Photo: JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP via Getty Images
Unfortunately, the story of Team USA at the Winter Olympics is not just cool-girl figure skaters and athletes speaking out against what’s happening back home. There is also the men’s hockey team, every member of which seemed very happy to party with FBI director Kash Patel and get a phone call from President Donald Trump after its gold-medal-winning game on Sunday. Since their impromptu locker-room party, the men’s-team members have gotten plenty of backlash, and at least one fan account is in the process of unstanning. Here’s what’s going on.
After defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime, Team USA went back to the locker room to drink beer and yell about its victory. Joining the players, for some reason, was Patel. In a video from the celebration, the FBI director can be seen slamming back a beer, screaming, and banging on a table. The hockey players seemed to be loving this, and alternate captain Matthew Tkachuk even put his own gold medal around Patel’s neck. The video ends with a team sing-along of Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American).”
A source sent me this video of FBI Director Kash Patel partying with the US Men’s Olympic Hockey team. pic.twitter.com/egjmdhOAF6
— William Turton (@WilliamTurton) February 22, 2026
It would be one thing if Patel — who has beaten some stiff competition to become the lamest member of the Trump administration — invited himself in. However, after getting roasted for looking dorky in the locker-room video, Patel clarified that he had been “invited” to the celebration by his “friends” on Team USA. (Why Patel uses the white fist-bump emoji is a question for another day.)
For the very concerned media – yes, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys- Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth.…
— Kash Patel (@Kash_Patel) February 23, 2026
We will probably never find out how real Patel’s “invitation” was, but what we do know is that America’s male hockey players seemed pretty amped when Patel facilitated a call with President Trump. On speakerphone, the president invited the team to the State of the Union address on Tuesday, even offering to send a military plane to get them to D.C. The guys seemed pretty jazzed about the idea, hooting and yelling, “Let’s go!”
However, Trump earned his biggest laugh from Team USA when he cracked a joke about begrudgingly inviting the women’s hockey team to the White House. “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that,” the president said, prompting a huge wave of chuckles. Trump added that he “probably would be impeached” if he didn’t invite the women’s team — who, for what it’s worth, also beat Canada 2-1 in overtime to win gold.
They’re keeping their distance. The president followed through on his promise to invite them to the State of the Union, but they responded that they can’t fit it into their schedule. “We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold-medal-winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement,” a spokesperson for USA Hockey said in a statement. “Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate.” In case they’re still fielding offers, Flavor Flav quickly threw his hat in the ring to host a real celebration for them in Las Vegas.
After video of the team’s locker-room celebration went viral, hockey fans were divided. A fan account for Jack Hughes, the men’s team’s star player, said they were “unsure of what to do” with their page and they would be pausing their regularly scheduled content. Meanwhile, Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy said there was “no softer group of people” than “hockey Twitter.”
On Monday, Jack Hughes was caught by paparazzi in Miami ahead of the team’s appearance at the E11EVEN MIAMI nightclub (where they all sang the national anthem). Hughes told the Daily Mail there are no bad feelings between the men’s and women’s teams.
“They’ve got busy schedules, too. Everyone is giving us backlash for all the social-media stuff today,” Hughes said, adding that people online were trying to “make something out of almost nothing.” According to Hughes, the men’s team is “so tight” with the women’s team: “I think everyone in that locker room knows how much we support them, how proud we are of them, and we know the same way we feel about them, they feel about us.”
Addressing Trump’s invitation, Hughes observed that “everything is so political,” but “we’re so proud to represent the U.S., and when you get the chance to go to the White House and meet the President, we’re proud to be Americans and that’s so patriotic.”
In an interview on Good Morning America on Tuesday, Quinn Hughes (Jack’s brother and fellow Team USA star) added that the team is “excited” to go to the State of the Union and shared his support for the female players. “You know, we’re really happy for them. Obviously, a lot going on on social media surrounding our team and their team,” he said. “But, you know, the last couple summers we’ve done a lot of training with them and got to know a lot of those girls really well.”
I’d love to hear how “those girls” feel about that.
This post has been updated.
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