Some members of the Team USA men's hockey team are expressing regret over laughing along to President Donald Trump's locker room joke about the women's hockey team.
The men's team was celebrating their gold medal victory over Canada at the Milan Cortina Olympics when Trump invited them via phone to Tuesday’s State of the Union address. He then joked that he would "have" to invite the women's hockey team — who also won a gold medal at the games — or else “I do believe I probably would be impeached."
The locker room could be heard on video filling with laughter. Now, some members of the U.S. men's hockey team are walking back those chuckles.
Team USA backup goalie Jeremy Swayman said Wednesday that the team "should've reacted differently” to Trump’s comment about the women’s team.
“We know that we are so excited for the women’s team. We have so much respect for the women’s team. To share that gold medal with them is something we’re forever grateful for," Swayman told reporters.
Fellow Boston Bruin and Team USA player Charlie McAvoy apologized for the behavior, saying on Thursday he is “certainly sorry for how we responded to it in that moment."
"If you know the men’s team and 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,” McAvoy told reporters.
Team USA's Jake Sanderson, of the Ottawa Senators, called the team's reaction "a mistake" — but said that "things got blown out of proportion."
"If we were to do it again, I think we wouldn't do that and we made a mistake. But again, I think it kind of got blown out of proportion a little bit. You know we love the women, eat lunch with them, like I said before, so nothing but the upmost respect for all of them them," Sanderson told reporters on Thursday.
The moment, where FBI Director Kash Patel, who was a guest of the men’s team, called Trump was captured on video and sparked criticism of the men's team. Women’s team captain Hilary Knight said Wednesday on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” that she doesn't want the “distasteful” joke to overshadow their gold medal win at the Olympics.
“I think this is just a really good learning point to really focus on, you know, how we talk about women,” Knight said. “Not only in sport, but in industry. Women aren’t less than, and our achievements shouldn’t be overshadowed by anything else other than how great they are.”
The majority of the U.S. men team attended the State of the Union on Tuesday night, but the women’s team declined the invitation citing scheduling issues.
Team USA men's hockey captain Auston Matthews was not seen during the State of the Union speech. Matthews, who is also captain for the Toronto Maple Leafs, called the situation “unfortunate,” reiterating Swayman and McAvoy’s support of the women’s team. “We love the women’s team, we support them,” he said during a pregame interview Wednesday.
Other members of the men's team have not taken back the team's locker room laughter.
Jack Hughes, who scored Team USA's gold medal winning overtime goal, has repeatedly expressed support for the women's team. Yet when asked if he agreed with Swayman's comment that they "should've reacted differently," Hughes said "it is what it is."
