Men's ice hockey medal in Olympics 2026 lost its glittery gold very quickly after the post game locker room debacle

Echo report by Mary Clarke published in USA Today:

USA men’s hockey team utterly failed to meet the cultural moment

Like many United States hockey fans, I grew up loving Miracle On Ice.... "first hockey gold since 1980 'Miracle on Ice'"

U.S. wins men's hockey gold 2026

Although I wasn't born yet when the United States stunned the Soviet Union en route to the gold medal at the 1980, Winter Olympics, but I knew the story as if it were my own lived memory.

I was, however, alive for Sidney Crosby's golden goal for Canada at the 2010, Winter Olympics that took down the United States. As a teenage Philadelphia Flyers fan who saw her greatest NHL rival score for her greatest international rival, the goal broke my heart. I had suffered many disappointing sports results before and have since, but none have stuck with me the way Crosby's goal has over the years.

So, to see the United States men's hockey team finally win Olympic gold in my lifetime was a dream come true. 

But, what happened since then has been nothing short of a disappointment.

As the celebrations from the 2-1 overtime win over Canada spilled off the ice and behind closed doors, FBI director Kash Patel joined Team USA in the locker room in a leaked video that has since gone viral. In the video, Patel is seen celebrating and drinking beer with the team, whose victory came on the same day an armed man breached the perimeter at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property. 

So Patel was missing in action at Mar-a-Lago while the FBI has  taken the lead investigating the dangerous incident.

In another video posted amidst the postgame celebrations, Patel was seen holding up a cell phone to the hockey team for a call with President Trump. Included in the call is a moment where Trump and the team seemingly share a laugh about having to invite the United States women's team — who also won gold against Canada — to the White House as well.

Donald Trump: We'll do it at the White House... we'll just have some fun, we have medals for you guys. And we have to, I must tell you, we're going to have to bring the women's team, you do know that?

United States men's hockey team: [Laughter and cheers]

Trump: I do believe I probably would be impeached, okay❓🤢

Team: [More laughter]

I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels as if a bucket of cold water was dumped on your head after listening to that exchange.

Let's take a step back for a second. The 2026, Winter Olympics was a record-breaking one for the United States. In Milan and Cortina, the United States won 12 gold medals, the most ever for the country in a winter Olympics. Of those 12 golds, eight were won by women. Alysa Liu won the United States' first women's individual gold in figure skating since Sarah Hughes in 2002. Bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor became the oldest Winter Olympian to win an individual gold at age 41. Mikaela Shiffrin took home gold in the women's slalom, completing her redemption tour after failing to medal in Beijing in 2022.

And, just last October, the Vegas Golden Knights signed free agent goaltender Carter Hart. Hart was one of the five players found not guilty on sexual assault charges in the Hockey Canada sexual assault case that had two juries dismissed before a verdict was reached.

This is just the latest blow to the NHL's often-mocked motto of "hockey is for everyone". For fans, it's yet another example about the "best sport, worst league" adage ringing true once more.

But hockey has had an unprecedented pop culture surge recently in the form of Heated Rivalry, which has brought in droves of women and members of the LGBTQ+ community to hockey's doorstep. 

Not only that, USA hockey star Quinn Hughes became an internet sensation these Olympics after acknowledging his hilarious vacant, seeing-ghosts stare that has captured many people's hearts.

With hockey at the peak of its popularity in the pop culture zeitgeist, (mood), sadly, the United States men's team failed to meet the moment and then some.

It's especially disappointing considering the lip service the men's team paid to the women throughout the Olympics. 

Multiple members of the men's team attended games in support of their Team USA peers, and Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk both had high praise for the United States women in their pursuit of gold.

Auston Matthews on X/ (formerly Twitter): "Watching them, being around them, they're a very determined group. There's a lot of high-end players there. Some girls that have been around for a little bit & some that are coming up that are extremely impressive. We're rooting for them big on Thursday."

And after the gold medal game, Jack Hughes told NHL reporter Jackie Redmond that Megan Keller was the first person on his mind after scoring the golden goal for the United States. Just a few days prior, Keller was the hero for the United States women with her overtime goal against Canada.

The Hughes brothers also have a deep connection to the United States women's hockey program. Their mother, Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, was part of the US women's national team that won silver at the 1992, world championships. Since then, Weinberg-Hughes has been a player development consultant for the United States women's national team and no doubt contributed to the gold medal the team won at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

All of that feels so hollow now in the face of the team's embarrassing postgame moments with Patel and Trump. To laugh at a joke disparaging your United States teammates and peers who won the same accomplishments as you just a few days prior is incredibly disappointing behavior.

It leaves such a sour taste to the end of what has been an exceptional Olympics, not just for the United States but the entire world. The Olympics bring people together from different backgrounds, cultures and locations to celebrate great achievements in sport. Every handful of years, we are treated to some of the most thrilling victories and crushing defeats imaginable, all wrapped up in poignant human emotion.

Since winning gold at these Olympics, Alysa Liu has gone viral for her joyous, carefree attitude that shone through in her free skate performance. Liu's overt joy in her body language and her words has been such a breath of fresh air in a sport that is often cruel if you bring less than your absolute best. It's a message that has reverberated outside of sports too, as people have taken Liu's approach to mental health and have applied it to their own lives.

On the Olympic stage, it's not just about sports. The United States men's hockey team showed that themselves as they brought Johnny Gaudreau's jersey onto the ice to celebrate as a tribute to his passing back in 2024. The team even brought his children out to take part in the celebratory on-ice team photo.

That is what the lasting message of this hockey team should have been. Not laughing at jokes about their peers, not going mask off after the doors close, but a celebration of life, of joy and of a teammate that tragically passed away way too soon.

In NBC's final sign off after the game as the team was still celebrating on the ice, Mike Tirico had touching words to say on the lasting legacy of this game for those who were watching.

"So, for all the young people. Not just the hockey, but all the Olympics you've watched: Those dreams are formed now," Tirico said. "Go chase them and go get them; because our country loves sports and it brings us together unlike anything else.

"And if you didn't know that," he added, "if you haven't been watching the last two weeks, you saw it in Team USA hockey."