US hockey was bathed in a golden Olympic glow. Then Donald Trump and Kash Patel stepped in

[Coventina]

Keeping politics at arm’s length for the US men’s hockey team’s gold-medal matchup with Canada was always going to be difficult.

The game fell on the 46th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, when an underdog group of US college players upset the mighty Soviet Union team against the backdrop of the cold war. But the US team who took the ice on Sunday were no plucky band of amateurs making a stand for democracy against authoritarianism – a point underscored when the US and Canada met last year in the 4 Nations Face-Off. Canadian fans booed the Star-Spangled Banner and the US players, either unaware of, or unsympathetic to, Canadian desires to be neither the 51st US state nor the USA’s opponent in a scorched-earth trade war, dropped the gloves to fight their opponents as soon as the game commenced.

Sunday’s game, though, was played with the utmost sportsmanship – and not just because Olympic rules punish fighting harshly. The teams’ well wishes extended beyond the traditional handshake line. Jack Hughes, who scored the winner for the US, was charming and gracious in victory, saying that one of his first thoughts was a recent conversation with Megan Keller, who grabbed the gold-clinching goal for the American women’s team a few days prior. Hockey’s force as a unifier was emphasized further when a video in which Hughes spoke of the importance of LGBTQ rights went viral.

The glow didn’t last long.

All who work in US sport, from top administrators down to the youth coaching and refereeing levels, are required to take training from the US Center for SafeSport, which reminds them to act promptly if they hear about sexual abuse accusations. So the optics of USA Hockey letting FBI director Kash Patel, who has been accused of mishandling the investigation of the Epstein files, party with the team were not great.



https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/feb/24/usa-hockey-team-gold-kash-patel-donald-trump-state-of-union

*****************************************************************************************************************

Everything Trump touches, dies.

On edit: shortened for copyright.

[RockRaven]

1. Meh. F- the mens hockey team. They chose Trump/MAGA. That is them choosing division and hate.

There is no such thing as neutrality or unity any more. And that is not MY standard or assessment, but that of Trump/MAGA. They have adopted the "with us or against us" and "one of us or an enemy" way of behaving. So be it.

And that is what the mens hockey team chose. So fuck them very much.

[City Lights]

7. I could not agree more! nt

[Efilroft Sul]

2. The men's team violated the #1 rule about vampires: Don't invite them in lest you risk being bitten. ETTD.

[Blues Heron]

3. Their Gold turned into lead- Trumps reverse alchemy at work

[hlthe2b]

4. Some of the team are undoubtedly nice guys who had no desire for Patel/Trump to insert themselves

and politicize their win. I would even consider giving them the benefit of the doubt for the laughter (nervous? alcohol-induced) when Trump made his disgusting mocking statement about "having to invite the women's team, though if any of them actually had a functioning spine, they would have at least interjected something respectful about the women's win and their mutual support for each other.

But, they are allowing themselves to be exploited for Trump's benefit--given he was terrified of having empty seats at the SOTU. So, the MEN's team (but no other Olympic winners) will fill those seats.

Some are MAGA undoubtedly, but the rest--screw 'em. Despicable one and all.

[tanyev]

5. They could have even posted on social media after that happened,

reiterating their support and respect for the women’s team. And maybe some of them did—I don’t follow it that closely—but I sure haven’t seen anything on DU about it.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Expect a little more openness AFTER they're home. nt