Ellen Hughes, the mom of Team USA men’s hockey stars Jack and Quinn Hughes, is speaking out about the controversy surrounding the team’s gold medal win.
“I think at the end of the day, it’s just about the country and the moment that these players, both the men and women, can bring so much unity to a group and to a country,” Ellen said in an interview with Today on Tuesday, February 24. “People that cheered on that don’t watch hockey, people that have politics on one side or on the other side. And that’s all both the men’s team and the women’s team care about.”
Team USA defeated Canada, 2-1, in the gold medal game on Sunday, February 22, and President Donald Trump called to congratulate the team as they celebrated in the locker room alongside FBI director Kash Patel. On the call, Trump, 79, invited the team to the State of the Union before taking a perceived jab at the women’s team.
“We have medals for you guys,” Trump said. “I must tell you, we‘re going to have to bring the women’s team.”
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He added that “I do believe I probably would be impeached” if he did not invite the women.
Trump’s comments drew laughter from the players, which went viral on social media as apparent disrespect from the men’s team toward the women’s. Ellen, however, said that behind the scenes, there is nothing but respect between the two teams.
“If you could see what we see from the inside and the men and women sharing, you know, dorm rooms and halls and flex floors and the camaraderie and the synergy, and the way the women cheered on the men and the way the men cheered on the women,” she said. “That’s what it’s all about.”
She continued, “The other things, they cannot control. They care about humanity. They care about unity and they care about the country. I hope everybody just understands what we did in the moment, both the men and women to bring this country together and let everybody cheer in the same direction.”
Trump ultimately invited the gold-medal-winning women’s team to his State of the Union address on Tuesday, February 24, though they declined the invitation, citing prior commitments.
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“We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal–winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement,” a USA Hockey spokesperson said in a statement on Monday, February 23. “Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate.”
Jack, 24, scored the game-winning goal for the men’s team, and in an interview with the Daily Mail on Monday, downplayed the controversy.
“They’ve got busy schedules too,” he said of the women’s team. “Everyone is giving us backlash for all the social media stuff today.”
Jack continued, “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.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.”
