Scamurra said she wanted to focus on the positives, such as how dominant the women’s team was at the Olympics — not only did Team USA’s women’s hockey team win gold, but they did so by setting a record of 331 minutes and 23 seconds in consecutive shutouts at the Games.
The majority of Team USA’s men’s hockey team attended the State of the Union on Tuesday night, but the women’s team declined the invitation, citing other professional and academic obligations. Trump has said he looks forward to being able to host them soon.
Critics of the men’s team have said the men should not have laughed at Trump’s joke, potentially said something in the women’s defense or apologized afterward.
“It is never just locker room talk,” one user wrote in a post on X. “I’m angry. What a disappointment to have something so joyous tarnished by a dreadful reality where women are being belittled & disrespected for existing. The US Women’s Hockey Team deserves way better.”
New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes told reporters that he believes the women’s team knows how much the men support them despite the backlash. He scored the game-winning goal against Canada on Sunday and his brother, Quinn Hughes, scored an overtime goal against Sweden to win the quarterfinals.
Their mother, Ellen Hughes, is a former Team USA hockey player who now works as a consultant to the women’s team.
Jack Hughes told NBC’s “TODAY” show that had there been a video on him and his brother during the women’s gold medal game, they would have looked like “the biggest superfans of all time.”
On Wednesday, goaltender Jeremy Swayman told reporters that the men’s team “should have reacted differently” after the president’s postgame joke.
“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,” he said.
