Oettinger, a goaltender for Team USA’s gold medal-winning men’s hockey team in the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, is one of a handful of players skipping the trip.
DALLAS — Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger has returned to Dallas, and will not take part in Team USA’s visit the White House or attendance of the State of the Union address, team officials told WFAA.
Oettinger, who served as a backup goaltender for the U.S. Olympics men’s hockey team during the Milan Cortina Winter Games, is one of a handful of Team USA players who are reported to be directly returning home from Italy and skipping the Washington D.C. trip.
The goalie is expected to be at the Stars’ morning skate on Wednesday at the American Airlines Center, preparing to play later in the night as Dallas hosts the Seattle Kraken in its first NHL game in three weeks — a leaguewide hiatus put into place due to Winter Olympics scheduling conflicts.
The U.S. men’s hockey team received an invitation to attend the State of the Union and visit the White House from Trump following its 2-1 gold medal win over Canada on Sunday. A video circulating on social media shows Trump extending those invitations during a phone call made to the locker room as the team celebrated its victory. In that call, the president joked that, to avoid criticism for the invite, he would also have to extend the same offer the U.S. women’s hockey team, which also won gold over Canada during the Milan Cortina Winter Games.
The women declined, citing scheduling issues. Much of the women’s team was not scheduled to arrive in North America until Monday evening. The women took a commercial flight back to the States, and were scheduled to land in Atlanta. A person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that the women’s players didn’t learn of the invite until late Sunday night, making it difficult to change their travel plans. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the team’s travel plans.
In his call with the men’s team, the president floated the idea of using a military plane to transport the players from Italy back to the States. Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk posted images on social media of members of the team posing for pictures outside of and celebrating on what appears to be a U.S. government plane.
Men’s team players also posed for a photograph in front of the South Portico after they arrived at the White House. They were also seen walking along the West Wing colonnade, just steps away from the Oval Office, where Trump has posted portraits of every U.S. president. Videos and photos of the team at the White House were shared on social media by one of Trump’s aides.
The NHL’s regular season resumes with five games on Wednesday, including the Stars’ game against the Kraken. Dallas picks up after the Olympic break in third place of the Central Division standings, behind the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild. Even though Dallas is third in its division, the team boasts the fifth-best record in the entire NHL.
Oettinger’s 23 wins this season is the third-best mark in the league among goaltenders.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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