Team USA’s women’s hockey team was asked to attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, but declined that invite Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a statement, a USA hockey spokesperson said the team was grateful for the invite, but had “previously scheduled academic and professional commitments<\/a>,” per NBC News.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal\u2013winning U.S. Women\u2019s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement,” a USA Hockey spokesperson said. “Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate.”<\/p>\n “They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment,” the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n Trump drew some criticism Sunday after video emerged of him congratulating the men’s hockey team for also winning the gold medal at the 2026 Olympics. Toward the end of the call, Trump laughed as he told players, “We’re going to have to bring the women’s team<\/a>, you do know that. I do believe I probably would be impeached.” That comment drew laughs from players in the locker room.\u00a0<\/p>\n FBI director Kash Patel also drew criticism for flying to Italy and celebrating with the men’s hockey team<\/a>. He was the one who called Trump following Team USA’s win.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Trump chuckled about the suggestion on the phone, the invite was ultimately extended to the women’s team. And the women’s team opted to decline.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The women took home the gold medal Saturday, defeating Canada in overtime 2-1<\/a>. The women’s team trailed late in the contest before Hilary Knight deflected the puck into the goal with roughly two minutes to play. Megan Keller then pulled off a tremendous move on a defender before scoring the game-winning goal in overtime to give Team USA the win. It wound up being the most-watched women’s hockey game of all time<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n A day later, the men defeated Canada in overtime 2-1 in eerily similar fashion. With the contest tied 1-1, Jack Hughes scored in overtime to give the men the walk-off, gold-medal win<\/a>. It marked the first time since the “Miracle on Ice” game that the men’s team took home gold in hockey at the Olympics.\u00a0<\/p>\n