MILAN – Players were singing, their arms slung around one another, belting out ‘Dream on,’ and ‘We are the champions,’ when a phone rang.
It was Donald J. Trump.
‘The players just had the President on, I don’t know what it was, what do you call it, FaceTime, whatever, in the locker room,’ coach Mike Sullivan said about an hour after the USA men had clinched the gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics. ‘He just spoke to the group, expressing how proud he was of the group and congratulating everybody on the win.’
It was uncertain if a trip to the White House is coming because the players and Sullivan are all returning to their NHL jobs on Feb. 23. They were originally scheduled to fly to New York’s JFK airport, but the flight plan was changed to Miami because of the storm battering the northeast.
Captain Auston Matthews described what it was like to hear from the president.
‘For us, it’s a huge moment for the United States,’ Matthews said. ‘He called and just congratulated us. I think there’s a lot of moving parts as far as our travels back home. We’ll kind of see what happens, but obviously it’s an honor to wear this jersey and to represent the U.S.
‘To go home with a gold medal, I mean, you know how much that means to the guys in this room and how much it means to all the people watching and rooting us on, too.’
Sullivan said the game, won 2-1 in overtime against archrival Canada, ‘was an inspiration to our country. I can’t tell you how many texts I’ve received over the last day or so about watch parties at 8 o’clock in the morning. I think from a viewership standpoint, the United States, there were a lot of people paying attention, the President included.’
Shop Team USA hockey gold medal gear