The gold-medal-winning team landed at Joint Base Andrews and went to the White House on Tuesday ahead of their visit to the Capitol.
WASHINGTON — The gold-medal-winning U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team landed at Joint Base Andrews and went to the White House ahead of a visit to the Capitol for President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night.
Forward Matthew Tkachuk posted pictures on social media of members of the team celebrating on what appears to be a U.S. government plane and a group shot of them deplaning.
One of Trump’s aides posted photos and videos of the team meeting Trump in the Oval Office.
The U.S. beat Canada 2-1 in overtime on Sunday at the Milan Cortina Olympics. It was the Americans’ first gold medal in men’s hockey since the “Miracle on Ice” group won in Lake Placid, New York, in 1980.
The team received a State of the Union invitation from Trump following the game. A video that circulated on social media appeared to show Trump inviting the team on a phone call in the locker room, as he joked that he’d also have to invite the women’s team, which also won gold over Canada.
The women declined, citing scheduling issues.
Many of the women players were not scheduled to arrive in North America until Monday evening. The women took a commercial flight 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.
The men’s team took a chartered plane to Miami on Monday night before traveling to the nation’s capital in the morning.
Team members posed for a photograph in front of the South Portico after they arrived at the White House. They also walked along the West Wing colonnade, where Trump has posted portraits of every U.S. president, just steps away from the Oval Office. Videos and photos of the team were shared on social media by one of Trump’s aides.
Five players from the Olympic team were absent due to scheduling conflicts with upcoming games.
“Twenty of the 25 members of the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team plan to attend the State of the Union address on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.,” a USA Hockey representative confirmed to The Athletic on Tuesday.
When does the NHL and PWHL regular season resume?
NHL regular season resumes with five games on Wednesday and the PWHL resumes on Thursday.
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