Team USA goalie Jake Oettinger reacts to Trump's locker room comments about the women's hockey team

Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger, a subordinate of the U.S. men’s hockey team, was asked astir the arguable comments President Donald Trump made astir the U.S. women’s hockey team.

In the locker country aft Team USA’s golden medal triumph implicit Canada, Trump invited the men’s squad to the State of the Union code via a telephone call. He told the men’s players that he’d "have" to invitation the women’s team, different "I astir apt would beryllium impeached," and the players laughed.

Trump’s comments and the men’s team’s reactions went viral and drew disapproval from fans. Oettinger was asked his thoughts connected Trump’s telephone telephone and his comments.

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Jake Oettinger warms up earlier the lucifer against Germany astatine the Winter Olympics astatine Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena successful Milan, Italy, connected Feb. 15, 2026. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

"My sentiment connected that is there's nary 1 that supports women's hockey much than me. I cognize a batch of those girls personally. I deliberation if you would've been astatine the barroom watching the crippled with maine wherever I was, watching the women's hockey, determination was nary 1 arsenic excited arsenic maine erstwhile they won the golden medal," Oettinger told reporters connected Wednesday.

"They're incredible, and they merit each the recognition successful the world. They're dominant. I was conscionable truthful blessed for those girls. To get to cognize a fewer of them personally made it that overmuch cooler. It’s beauteous chill successful the information that the men and the women some person the golden medal close now."

Oettinger said helium attended the women's hockey team's triumph implicit Canada during the preliminary rounds.

Jake Oettinger earlier the Slovakia lucifer astatine the Winter Olympics successful Milan connected Feb. 20, 2026. (Hassan Ammar/AP Photo)

The women’s hockey squad initially declined Trump’s invitation to the White House, but the president announced during the State of the Union that the players would beryllium visiting.

Oettinger backed up Team USA’s prima goalie, Connor Hellebuyck, during the tourney but did not look connected the crystal passim the Olympic Games.

The 27-year-old goaltender was 1 of 5 players who did not spell to the White House to sojourn Trump. Oettinger said getting invited was a tremendous grant but cited household and the Stars’ upcoming agelong tally arsenic reasons for not going.

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Jake Oettinger, Connor Hellebuyck and Jeremy Swayman observe aft winning the gold-medal crippled astatine the Winter Olympics connected Feb. 22, 2026. (James Lang/Imagn Images)

"First of all, getting invited to spell to the White House is simply a tremendous honor. I think, for me, I've been fundamentally surviving successful Italy for a month. I person a immense agelong run. I wasn't playing much," Oettinger said.

"I wanted to travel backmost and get my crippled acceptable to go, and I besides person a 3-month-old babe astatine home, and we've been traveling the world. So that was benignant of what went into that. I deliberation those guys had a large clip there, but that's wherefore I didn't go."

Brock Nelson, Jackson LaCombe, Jake Guentzel and Kyle Connor were the different members of Team USA who did not sojourn the White House connected Tuesday.

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