How a Unifying Moment Turned Ugly
An outside look at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, the venue of the gold medal game. Photo courtesy of Quintin Soloviev via Wikimedia Commons
We were close, so very close to a perfect end to the 2026 Winter Olympics. The country was (briefly) unified after watching Jack Hughes' golden goal slide through Jordan Binnington’s pads, ending a 46-year men’s hockey gold medal drought, creating a heartfelt, emotional moment.
That was, until the team invited the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Kash Patel, into the locker room.
Three days earlier, Alysa Liu birthed countless new figure skating fans after capturing gold with her incredible routine. That same day, the United States women’s hockey team captivated sports fans, even those who don’t often care about women’s sports, with their thrilling come-from-behind overtime victory against Canada to win the gold medal.
Just hours before the closing ceremony, the men’s hockey team put the cherry on top, also defeating Canada in overtime; the game took place exactly 46 years after the country’s most famous Olympic victory, the Miracle on Ice, in which the United States took down the dominant Soviet Union in the greatest upset in sports history.
Though this year's team was by no means the plucky underdog like they were in 1980, the victory over Canada was an upset in its own right. In best-on-best action, Canada notoriously had the United States’ number in head-to-head matchups. The last two times in which NHL players participated in the Olympics, Canada delivered knockout blows to the U.S.
Hughes’ goal lifted the proverbial monkey off his nation's back. Moments after the gloves and helmets tossed in the air in celebration by the members of the team hit the ice, another “USA” sweater joined them for their victory lap.
Auston Matthews, Zach Werenski and Matthew Tkachuk glided around the ice, holding a jersey bearing Johnny Gaudreau’s name and number. Gaudreau was killed in a car accident in August of 2024, along with his brother Matthew, who also had professional hockey experience.
Since their tragic passing, the Gaudreau family has been in the hearts of hockey fans and players alike. Johnny Gaudreau, who would have been a candidate to make the Olympic roster, had experience playing for the country in previous tournaments and was a beloved teammate and competitor throughout the NHL.
Before taking their team photo on the ice with their glistening gold medals hanging from their necks, Werenski and Dylan Larkin departed from the ice to grab Johnny Gaudreau’s children, three-year-old Noah and two-year-old Johnny Jr., onto the ice for the photo.
It was a true tearjerking moment, one that not only united the country but also the hockey community. Gaudreau played most of his career for the Calgary Flames in Alberta, Canada; even fans and players of the losing team appreciated the emotional outcome.
Soon after, the Americans celebrated in their locker room, where they were joined by a visitor. It wasn’t another sincere act, like inviting Guy Gaudreau, the father of Johnny and Matthew, who had been recognized by countless teams and included in many NHL events in the wake of his sons' passing.
It was Patel, a controversial figure to begin with, who was wearing an Olympic gold medal and chugging Michelob Ultras. Over 3.5 million documents in relation to the Jeffrey Epstein Files have been publicly released, yet Patel’s FBI has made zero arrests.
To make matters worse, his Italian excursion was funded by American taxpayers. While his itinerary included "roughly six public meetings and two classified ones," it surely did not have “pounding beers with the American hockey team” on it.
The finishing touch on the contentious celebration was a phone call from President Donald Trump, in which he mockingly invited them and the women’s team to the White House to celebrate their victories.
“I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team… I do believe I’d probably be impeached [if he didn’t invite them],” he said, garnering laughter from seemingly the entire team
The locker room antics gave the United States a black eye. Sure, invites to the White House after championships are a tradition in American sports, but there is simply no reason to have the director of the FBI partying inside a private team celebration and the president making demeaning, misogynistic remarks.
Hughes and his brother/teammate, Luke, helped save face a week later, when they appeared on “Saturday Night Live,” along with members of the U.S. women’s team, Hilary Knight and Megan Keller. There, they poked fun at the men’s team, joking that it was originally going to be just them on the show, but they gave the men a last-second pity invite.
While it resulted in a light-hearted moment to close the book on a heated discourse, the actions that took place after the men’s team's first gold medal in hockey in 46 years still leave a stain on what should have been a beautiful end to the Olympic Games.