Matthew Tkachuk and the U.S. men’s hockey team returned from Milan draped in gold. However, their historic victory has been persistently shrouded in controversy following that locker room call with President Donald Trump. And a few days later, after their White House visit, the Team USA hockey star decided to put an end to these speculations, which first surfaced online.

During an appearance on The Megyn Kelly Show, the Florida Panthers star brushed off the manufactured controversy and instead highlighted the genuine bond that formed between the teams in Italy.

“I was just telling a story this morning about how close we were with the women’s team, how we were sharing the same floor on like the third floor of the USA building was us in the women’s team room, or sorry floor, and like we became super super tight with them over the few weeks,” he shared. “We went to their games, they went to ours, we had like watch parties for other events.”

Matthew Tkachuk elaborated on the mutual support that defined their time in Milan. He detailed that this relationship was built on shared meals, cheers, and the unique pressure of competing on hockey’s biggest stage.

“A lot of people knew each other from before but getting to know the rest of them, and yeah, like I think it’s just all completely blown up into something that’s just not true because we were great huge supporters of them and they were of us, and being able to sweep both gold medals for the first time ever is such an honor,” the Panthers forward added.

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46 years. It took Team USA men’s hockey that long to bring that Olympic medal back home. However, watching the spotlight shift to controversy fueled by baseless online debates and rumors frustrated him. And this exact sentiment was carried by one of Tkachuk’s teammates, who was a force that led the squad to the gold medal in Milan.

Matthew Tkachuk’s teammate, Jack Hughes’s thoughts on the controversy

Jack Hughes was the one who scored that golden goal in overtime for Matthew Tkachuk and Team USA, leading his team to the top step of the podium at the sport’s grandest stage. As the controversy unfolded, the hockey star felt compelled to intervene and provide proper clarification to the public.

“They’ve got busy schedules, too. Everyone is giving us backlash for all the social media stuff today. People are so negative out there and they are just trying to find a reason to put people down and make something out of almost nothing,” Hughes said.

So, the U.S. women’s hockey team’s spokesperson confirmed that the squad won’t be attending the White House visit “due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games.” However, the online world took it for a silent reply to the President’s joke, which he made with the men’s team that eventually led to the entire controversy.

Before Tkachuk’s response, Hughes echoed a similar sentiment, stating, “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 two teams shared their success and had their celebrations while the critics kept speculating.

“People are so negative about things. I think everyone in that locker room knows how much we support them, how proud we are of them, and we know the same way we feel about them, they feel about us,” Hughes added.

Both Matthew Tkachuk and Jack Hughes’s words serve as a powerful reminder that away from the political circus, the only colors that mattered to the two teams were red, white, and blue.