{"id":2478,"date":"2026-02-26T11:48:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T11:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/?p=2478"},"modified":"2026-03-10T18:19:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T18:19:28","slug":"u-s-mens-hockey-captain-auston-matthews-defends-womens-team-after-trump-call-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/u-s-mens-hockey-captain-auston-matthews-defends-womens-team-after-trump-call-backlash\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Men\u2019s Hockey Captain Auston Matthews Defends Women\u2019s Team After Trump Call Backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. Olympic men\u2019s hockey captain Auston Matthews<\/strong> has called the controversy surrounding the women\u2019s hockey team \u201cunfortunate\u201d after backlash erupted over his team\u2019s reaction to comments made by U.S. President Donald Trump<\/strong> following Sunday\u2019s gold-medal victory over Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have nothing but love and respect for the women\u2019s team and what they were able to accomplish,\u201d said Matthews, who also captains the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/strong>. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing that the men\u2019s and women\u2019s ice hockey teams were both bringing home gold medals for the United States of America.\u201d<\/p>\n

The men\u2019s team captured its first Olympic gold since the 1980 \u201cMiracle on Ice,\u201d defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime on a goal by Jack Hughes<\/strong> at the 2026 Winter Olympics<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

After receiving an invitation from Trump, the men\u2019s team visited the White House on Tuesday and later attended the State of the Union address. However, a phone call between Trump and the players following the championship game sparked criticism when the president joked that he would need to invite the women\u2019s team as well or risk impeachment. The players\u2019 laughter during the call drew swift attention on social media.<\/p>\n

U.S. women\u2019s hockey player Hayley Scamurra<\/strong> addressed the situation by shifting focus to the team\u2019s achievements, saying they had received overwhelming support from fans, celebrities, and brands since the incident.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s team captain Hilary Knight<\/strong> later described the remark as a \u201cdistasteful joke\u201d during an interview on ESPN\u2019s SportsCenter, adding that it had overshadowed the women\u2019s Olympic success. Trump subsequently announced the women\u2019s team would visit the White House \u201csoon,\u201d though USA Hockey<\/strong> confirmed no date had been set due to players returning to professional and collegiate seasons.<\/p>\n

Several members of the men\u2019s team acknowledged the moment could have been handled better. Goaltender Jeremy Swayman<\/strong> said the players fully supported the women\u2019s squad, while Jake Oettinger<\/strong> emphasized that the women \u201cdeserve all the credit in the world.\u201d Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor<\/strong> said the locker-room atmosphere was chaotic following the gold-medal win and that he barely remembered the exchange.<\/p>\n

Sports sociologist Laura Misener<\/strong> said she would have preferred a stronger response from the men\u2019s team earlier in the week, arguing that athletes should take clearer stands against behavior that diminishes women\u2019s achievements in sport.<\/p>\n

Despite the controversy, Trump also announced that U.S. goaltender Connor Hellebuyck<\/strong> will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his performance in the gold-medal game, where he stopped 41 shots. He will become the first professional hockey player to receive the honor.<\/p>\n

Murat Ates of The Athletic<\/strong> said the recognition elevates Hellebuyck\u2019s legacy, calling his Olympic performance a defining moment that cements his place among hockey\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. Olympic men\u2019s hockey captain Auston Matthews has called the controversy surrounding the women\u2019s hockey team \u201cunfortunate\u201d after backlash erupted over his team\u2019s reaction to comments made by U.S. President Donald Trump following Sunday\u2019s gold-medal victory over Canada. \u201cWe have nothing but love and respect for the women\u2019s team and what they were able to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":2874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[14648,3672,14649,14410,14650,14651,14652,14653,14654,14655,14656],"class_list":["post-2478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-2026-winter-olympics-milan","tag-amat","tag-auston-matthews","tag-connor-hellebuyck-medal-of-freedom","tag-donald-trump-comments","tag-olympic-gold-medal-controversy","tag-team-usa-hockey-backlash","tag-u-s-mens-hockey-team","tag-u-s-womens-hockey-team","tag-usa-hockey-reaction","tag-womens-sports-equality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}