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Players from the men’s and women’s Olympic gold medal-winning hockey teams appeared together on “Saturday Night Live” amid recent political controversy.
The men’s and women’s players publicly clashed with each other after President Donald Trump called up the men’s team after their gold medal victory against Canada to invite them to the State of the Union, and joked that he would have to invite the women too or he would be impeached. The joke sparked backlash against the men’s team after the players laughed in response, primarily from American and Canadian liberals.
Female players Hilary Knight and Megan Keller joined male players Jack and Quinn Hughes on SNL, and poked fun at the recent controversy.
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Knight appeared to reference Trump’s joke.
“It was going to be just us, but we thought we’d invite the guys too,” Knight said.
Knight delivered another punchline after Quinn Hughes said the last time men won gold was 46 years ago at the 1980 Lake Placid Games.
Knight went on to say that the women’s team last won gold two Olympic Games ago, at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games.
Jack Hughes responded by saying: “Good result. These gold medals are not just for us, they are for all hockey fans.”
“Heated Rivalry” actor Connor Storrie hosted the episode.
Several major media outlets wrote op-eds condemning the men’s team for laughing at the joke and then visiting the White House to celebrate and attend Trump’s State of the Union address.
During an interview on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” on Friday, Hughes spoke about his respect for the women’s team after McAfee appeared to reference the controversy by joking that Hughes and his teammates “hate” the female players.
“We spent a lot of time with them, the women’s team. We were rooting for them. We were at their games, they were at our games,” Hughes said.
Hughes then appeared to address recent criticism of his team for their response to Trump’s joke.
“Like all these people talking, how many of them watched the gold medal game? Quinn Hughes and I were at the game. We were at the game until overtime ended on the glass, and we were jumping around so excited for these girls, so excited for them to win,” Hughes said.
“And how many of these people watched the gold medal game, watched their semifinal game? Like 10 out of 10 of our players went to their game in the round-robin. We were very supportive of them and we’re so proud of them. We’re so happy that they won, and they brought a gold medal back and, you know, I said it, both the men’s and women’s teams brought back gold medals. So, just amazing for USA Hockey.”
Jack Hughes, who scored the game-winning goal in overtime against Canada to win gold, reflected on his interaction with the US women’s team player who did the same at Keller.
“She and I had a great time in the cafeteria after their gold medal game. We played Slovakia the next night, and it was like a late game. And we were in the pasta line, Megan and I. They were getting ready to go out again, and I gave her a big hug and said, ‘I’m so happy for you. I’m so proud of you,'” Hughes said.
“A couple of nights later, I saw her again in the [cafeteria]”And we took a great photo and she just gave me a big hug and was really excited for me too.”
U.S. women’s hockey captain Hilary Knight said on Wednesday’s edition of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” that Trump’s ‘nasty joke’ has a “shadow”[ed]”The success of women.
“I thought it was kind of a nasty joke and, unfortunately, that’s overshadowing a lot of the success, the success of women in the Olympics wearing Team USA and accomplishing incredible feats with gold medals,” Knight said.
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“We’re just focusing on celebrating the women in our room, the extraordinary efforts, and continuing to celebrate three gold medals in the history of the program, as well as double gold for both men and women at the same time. And really not downplaying that with a nasty joke.”
Elena, Hughes’ mother. former Team USA player and current member of the player development staff, said the players only cared about “bringing[ing] so much unity to a group and a country.”
