils play-by-play announcer couldn’t help but defend America’s new hero and his teammates.
La Greca joked that he was about to delete social media after the U.S. men’s hockey team won its first gold since 1980. The Devils announcer implored both sides that Hughes scored simply for the United States of America, not the Democrats or Republicans.
“I’m not coming from either side; both sides were embarrassed…” La Greca said on his ESPN New York radio show, “Don Hahn & Rosenberg.” “He’s a hockey player who scored a goal. And that’s all he cares about. And he loves being an American.”
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Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils warms up before a game between the Nashville Predators and the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on January 29, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. (Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
But one caller thought it was a “bad look” for the men’s team to laugh after President Donald Trump said he “would have” to invite the women’s team to Tuesday’s State of the Union.
“It’s just a bad look, because that’s how someone wanted to paint it… People were curating the comments, people were trying to get a reaction, and they’ve supported me,” La Greca said. “Jack’s mom was involved in the girl’s game. Can we stop? Please stop! If you’re going to call [with that sentiment]don’t call…
“We can’t have nice things. Do you want to believe it? Good for you. But that can’t be the first thing we have a conversation about; it hasn’t even been 24 hours, and this is the conversation people want to have. It’s ridiculous.”
Next, La Greca and his hosts talked about Kash Patel’s presence in the locker room.
“What were they supposed to do, kick him out of the room? Half of them didn’t even know who he was. That’s the problem I have. Suddenly, now everyone is pigeonholed, ‘Oh, he must be MAGA because Patel was there.’ That’s unfair,” La Greca said.
Jack Hughes (86) of the United States poses with his teammates after a men’s ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
“The fact that someone tweeted that the men laughed when Donald Trump suggested he should invite the women, now the narrative is that they laughed at the women invited. We have no idea why they laughed. Trump said, ‘I’ll be impeached if I don’t invite them.’ Jack is part of the team, that they all collectively don’t want women in the White House? Someone molded him to be that way, so some fools believe it.
“Maybe they laughed. But there was no one in the room to know it. That’s what some people want it to look like. They have an agenda that men are sexist and women shouldn’t play sports, because that’s what some on the right think. So let’s drag it to the left, or the right trying to drag it to the right, instead of just leaving it at that. Because that’s what social media does.”
Hughes told reporters after the game that the first thing he thought about when the puck went in was Megan Keller, who scored the golden goal for the U.S. women’s team against Canada three days earlier.
Hughes’ brother Quinn, who scored an extra-time goal against Sweden last week, said it was “amazing to spend some time” with the women’s team in the Olympic village.
“And then obviously [watching] They, Jack and I, were there, we saw them win the gold medal. “They came to our game and got to see us,” he said. “So the support back and forth, getting to know them a little better was special, too.”
Jack Hughes of the United States celebrates with his national flag after scoring his second goal in overtime to win gold on February 22, 2026. (REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo)
The women’s team declined an invitation to Washington, DC, citing scheduling conflicts. Several members of the men’s team will be present after Monday’s party in Miami.
The NHL season resumes Wednesday.
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