Rusty Weiss
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman came to the defense of the United States men’s hockey team on Tuesday, pushing back against criticism that followed their gold medal victory at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.
Think of Bettman what you will, but he’s dead on in this regard.
The U.S. men’s hockey team, as we’re all aware at this point, secured a gold medal victory over Canada in a thrilling 2-1 overtime game, only to face completely media-driven criticism for their celebratory visit to the White House.
Following the historic win, the team interacted with President Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel, including laughing at a harmless joke about the women’s team needing an invitation. Because, ya know, they also won the gold medal.
“And we have to, I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that?” he joked to the boys. “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”
Think about this for a moment, had the President been able to call the women’s hockey team in their locker room (which would have been weird since Kash was the guy that facilitated the call) after they won gold, you can almost guarantee he would have made a similar joke about.
‘I guess we’re going to have to bring the men along if they win,’ just sounds like a joke that guy would make.
READ MORE:
Bettman Defends US Men’s Hockey Team Against ‘Unfair’ Criticism Over Women’s Squad Portrayal
But the outrage machine in sports media decided Trump’s joke was the worst thing they’d ever—EVER— heard. With the men’s team’s response being worse. And Bettman says that’s a load of garbage.
“I know for a fact that the men’s team had no intention of doing anything to slight the women’s team,” Bettman fired back Tuesday, according to Sportsnet. “If anything, both teams were chanting, ‘Two for two.'”
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman defends USA men's team for 'unfair' portrayal of women's squad https://t.co/gjaXFPC4sD via @foxnews
— Chris 🇺🇸 (@Chris_1791) March 5, 2026
“What happened and how it was portrayed, I wish didn’t happen the way it did, and I think it was unfair to the men’s team,” Bettman continued. “And again, I don’t think the women’s team had a different view of it. I mean, look at (U.S. women’s captain) Hilary Knight and the others talking about what happened. These two teams respected each other.”
Knight, by the way, had the perfect response. By firing back with a joke of her own. Knight appeared alongside teammate Megan Keller, who scored the golden goal for the ladies in overtime, during last week’s episode of Saturday Night Live. Jack and Quinn Hughes of the men’s team were there as well.
“It was going to be just us, but we thought we’d invite the guys too,” Knight said
“We thought we’d give them a little moment to shine,” Keller added.
Team USA hockey champs Jack and Quinn Hughes, Hilary Knight and Megan Keller joined Connor Storrie for his SNL monologue pic.twitter.com/QRmCAIOf9L
— LateNighter (@latenightercom) March 1, 2026
Absolutely perfect response. And nobody’s feelings were hurt.