This time, in the wake of a week-long dust-up involving the United States women’s and men’s Olympic gold medal-winning hockey teams — with the assistance of “Saturday Night Live” writers — it was Hillary Knight’s turn to provide a big laugh.
US women’s team captain Knight with teammate Megan Keller and men’s team brothers jack And quinn hughes“Heated Rivalry” star Connor Story made a surprise appearance during his opening monologue on “SNL” on Saturday night.
The Hughes brothers were already on stage with Storey, and Knight and Keller joined them in applause. All four players were wearing USA jerseys and had gold medals hanging around their necks.
Knight began by saying: “It was just going to be us, but we thought we’d invite people too.”
The comment was an apparent reference to the controversy that arose when the men received a congratulatory call from President Donald Trump after Sunday’s 2-1 overtime win against Canada at the Milan Cortina Games.
Addressing the team on speakerphone, Trump invited men to his State of the Union speech before announcing he would have to invite women as well. The President later said that if he did not invite women, he would be in danger of being impeached, causing players to laugh at the comment, which many considered gender discriminatory.
Knight on Wednesday called the joke “disgusting and unfortunate.”
Meanwhile, many people said they laughed while celebrating. boston bruins goalkeeper jeremy swayman He acknowledged that he “should have reacted differently” to Trump’s comments.
The U.S. women, who had defeated Canada 2–1 in overtime three days earlier, politely declined Trump’s invitation due to travel plans. The players traveled commercially and returned to North America late Monday after the men traveled on a charter flight paid for by the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association.
jack hughes Scored an overtime goal for the men.
Keller scored an overtime goal for the Women after Knight tied the score in the final minutes of regulation.
Knight plays for the Seattle Torrents of the PWHL, and traveled to New York City a day after being placed on long-term injured reserve. Keller, who plays for Boston, flew to New York hours after playing in the Fleet’s 3-2 shootout win in Ottawa earlier in the day.
Jack Hughes plays for the NHL New Jersey Devils and for quinn minnesota wild.
Knight delivered another punchline when Quinn Hughes pointed out that the last time the men won a gold medal was 46 years ago at the 1980 Lake Placid Games.
Knight then said that women last won a gold medal in 2018.
Laughing, Jack Hughes responded, “Nice burn,” before turning to Storey and adding: “These gold medals aren’t just for us. These are for all hockey fans, including you.”
When Storey asked if he could try for a medal, all four players shot back and said, “No.”
“Heated Rivalry” has quickly become a hit after its first season on HBO Max. Adapted from the novel by Rachel Reed, published in 2019, it features a story revolving around a lesbian hockey romance in which two players from opposing teams carry on a secret, long-term relationship.
