The moment Jack Hughes slid the puck past Team Canada’s net, Team USA men’s hockey won against Canada 2-1 in a thrilling overtime. This was no regular victory, as the gold medal was finally home after 46 years since the Miracle on Ice. However, the spotlight immediately shifted to a backlash following a phone call with President Donald Trump, whose comments about the women’s team didn’t sit well with many.

And it was further ignited when the men’s team laughed at his statement. But amid the criticism directed at Hughes and his teammates for their reaction, Olympic legend Kaillie Humphries delivered a much-needed defense during an interview with Fox News.

“I think it’s sad that you are going to diminish an accomplishment, a great accomplishment, knowing they haven’t won in 46 years. That’s insane,” the two-time Milan Olympics medalist said. Feats like what the men’s hockey team achieved don’t happen often. And she was surprised at the amount of online criticism that this gold medal squad had to bear.

Humphries then framed the White House invitation as not a political endorsement but national pride, stating, “So for that team to come together and do what they did, and I think for any athlete to get invited to the White House and to be proud to represent your country and be proud to represent a country that, you know, stands for freedom and bravery and honor and all those things, and to want to celebrate it to the maximum degree because you contributed to that, and to do so or to be hated on because of who the president is and whether, you know, they voted for him or not.”

So, the controversy heated up when the women’s team, through their spokesperson, mentioned that they won’t be able to make it to the State of the Union address due to various reasons, especially academic and professional commitments. Indeed, the roster included seven players who are still competing at the collegiate level and sixteen others who play professionally in the PWHL.

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However, when the announcement was made, speculations online drifted away from the original narrative associated with the women’s team, with fingers pointed straight at Jack Hughes and his team.

The bobsledder who won two bronze medals in Milan opened up about her own reaction if she had been invited to the White House, stating, “You get to celebrate with the ultimate person that runs our government. I would have gone if I got invited.”

In simple words, Humphries stressed the impossible position the players were forced into. And a similar sentiment also echoed through players of the two hockey teams.

Jack Hughes and the team received genuine support

Team USA women’s hockey captain Hilary Knight, with a straightforward face, called Donald Trump’s statement “a distasteful joke,” but she also mentioned, stating, “Unfortunately that is overshadowing a lot of the success, the success of just women at the Olympics carrying for Team USA and having amazing gold medal feats. The guys were in a tough spot, so I think it’s a shame this storyline and narrative has kind of blown up and [is] overshadowing that connection and genuine interest in one another and cheering each other on.”

Similarly, Abbey Murphy, while talking to Paul Bissonnette during the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, mentioned how the two teams celebrated each other’s gold medals with nothing but pure joy. And she also confirmed that the speculations online shouldn’t shroud the achievement of the men’s team secured at the Milan Olympics.

They just echoed what Jack Hughes said right after the controversy. “Our relationship with them, over the course of being in the Athletes’ Village, I think we are so tight with their group. After we won the gold medal, we were in the cafeteria at 3:30 am with them, and we go from there, pack our bags, and we’re on the bus,” the New Jersey Devils forward confessed.

There was zero animosity between the two teams as they basked in the Olympic glory. And no online speculation can cover what the men’s and the women’s teams have achieved at the sport’s grandest stage.