Editors at National Review Online assess the media-driven controversy over celebrating Americans’ Olympic hockey victory.
The U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team didn’t just bring home the first gold medal for the program since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice”; they did so in dramatic fashion — with a game-winning goal in overtime against a stacked Canadian team and an otherworldly performance by their goalie.
It was a wonderful moment for Americans, with plenty of added human interest for the media to feast on. Jack Hughes had teeth knocked out by a stick during the game, only to return to score the winning shot; his brother and teammate, Quinn Hughes, had scored a game-winning goal in the quarterfinals; and their mother, Ellen Hughes, won a world championship with the 1992 U.S. women’s hockey team. NHL star Johnny Gaudreau was supposed to play for the team but died tragically at 31 after being hit by a drunk driver in 2024. Team USA’s players never forgot him, parading around with his jersey after wins, and in a touching moment after the Olympic victory, they grabbed his kids to pose with them in their team picture.
It was the stuff of a Hollywood movie, and yet, with the champagne still spraying in the locker room, the American media already had turned on them. All because they celebrated with FBI Director Kash Patel and welcomed a call from President Trump. The supposedly problematic moment came when they accepted Trump’s invitation to visit the White House and attend the State of the Union, and laughed when Trump joked that he would be impeached if he didn’t also invite the women’s hockey team. …
… In typical media fashion, journalists injected political controversy into what should have been a unifying celebratory moment and then commented on the controversy they had created as if it were reality.
