“Just want to interrupt for a second,” said Sweeney. “I haven’t actually seen Charlie to congratulate him on the gold medal in the spirit of good sportsmanship.”
McAvoy touched on a number of subjects and emotions as he returned to Boston after a whirlwind three-plus weeks that included a gold medal, a trip to the White House, and an invitation to President Trump’s State of the Union.
The invitation to the address caused some controversy as the president, on speaker phone in the locker room after Sunday’s gold-deal win over Canada, told the team, “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team. You do know that?”
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Trump added through laughter he would “probably be impeached” if he didn’t invite the women’s team, as well.
The president’s comments resulted in some laughter from those in the locker room.
McAvoy apologized for the reaction and reiterated his support — and the entire men’s team’s support — of the women’s team, which also won gold with an overtime win over Canada in Milan.
“I think just certainly sorry for how we responded to it in that moment. Things that just happened really quick there,” said McAvoy. “And if you know the men’s team and if you know the relationships that we have, the amount of time that we’ve spent with the women’s team and how we’ve supported them, it’s certainly not reflective of how we feel and look at them and their accomplishments. What they did was unbelievable.”
Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, also a member of the US Olympic team, on Wednesday expressed regret for the way the situation was handled.
“We should have reacted differently,” said Swayman. “We know that we are so excited for the women’s team. We have so much respect for the women’s team, and to share that gold medal with them is something that we’re forever grateful for. And now that we’re home, we get to share that together forever and see the incredible support that we have from the USA in sharing this incredible gold medal.”
McAvoy, who will be a game-time decision Thursday night against the Blue Jackets, said the bonding between the men’s and women’s teams and the support they had for each other was special.
“Kind of like I said, we had this third floor there in the [Olympic] Village and it was kind of some of the women’s team there, the trainer’s room where everybody was at all times,” he said. “So, the men’s and women’s team just made friends for life with them. We supported them the same way that they supported us, so we share this together. I know that and I know that I’m pretty confident they know how I feel about them and what they’ve been able to accomplish and the way that they did it, too, with how dominant they played. I think America should be so proud of them for their accomplishment, for sure.”
Of his trip to White House and the chamber of the House of Representatives, McAvoy sounded a patriotic tune.
“That was all crazy. I said if I ever get a chance in my life to do something cool enough that I get to go to the White House, just the history of that building, the history of this country, if I get a chance to go to that, I was certainly going to go,” he said. “You never know if you’ll be able to get invited to go back there. So just all the history, all the names and faces up on the wall. It was really just a very surreal moment.”
McAvoy, who played heavy minutes throughout the tournament, made a critical third-period save on a go-ahead bid by Canada’s Tom Wilson, moving behind goalie Connor Hellebuyck to make the stop. It is one of the signature moments from the game.
“I didn’t even really stop to realize what had happened until after when everybody was sending me all that stuff that it was a huge save and everything and then seeing it, I guess,” McAvoy said. “So, it would’ve definitely went in if I wasn’t there. Probably the only thing that got past Helly that whole night, so it was just unbelievable to get there.”
The gold medal was some validation for McAvoy, who has faced his share of adversity over the last year-plus. He suffered a shoulder injury in last season’s 4 Nations Face-Off, which cost him the remainder of the NHL season, and missed 11 games this season with a facial fracture after taking a puck to the jaw in Montreal in November.
McAvoy said a conversation with his wife, Kylie, before the gold medal game was a very memorable moment from Milan.
“Just honestly [about] how much has gone on in our lives this year. A lot of it public, but a lot of it not, what we’ve gone through as a family this year and we just kept being like, ‘Hey, I think we deserve this. We deserve something good to happen to us,’ ” he said. “I think try and just be a good person and sometimes good things can happen to you, so I don’t know. This was just amazing for my family to have them there, every one of them, my wife and kid, and then my family. I had buddies from Long Beach [N.Y.] there, my whole immediate family, so we all got to celebrate this and enjoy it together, and we will have this memory forever. The McAvoys, we needed a win this year.”
Jim McBride can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @globejimmcbride.
