Twenty of the 25 members of the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team plan to attend the State of the Union address on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., a USA Hockey representative confirmed to The Athletic.
The majority of the roster arrived in Washington on Tuesday morning via a military jet that picked them up after a night of celebration in Miami.
The invitation came on a postgame call with U.S. President Donald Trump in which Trump congratulated the team on their gold-medal victory over Canada and invited them to both the State of the Union at the Capitol and the White House.
“We’ll do the White House the next day,” Trump said. “We’ll just have some fun.”
The gold-medal game was in Milan on Sunday; the NHL resumes its season on Wednesday.
Kyle Connor of the Winnipeg Jets, who didn’t see ice time for the U.S. after the first game of the tournament, practiced with the Jets on Tuesday.
“I’m just getting ready,” Connor told reporters, including The Athletic’s Murat Ates, of his decision to skip the D.C. trip. “We play on Wednesday. It’s a big second half so I just wanted to make sure I was ready.”
Connor also said he “(didn’t) really have any thoughts” on Trump telling the men’s team on the call that he was “going to have to bring the women’s team,” saying if he didn’t, he’d “probably be impeached.”
USA Hockey said the women’s team was “unable to participate” in attending the State of the Union “due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments.”
“There’s so many things happening,” Connor said of the call. “We just won the gold medal and things are going on so I don’t really remember what he said. It’s such a whirlwind, just celebrating.”
Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars was scheduled to arrive back in Texas on Tuesday and will not be attending any of the events in Washington, a Stars spokesperson told The Athletic. Barring travel delays, Oettinger will attend Dallas’ morning skate on Wednesday before their game against the Seattle Kraken.
Brock Nelson of the Colorado Avalanche returned to Denver to spend time with his family and is expected to be with the team on Thursday, according to Corey Masisak of the Denver Post.
Jake Guentzel of the Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t practice with the team on Tuesday but is in Tampa, according Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times.
Jackson LaCombe of the Anaheim Ducks was traveling back to Southern California on Tuesday morning, according to Zach Cavanagh of the Sporting Tribune. A Ducks spokesperson told The Athletic that he was expected to join the team for their morning skate ahead of the Ducks’ game against the Edmonton Oilers. LaCombe, 25, was on the team as an injury replacement and did not play in a game for the U.S. men. He was part of the celebration in Miami.
In the meantime, 20 U.S. players will be in Washington until at least Tuesday night. Trump’s public schedule for Tuesday includes a 12:30 p.m. State of the Union luncheon ahead of the address at the Capitol. His schedule for Wednesday has not yet been released.
HAPPENING NOW IN THE OVAL OFFICE!!! @USAHockey🥇 pic.twitter.com/oyluMQpuPV
— Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) February 24, 2026
Players toured the White House on Tuesday afternoon, according to the White House’s social media accounts.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Athletic on Monday that players can decide on an individual basis if they want to accept Trump’s invitation and that it’ll be up to their individual teams whether or not to grant permission.
During an interview on “Good Morning America” on Tuesday, U.S. defenseman Quinn Hughes said he and his brother Jack, who scored the game-winning goal against Canada, were both “excited” to go to the State of the Union.
“It’s something you don’t get to do (every) Tuesday,” Quinn Hughes said. “It’s going to be special for us.”
—Hailey Salvian, Murat Ates and Michael Russo contributed to this report.
