Team USA ice hockey star Jack Hughes, known for being featured in one of the most iconic sports photos in recent memory, said his fans are probably going to be “p*ssed” when he fixes his broken teeth.
The 24-year-old athlete <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/nhl/article-15629235/jack-hughes-usa-olympics-hockey-teeth.html">told</a> The Daily Mail that dentists are chomping at the bit for the opportunity to repair his cracked smile, but Hughes knows the repair won’t go over well with everyone. 
“Yeah, the amount of dentists that have reached out, man, it’s too many,” he told the outlet during an appearance at Raising Cane’s in Times Square on Monday. “But I’m going to get them fixed, hopefully this week.”
“I think people will be p*ssed if I do get them fixed,” Hughes added.
Team USA won gold during the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan for the first time in 46 years. The game came down to overtime against Canada. Hughes, a center and alternate captain for the New Jersey Devils, scored the winning goal.
Hughes was captured in an iconic, patriotic photo that quickly went viral. The ice hockey player can be seen smiling a bloody, broken grin, raising his fist in victory, and posing with an American flag draped around his shoulders. Viewers praised the emotions conveyed by the single image, which at once exemplified grit, determination, and ultimately, American excellence. 
But any new or old fans should already know that Hughes wasn’t willing to live with broken and missing teeth forever, even if his smile helped make him famous.
One reporter asked about it after Team USA’s big win last month, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gold-lost-teeth-and-a-true-grit-american-moment-from-jack-hughes">reported</a>.
“You get hit in the face. You lose a tooth or two. You still maintained your composure and stayed in the game. You’re tough enough to keep playing, you scored the winning goal … what is that like?” the reporter asked at the time.
“Yeah. I mean, it sounds like definitely crazy for you guys because just different profession, but in hockey, like, if you lose your teeth, it’s not even a question of, like, coming back and playing,” Hughes replied. “That’s like an automatic.”
Hughes described the moment he realized what had happened, saying, “I just, like, was feeling around my mouth and I was just disappointed I lost my teeth…but it is what it is now, so,” he added while laughing.
When asked whether he planned to keep his smile the way it was, he said, “No, I’m going to fix these things, I want my good smile back.”
&nbsp;

Jack Huges

Team USA Hockey Star Jack Hughes Says Fans Won’t Be Happy When He Fixes Famous Smile

Team USA Hockey Star Jack Hughes Knows Fans Will Be 'P*ssed' When He Fixes His Teeth

Hockey

Men's Hockey

Olympics

Team USA

Winter Olympics

Confucius once said, “he who chases two rabbits, catches neither.” Perhaps San Francisco native Eileen Gu should have thought about that before skiing for China in the Olympics.
Despite fawning coverage and glowing praise from the Western press, Gu has drawn sharp rebuke from Americans for snubbing her nation. But she isn’t catching much love from the Chinese public, either.
Her Chinese critics have nicknamed her &#8220;Gu Ai Qian,” a pointed play on her given Chinese name &#8220;Gu Ai Ling,” which literally translates to &#8220;Gu Loves Money.&#8221;
This insult highlights the widespread perception that Gu is an opportunist, ditching her native country to maximize personal profit in a system that, paradoxically, rewards her with state funds and endorsement riches unattainable for most Chinese citizens.
A Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau budget that was eventually scrubbed from the internet revealed China paid Gu and another athlete a combined $6.6 million ahead of the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics, with nearly $14 million paid over three years. On top of this government funding, she has also amassed enormous wealth through global luxury brand endorsements, earning around $23 million in 2025 from sponsorships with companies like Red Bull, Porsche, and Louis Vuitton, as well as Chinese firms such as Anta and TCL, making her one of the world&#8217;s highest-paid female athletes.
Ever since the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, speculation has raged over Eileen Gu&#8217;s actual citizenship status, with many wondering if she quietly holds dual citizenship with China. Gu has remained notoriously evasive whenever the topic comes up, dodging direct questions and leaving the public guessing.
This ambiguity has fueled resentment in China, where dual citizenship is strictly prohibited. Without any evidence that Gu has renounced her American citizenship, Chinese commentators bemoan her special treatment as a privileged foreign-born elite, bending rules that ordinary citizens could never get away with.
Chinese netizens have begun deploying the popular skincare mantra “Morning C, Evening A” — a reminder to use vitamin C products in the morning and vitamin A in the evening — to mock Gu’s dual loyalty. During the day, Gu competes under the Chinese flag, cheering for the motherland and reaping the rewards, only to revert to her American self off the slopes, enjoying the personal freedom and luxury brands of the West.
Other Chinese critics have openly called Gu unpatriotic — accusations which she responded to on the Chinese social media platform Douyin.
“In the past five years, I’ve represented China in 41 international competitions and have won 39 medals for China,&#8221; Gu says to the camera. &#8220;I have also introduced three chief coaches and donated freestyle skis to the national team, and continually advocated for China and women on the global stage. What have you done for the country?”
This fiery post notwithstanding, Gu has made several attempts to thread the needle on her identity, telling several media outlets that she’s American when she’s in the United States and Chinese when she’s in China. Her biculturalism and dual nationality might well be forgiven by Americans if U.S.-China tensions weren’t so heightened at the moment. If an American athlete had defected to represent the Soviet Winter Olympic team in the 1980s, she would have been branded as a traitor, universally despised by the public, and excoriated by the media.
The same accusations of dual loyalty leveled against Eileen Gu from the American side might have carried far less sting, and perhaps even been tempered with understanding, had she ever openly acknowledged and expressed genuine gratitude for the freedoms, opportunities and nurturing environment that both she and her mother, Yan Gu, enjoyed after Yan fled China decades ago to forge a new life in the United States. It was precisely those American liberties and opportunities, including access to elite education and world-class training facilities, that laid the foundation for Eileen’s extraordinary career and global success. A simple, heartfelt recognition of that debt could have softened the narrative of betrayal for many Americans.
Instead, she feels quite free to lob criticisms at her home country while remaining notably silent on China’s human rights record. When pressed on the documented repression and cultural erasure of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang by the Chinese Communist Party, Gu shrugged it off, saying, &#8220;I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s my business.&#8221;
Of course, all of this actually endears her to the Western media elite and global consumer brands, who view Gu as the living embodiment of the Davos mindset — a borderless, fluid world citizen who transcends outdated notions of national loyalty. In this cosmopolitan worldview, sovereign allegiance is a parochial relic of a bygone era, unfit for the enlightened global class that prizes transnational flexibility and seamless access to markets above all else.
Gu’s ability to navigate and profit handsomely from both the American system that granted her mother refuge and the CCP’s vast, state-directed economy makes her the perfect poster child for this ideology. The message from glossy profiles, luxury campaigns, and elite commentary is unmistakable: true modern virtue lies not in unwavering loyalty and love of country, but in mastering the art of being everywhere and nowhere at once — especially when that strategy aligns with the interests of authoritarian capital and multinational corporations eager to court the Chinese market. In their eyes, Gu isn’t betraying anything; she’s simply ahead of the curve, a gleaming symbol of the post-national future they champion.
Perhaps Gu has unwittingly manifested her long-stated dream of serving as a bridge between China and the United States. On the ground in both countries, populist sentiment has coalesced in strikingly parallel ways: ordinary Americans decry her as an opportunistic turncoat who exploits American freedoms while cashing in on Beijing&#8217;s largesse, while Chinese citizens mock and brand her dual loyalties. Both Americans and Chinese are rejecting the notion that one can glide seamlessly between superpowers, reaping rewards from each without genuine allegiance or sacrifice.
In the end, it comes back to Confucius: If you want to catch a rabbit, you have to pick one to chase.
Melissa Chen is the managing director of Strategy Risks, a business intelligence firm dedicated to assessing and mitigating China-related risks for corporations, NGOs, and governments.
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Untitled design – 2026-02-26T134447.465

Eileen Gu’s Dual Loyalties Earn Her Double Resentment

China

Eileen Gu

U.S. Citizens

Someone grab the Zamboni. There is a meltdown happening right now on social media over the United States Olympic men&#8217;s hockey team.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a fu*king scary time on hockey twitter right now,&#8221; a user <a href="https://x.com/admbeaumont/status/2026106336207856012">posted</a> to X after penning an entire article about their disgust with the men&#8217;s team.
The team that should be universally celebrated for winning the United States a gold medal in men&#8217;s hockey. Instead, they&#8217;re being torn apart by people on the Left who expected a group of jocks 10 bottles of booze deep in the locker room after making history to stand up to President Donald Trump for cracking a joke about the women&#8217;s hockey team.
&#8220;I will actually never look at those men the same ever again,&#8221; another person on X <a href="https://x.com/hrts4celebrini/status/2026240198015590844">wrote</a>. &#8220;The USA women&#8217;s hockey team deserves an apology for so much more.&#8221;
The men&#8217;s team immediately celebrated the women&#8217;s accomplishment after their own overtime gold-medal match. Jack Hughes, the golden goal scorer, said the first thing he thought about moments after scoring the winning goal was Megan Keller, who had scored the winning goal for the women&#8217;s team.
During the locker room celebration, the men&#8217;s team can be heard yelling &#8220;two for two,&#8221; meaning the golden hockey sweep, which marked the first time ever the men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s teams brought home the top Olympic prize.
Still, the hate is piling on because the men accepted the president&#8217;s invitation to the State of the Union on Tuesday in Washington, something most would call a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
However, Greg Cote, host of &#8220;The Dan Le Batard Show,&#8221; who couldn&#8217;t find the back of a mile-long net, called the men&#8217;s hockey team a &#8220;willing pawn&#8221; for attending Tuesday&#8217;s State of the Union.
&#8220;As long as the players realize that, this is an immensely unpopular president with half of the nation. Going to this, to serve as a willing pawn, is controversial,&#8221; Cote <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/usa-hockey-players-receive-warning-170103943.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAE97FKmhLGLodzFNszdAgV8GlSjx98OoVINXLZVdK2ucQPtffIUafBLu-OnAoslhyA9_4Zy1CNBzZzimmzy3j6JZsAIcTzACAFQHJGKoqWR0WBghdcOy-E81e3n0m2bh4gxPloip3O64CdVzbfVGq2_8V_QL3YMDDOG4rIYmM5xT">said</a> Tuesday.
The women&#8217;s team declined, stating prior commitments.
&#8220;We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal-winning U.S. Women&#8217;s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement,&#8221; a USA Hockey spokesperson said to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/us-womens-hockey-team-declines-trumps-invitation-state-union-rcna260299">NBC News</a>.
There are people online comparing the men&#8217;s hockey team to January 6 rioters for not denouncing what most considered a joke in real time during a celebratory beer pong game.
&#8220;It&#8217;s so crazy to be so disrespectful of women&#8217;s sports when your mom is literally a pioneer for women&#8217;s hockey,&#8221; another person <a href="https://x.com/satosgs/status/2025797932029510011?s=20">said</a>.
Ellen Hughes, who worked with the Olympic women&#8217;s team and is a medal winner herself, was asked about the phone call with the men&#8217;s team on Tuesday morning and simply called for unity.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unity-over-politics-ellen-hughes-schools-media-after-team-usas-historic-double-gold-sweep">Unity Over Politics: Ellen Hughes Schools Media After Team USA’s Historic ‘Double Gold’ Sweep</a>
&#8220;At the end of the day, it’s just about the country,&#8221; Hughes said. &#8220;I think the moment that these players, both the men and women, can bring so much unity to a group and to a country—people that cheered on that don’t watch hockey, people that have politics on one side or on the other side—that’s all both teams care about.&#8221;
Hockey on X for sure won&#8217;t like that completely sane response.

Credit: Elsa via Getty Images

The Left Cannot Handle The Olympic Hockey Team Having Fun And It’s Hilarious

The Left Cannot Handle Hockey Being Fun And It's Hilarious

News

Sports

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
For a brief moment on Sunday, America was united. After the final Olympic hockey showdown between the United States and Canada went into overtime, Americans watched with glee as we <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/usa-wins-olympic-hockey-gold-in-ot-thriller-over-canada?author=Andie+Valdes&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=USA+Wins+Olympic+Hockey+Gold+In+OT+Thriller+Over+Canada">beat</a> our northern neighbors at their own game. Forward Jack Hughes, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gold-lost-teeth-and-a-true-grit-american-moment-from-jack-hughes">sacrificed</a> at least half a tooth for the win, <a href="https://x.com/NHL/status/2025609617401667925">flashed</a> us an iconic, bloody smile, and people across the nation celebrated yet another Olympic gold.
Then, in less time than it probably took for Hughes to call his dentist, the unity shattered. While the team celebrated in the locker room, President Donald Trump called to congratulate the players on their win and invite them to Tuesday’s State of the Union address. Then, Trump being Trump, he made a joke.
“I must tell you, we&#8217;re going to have to bring the women’s team. You do know that?” he said. If he didn’t invite the team, he said, “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”
A <a href="https://x.com/HarrisonKrank/status/2025740079319175508">video</a> of the call went viral, and commentators grew gravely indignant on behalf of the women’s gold medal-winning team. But instead of criticizing Trump, the person who actually made the churlish remark, they went after the players.
“The USA men’s hockey team utterly failed to meet the cultural moment,” <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2026/02/23/united-states-mens-hockey-team-olympics-donald-trump-call-kash-patel-failure/88824415007/">declared</a> a USA Today writer. “The U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team won gold — and then lost the room,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7068426/2026/02/24/usa-mens-olympics-hockey-gold-donald-trump/">whined</a> a columnist at the New York Times. Incredibly, Vox <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/480181/alysa-liu-eileen-gu-winter-olympics-gold-medal-winenrs-losers">released</a> a list of the winners and losers of the Olympics, fawning over Eileen Gu, an American who chose to represent communist China, as a “winner,” and declaring the U.S. men’s hockey team a “loser.” Various internet onlookers demanded that the team <a href="https://x.com/simpjd74/status/2026323059783708914">“do better”</a> and <a href="https://x.com/IanKennedyCK/status/2026156754288120197">“apologize for laughing.”</a>
Perhaps the funniest development was the solemn response of Twitter fan page “daily jack hughes,” which <a href="https://x.com/dailyjhugh/status/2025988408586150189">posted</a>, “hi, honestly I am unsure of what to do with this account right now. I will figure it out eventually, but there will be no daily content happening. linked below are some important resources. lastly, f*ck ice and this administration. never stop supporting women.”
These critics’ demands were many. The team must explicitly denounce Trump and his administration, refuse his invitation to the State of the Union like the women’s hockey team did (apparently for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/two-gold-medal-teams-two-very-different-responses-to-trumps-invitation">scheduling conflicts</a>), personally apologize for Trump’s joke, and probably invent a time machine and smash the cell phone Trump called them on. 
No matter that the players have been supportive of their female peers. On Sunday, Hughes <a href="https://www.outkick.com/sports/jack-hughes-megan-keller-first-person-thought-of-gold-medal-winning-goal-olympics">said</a> the first person he thought of after scoring the winning goal was Megan Keller, who had just cinched the win for the U.S. women’s team. Even in the video, one player can be heard chanting “two for two!” in honor of both teams’ wins.
Hughes, for his part, has responded to the controversy like a champ. “They&#8217;ve got busy schedules, too,” he <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/winterolympics/article-15586847/jack-hughes-team-usa-hockey-trump.html">said</a> of the women’s team in response to criticism of their declining the White House invitation. “Everyone is giving us backlash for all the social media stuff today.”
This, he suggested, is a non-controversy. “People are so negative out there, and they are just trying to find a reason to put people down and make something out of almost nothing,” he said. 
Hughes’s mother, a former hockey player herself, also refused to take the bait. &#8220;These players, both the men and women, can bring so much unity to a group and to a country,” she <a href="https://www.today.com/news/sports/ellen-hughes-mom-jack-quinn-hughes-trump-mens-hockey-video-controversy-rcna260398">said</a>.
It’s not really worth arguing over to what degree President Trump’s joke was in poor taste. The U.S. men’s team could have immediately embarked on the cable news apology circuit and made a fat donation to the National Organization for Women, and it still wouldn’t have been good enough. Short of posting Luigi Mangione fanfiction, there is no way for them to redeem themselves in the eyes of progressives, for whom everything, always, is political.
Of course, there were no such controversies when former President Joe Biden hosted Olympians in 2024 and 2022. For all of our faults, we conservatives tend not to compare our presidents to Nazis and demand that athletes and celebrities refrain from fraternizing with them. Not so for our counterparts across the aisle. 
To the legacy media and some keyboard warriors on Twitter, there is no such thing as neutrality. “This isn’t a neutral climate,” wrote the New York Times columnist in his criticism of the men’s hockey team. “This isn’t a neutral president.”
But the president is never neutral. He has always represented a particular party with its own ambitions that might be served by latching on to the good publicity of an Olympic win. What has changed is that certain figures in the media have decided that you’re only allowed to engage with one side, the “good” side, which is therefore neutral. The best you can hope for as a public figure is for no one to ask you about politics. That game isn’t as simple as hockey. If the mob comes for you, there is no way to win.
***
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Have an idea for Upstream? We welcome submissions; interested writers can send pitches to upstream@dailywire.com.

Ice Hockey – Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics: Day 16

From Gold Medal Glory To Progressive Public Enemies: Why The Leftist Mob Came For Team USA

Donald Trump

Media

Upstream

Not even 48 hours after they clinched their first gold medal in 46 years, the men of the U.S. Olympic hockey team landed on American soil — and proceeded with gusto to paint the Miami club scene red, white, and blue.
Videos quickly circulated on X of the team descending on the popular Miami hotspot E11even, where they led the crowd in a loud, raucous rendition of &#8220;The Star-Spangled Banner.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The US hockey team rolled into E11ven night club in Miami and led the club in singing the national anthem. This is phenomenal: <a href="https://t.co/Fq3oa3NwZN">pic.twitter.com/Fq3oa3NwZN</a>
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/2026186773030678923?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The boisterous — and clearly infectious — patriotism didn&#8217;t stop there, as members of the team then went on to lead the crowd in singing Lee Greenwood&#8217;s &#8220;God Bless the U.S.A.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
US hockey team leads Miami’s E11ven night club in singing Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.” <a href="https://t.co/tV7tx338df">pic.twitter.com/tV7tx338df</a>
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/2026295728897740859?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The team led the singing themselves, pouring drinks for fans as they sang along. And when the song came to the iconic line — &#8220;I will gladly stand up next to you, and defend her still today&#8221; — every single member of Team USA stopped and stood tall.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Elite patriotic awareness from the US gold medal hockey team during Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA,” last night. You’ve gotta skate to where the puck is going, not where it is. <a href="https://t.co/o6ze96AHuh">pic.twitter.com/o6ze96AHuh</a>
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/2026308752912404583?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The late country star Toby Keith&#8217;s &#8220;Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue&#8221; also got a nod during the celebration.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
US men’s gold medal hockey team leads E11ven night club in singing along to Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.” <a href="https://t.co/SPx32kKbk3">pic.twitter.com/SPx32kKbk3</a>
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/2026306274573644002?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The team is also set to join the crowd on Tuesday evening for President Donald Trump&#8217;s State of the Union Address. Trump issued the invitation during a post-game call to the locker room just after Team USA clinched the gold in a nail-biter of a game. He was barely able to get the words out before members of the team interrupted to tell him, &#8220;We&#8217;re in!&#8221;
Team member <a href="https://x.com/curtishouck/status/2026280462759436783">Quinn Hughes</a> — alongside his brother and teammate Jack Hughes — told ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday that everyone was looking forward to attending the president&#8217;s address.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t know how much we&#8217;re allowed to say, but yes. Yeah, we&#8217;re excited to go. Something you don&#8217;t get to do — I don&#8217;t know what today is — every Tuesday. But yeah — but, it&#8217;s going to be special for us, but I&#8217;m glad you mentioned the women&#8217;s team again. You know, we&#8217;re really happy for them. Obviously, a lot going on on social media surrounding our team and their team. But, you know, the last couple we&#8217;ve done a lot of training with them and got to know a lot of those girls really well. We&#8217;re extremely happy to come,&#8221; he said.
Jack Hughes, upon landing in Miami on Monday, spoke to a reporter about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gold-lost-teeth-and-a-true-grit-american-moment-from-jack-hughes">losing teeth</a> in the gold-medal game and still going on to score the game-winning goal.
&#8220;It sounds like definitely crazy for you guys because just different profession, but in hockey, like, if you lose your teeth, it’s not even a question of, like, coming back and playing,” Hughes said. “That’s like an automatic.&#8221;
&#8220;The Gold Medal is for all the guys that have come before us, and all the young kids that are going to come after us,” he added. “We want to leave USA Hockey in a better place than when we first got there.&#8221;

USA Men’s Hockey Team Celebrate Their Olympic Gold At E11EVEN Miami

SEE IT: Fresh Off Olympic Gold, USA Hockey Brings Red-White-And-Blue Swagger To Club In Miami

Politics

Team USA Hockey star Jack Hughes explained during a Monday interview why it never occurred to him not to keep playing after he lost his front tooth in the gold medal matchup against rival Canada.
Hughes, taking the question after he and his teammates returned to the United States, said he knew that to anyone in any other profession, he might &#8220;sound crazy,&#8221; and, though disappointed about losing a tooth, there was no way he would have come off the ice for that.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Team USA star Jack Hughes was asked about the moment he lost his tooth during the Olympic gold medal game.
He said he never even questioned whether he would continue playing after.
HUGHES: “Yeah. I mean it sounds like definitely crazy for you guys because just different… <a href="https://t.co/d4aMKnnhPt">pic.twitter.com/d4aMKnnhPt</a>
— Overton (@overton_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/overton_news/status/2026039414195990921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The question was a simple one: &#8220;You get hit in the face. You lose a tooth or two. You still maintained your composure and stayed in the game. You&#8217;re tough enough to keep playing, you scored the winning goal &#8230; what is that like?&#8221;
&#8220;Yeah. I mean, it sounds like definitely crazy for you guys because just different profession, but in hockey, like, if you lose your teeth, it’s not even a question of, like, coming back and playing,&#8221; Hughes replied. &#8220;That’s like an automatic.&#8221;
Hughes described the moment he realized what had happened, saying, &#8220;I just, like, was feeling around my mouth and I was just disappointed I lost my teeth.&#8221;
&#8220;But it is what it is now, so,&#8221; he added with a laugh.
When asked whether he planned to keep his newly rearranged grin, he said, &#8220;No, I’m going to fix these things, I want my good smile back.&#8221;
Pressed for a smile so that everyone could get a good look at the damage, Hughes said no — but clearly struggled not to smile.
Hughes stepped up when asked to add a message for his &#8220;young fans,&#8221; saying that the hard-fought gold medal — the first for Team USA Hockey since 1980 — was not just for him and his teammates, but for all the young aspiring hockey players who would come after them.
&#8220;The Gold Medal is for all the guys that have come before us, and all the young kids that are going to come after us,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We want to leave USA Hockey in a better place than when we first got there.&#8221;

Gold, Lost Teeth, And A True-Grit American Moment From Jack Hughes

Gold, Lost Teeth And A True-Grit American Moment From Jack Hughes

If you missed the Olympic gold medal hockey game between the United States and Canada, you missed a doozy. 
It was a truly spectacular hockey game. The US took a 1-0 lead in the first period and held it all the way until the third period, when the Canadians evened the score. Then they ended up in sudden-death overtime, where Jack Hughes delivered a game-winner for the ages. 
He&#8217;d already taken a high stick to the face, so he was missing a bunch of teeth.
It was the most hockey thing ever.
What was really refreshing about it was the way that the men&#8217;s hockey team responded: basic patriotism. I know this has now become controversial among some folks, but there&#8217;s nothing controversial about America being awesome. 
After the game, Jack Hughes said, “This is all about our country now. I love the USA. I love my teammates. It&#8217;s unbelievable. The USA Hockey Brotherhood is so strong, and we had so much support from our players, and I&#8217;m so proud of the Americans.”
Isn’t that great? Can&#8217;t we simply feel good about that? 
The answer for some people, of course, is no.
Many people are not feeling good about Team USA winning gold, because how can you be proud of America in the age of Donald Trump? 
Here&#8217;s the thing: If Barack Obama were president and Team USA won gold in men&#8217;s hockey, I think we&#8217;d all still feel pretty good about it.  
So why does that change if you don&#8217;t like the president of the United States?
Notice how the men&#8217;s hockey team reacted when President Trump called. Were they upset that Trump called them? 
No, because he&#8217;s the president of the United States. 
Just get over it. You might not like him. It doesn&#8217;t matter. When the president of the United States calls to congratulate you on winning a gold medal for the United States, you take the call, and you smile. 
There are many reasons to feel good about this, and it&#8217;s a reminder of the sort of stuff that typically unites Americans. The first is that we like meritocracy. Virtually every major television event of the last year and a half has been a sports event. Why? Because sports is one of the few areas of American life where we all agree that meritocracy is taking place, that the best team wins, or the team with the most guts.
That&#8217;s where all the drama lies. Meritocracy is about the adventure. It&#8217;s about the drama. It&#8217;s about the thrill of victory. That&#8217;s why Americans love it. 
And so watching the hockey team win gold is awesome because sports are the realm of meritocracy. 
The second thing that always unites Americans is having a common enemy in sports. The common enemy is whoever the United States is playing against. 
This has been true forever, and not just for the United States. There is a very famous British phrase used in the lead-up to World War I that stated the wars won on the battlefield began on the playing fields of Eton, meaning that soldiers first learned to work as a team by playing sports as boys, and that connected them to masculinity and military prowess.
And so it&#8217;s easy for Americans to come together when there&#8217;s a common opponent. One of the reasons we have splintered so much as a nation over the last several decades is that the United States is, in fact, a global hegemon. That is why there&#8217;s a feeling that most of our conflicts are internal. 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2372-murica-us-hockey-team-wins-it-all"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-981859 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-768x128.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
But that&#8217;s not true. The vast majority of real conflicts on planet Earth are between the United States and nefarious powers. This game meant a lot to America because it was a unifying moment. 
But of course, I&#8217;m joking when I equate the Canadians to the Russians. If the United States had defeated a global superpower in hockey that was also geopolitically an enemy like the Russians or the Chinese, that would have been even bigger. That&#8217;s what the 1980 Olympic hockey game was all about. 
But for Americans to truly feel unified, we have to see what&#8217;s on the other side of the fence. Otherwise, we tend to tear ourselves apart internally.
The breakdown here is fascinating sociologically. You&#8217;re seeing two groups of people who are looking at this wonderful event, this fun and unifying event, and trying to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Some people on the Left are saying, &#8220;How dare we feel good about America in a time when Donald Trump is president of the United States?&#8221; 
The Huffington Post had a piece by Monica Torres titled, “There&#8217;s A Name For The Discomfort You&#8217;re Feeling Watching The Olympics Right Now.” Torres added, “If waving the American flag or chanting USA turns you off right now, you&#8217;re not alone.”
You should be alone because you suck. 
But that&#8217;s the basic idea here from some members of the Left. 
I&#8217;m supposed to feel bad that the American men&#8217;s hockey team won the gold because you didn&#8217;t vote for the guy who is currently in the Oval Office?
This is a split between the Right and the Left in virtually all polling data. Conservatives are always patriotic about the country, even when a Democrat is president. Democrats are significantly less patriotic about the country when a Democrat is not president.
There’s also a bizarre, fringe movement on the Right, trying to suggest that this isn&#8217;t a cool thing. Why? Because it turns out that some members of the U.S. men&#8217;s hockey team are not necessarily the most conservative on every single issue. So now we&#8217;re going to delve into their social media histories and try to determine whether Jack Hughes voted for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris.
Are you kidding me with this crap? 
I know that a lot of the time it doesn&#8217;t feel like we&#8217;re on the same team. Yes, there are Americans who are not on our team. The people who are not on our team are people rooting for foreign powers, and who see America as essentially a dispensable nation unless they win, unless they get their way. 
The reason people feel good today about what happened at the Olympics is that it was a nice reminder that we do share a country, and it&#8217;s good that we share our country.

Red, White, And Overtime: Why America’s Hockey Gold Still Matters

America

Jack Hughes

The U.S. women&#8217;s hockey team, which won gold against Canada earlier this week, said on Monday that the players could not attend President Donald Trump&#8217;s State of the Union address, citing &#8220;previously scheduled academic and professional commitments.&#8221;
Trump invited the U.S. women&#8217;s and men&#8217;s hockey teams to attend his address on Tuesday night after both teams brought home the gold medal, with each team taking down arch-nemesis Canada in overtime. While not yet official, the men&#8217;s hockey team appeared excited to make the trip to Capitol Hill for Trump&#8217;s address. The women&#8217;s team, however, said that &#8220;the athletes are unable to participate.&#8221;
&#8220;We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal–winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement,&#8221; a USA Hockey spokesman said, according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/us-womens-hockey-team-declines-trumps-invitation-state-union-rcna260299">NBC News</a>.
The women&#8217;s team dominated during the Olympics, allowing just two goals throughout the entire tournament. Despite blowing past Canada in the preliminary round 5-0, the U.S. women found themselves trailing late against Canada in the gold-medal game. In a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/revenge-served-cold-team-usa-takes-gold-over-canada-in-olympic-sudden-death-overtime">thrilling finish</a>, Hilary Knight tied the game with just two minutes left before Megan Keller scored the game-winner in sudden-death overtime to lift the U.S. women past Canada.
A State of the Union invite is a rare honor, as members of Congress, as well as the speaker and the president, are afforded a very limited number of guests. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on Monday that officials were working to &#8220;figure out logistics&#8221; for the House to host both teams, which would include dozens of players and coaches, POLITICO <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/02/23/congress/usa-hockey-teams-sotu-00793130">reported</a>.
“There’s no way to have special guests on the floor because it’s a literal session of Congress,” he said. “But we’re going to work and do what we can to accommodate.”
After the United States won its first gold medal in men&#8217;s hockey since 1980 on Sunday, Trump spoke to the team over the phone and invited them to the State of the Union.
&#8220;I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that,&#8221; Trump told the men&#8217;s team after its victory over Canada. He joked that if he didn&#8217;t also invite the women&#8217;s team, &#8220;I do believe I probably would be impeached.&#8221;
The U.S. men&#8217;s team, most of whom were chugging beers alongside FBI Director Kash Patel, was ecstatic when Trump spoke to them over the phone in the locker room.
&#8220;We&#8217;re giving the State of the Union speech on Tuesday night. I could send a military plane or something if you would like to,&#8221; Trump said. Some of the players then replied, stating, &#8220;We&#8217;re in!&#8221;
&#8220;If you could work that out, I would be honored to have you all,&#8221; Trump added.
The men&#8217;s team flew back to the United States on Monday, arriving in Miami after their flight was rerouted due to the massive winter storm in the Northeast. Star forward Matthew Tkachuk told reporters that the team would spend the day in Miami before flying to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Asked if they would attend the State of the Union, Tkachuk replied, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know what our plan is yet.&#8221;
Tkachuk said &#8220;it was an honor&#8221; to get a call from Trump after the gold-medal victory.
&#8220;We&#8217;re definitely honored to represent him and hundreds of millions across the country, bringing a gold medal back,&#8221; he added.

Ice Hockey – Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics: Day 13

Two Gold-Medal Teams, Two Very Different Responses To Trump’s Invitation

General

State of the Union

U.S.

Women's Hockey

Jimmy&#8217;s Famous Seafood didn&#8217;t like the crabby article that HuffPost published over the weekend in the midst of Team USA&#8217;s winning streak.
After the U.S. men&#8217;s hockey team won gold Sunday, the Baltimore-based restaurant told HuffPost to &#8220;go f*ck yourself&#8221; in response to a piece the outlet published, titled &#8220;There&#8217;s A Name For The Discomfort You&#8217;re Feeling Watching The Olympics Right Now.&#8221;
The family-owned business sent the message to HuffPost on <a href="https://x.com/JimmysSeafood/status/2025663262864376146?s=20">X</a>, and it already has more than 11 million views.
The HuffPost piece detailed how people who hate their country are having to deal with Team USA winning at the Winter Olympics. HuffPost offered great advice to those who can&#8217;t stand seeing Team USA on top, like &#8220;don&#8217;t forget to breathe.&#8221; Groundbreaking.
Jimmy&#8217;s Famous Seafood is an all-American joint that has been a Maryland landmark since the 1970s, and clearly doesn&#8217;t have an issue with celebrating the athletic achievements of Americans. Like the Minadakis family, who started Jimmy&#8217;s Famous Seafood and turned it into a nationwide staple, the Olympians accomplished their own American dream and should not have to worry about being tolerated instead of celebrated.
With lines like this in the HuffPost story — &#8220;If waving the American flag or chanting, ‘USA!’ makes us feel grossed out or ashamed, we can cheer for individual athletes&#8221; — it&#8217;s easy to see how the Team USA-supporting seafood restaurant got ticked off.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🇺🇸 For bringing home the gold and delivering an overwhelming sense of pride throughout America, we hereby grant FREE CRABCAKES FOR LIFE to all members of the 2026 USA Men’s &amp; Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey Teams! This applies to both dine-in and shipping for all time. God Bless… <a href="https://t.co/YY4eI2xa8j">pic.twitter.com/YY4eI2xa8j</a>
— Jimmy’s Famous Seafood (@JimmysSeafood) <a href="https://twitter.com/JimmysSeafood/status/2025695986883129437?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2026</a></blockquote>
To battle the HuffPost whining, Jimmy&#8217;s Famous Seafood offered free crab cakes for life to every member of the 2026 Team USA men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s Olympic ice hockey teams.
The free offer is good for dine-in or shipping, since Jimmy&#8217;s sends crab cakes near and far across the United States.
The praise from the online world couldn&#8217;t have been greater for Jimmy&#8217;s Famous Seafood. Immediately, patriots from all over started ordering crab cakes to show support for an America-loving establishment.
And as if Jimmy&#8217;s Famous Seafood&#8217;s Sunday couldn&#8217;t have been busier shipping out crab cakes to new fans, the company brought back a crab cake-themed American flag shirt to show support for the country long after the Olympic hype had faded.
What won&#8217;t fade is the American spirit Jimmy&#8217;s Famous Seafood exudes daily. From the Minadakis family raising three boys in a small apartment on top of their restaurant to building a seafood empire — thanks to the restaurant sticking to its beliefs, Jimmy&#8217;s Famous Seafood has a whole new batch of Americans to serve.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/huffpost-attacks-team-usa-pride-gets-crushed-by-americans">HuffPost Mocks Team USA Pride — Americans Clap Back</a>

Illustration by Daily Wire staff

Restaurant Tells HuffPost To ‘Go F*ck Yourself’ After Outlet Cries About Team USA

Baltimore

Huffington Post

Patriotism

The Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy, came to a sensational close on Sunday after the United States men’s hockey team defeated Canada, capturing the twelfth and final gold medal for Team USA.
But it was after America&#8217;s victory in the mixed team aerials freestyle skiing event on Saturday that officially marked the country’s most gold medals in Winter Olympics history. The previous record of ten gold medals was won in the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.
This year, the U.S. placed second overall with thirty-three medals — twelve gold, twelve silver, and nine bronze. As predicted, Norway reigned with forty-four medals (eighteen gold), and the host country slightly trailed behind the U.S. with thirty total medals (ten gold).
The most notable wins came from the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/usa-wins-olympic-hockey-gold-in-ot-thriller-over-canada?author=Andie+Valdes&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=12&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=USA+Wins+Olympic+Hockey+Gold+In+OT+Thriller+Over+Canada">men&#8217;s</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/revenge-served-cold-team-usa-takes-gold-over-canada-in-olympic-sudden-death-overtime?author=Andie+Valdes&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Revenge+Served+Cold%3A+Team+USA+Takes+Gold+Over+Canada+In+Olympic+Sudden-Death+Overtime">women&#8217;s</a> hockey teams, which both secured first place after suspenseful overtime games against rival Canada.
Two gold medals were won in figure skating this season, one in the team event and one by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/american-figure-skaters-father-narrowly-escaped-china-she-just-won-olympic-gold?author=Andie+Valdes&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Alysa+Liu%E2%80%99s+Father+Escaped+China.+She+Just+Won+Olympic+Gold+For+The+United+States.">Alysa Liu</a>, the twenty-year-old who returned to the sport after a two-year break and became the first American woman to win a medal in figure skating in two decades.
Other significant wins came in alpine skiing with Breezy Johnson in the women’s downhill and Mikaela Shiffrin in women&#8217;s slalom.
In freestyle skiing, Elizabeth Lemley took first in women&#8217;s moguls and Alex Ferreira in the men’s freeski halfpipe. Jordan Stolz won two gold medals in speed skating, as well as a silver. In cross-country skiing, Ben Ogden won silver in the men’s sprint classic.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meet-elana-meyers-taylor-the-american-bobsledder-who-finally-won-her-first-gold-medal?author=Andie+Valdes&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Meet+Elana+Meyers+Taylor%3A+The+American+Bobsledder+Who+Finally+Won+Her+First+Gold+Medal">Elana Meyers Taylor</a> finally won her first gold medal in the women’s monobob at her fifth Olympic Games, with teammate Kallie Humphries behind her in bronze. The 41-year-old also became the oldest athlete to win an individual event in the Winter Games.
There were some major disappointments, namely <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/olympic-heartbreak-quad-god-ilia-malinin-breaks-under-pressure-fails-to-medal-in-milan?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Olympic+Heartbreak%3A+%E2%80%98Quad+God%E2%80%99+Ilia+Malinin+Breaks+Under+Pressure%2C+Fails+To+Medal+In+Milan">Ilia Malinin</a>, the &#8220;Quad God,&#8221; who delivered a devastating routine in the free skate and finished eighth, despite being heavily favored for gold. Amber Glenn was aiming for the podium as well, but missed a key jump in the short program, which crushed her opportunity for a medal. Ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates just slightly missed first in their event, finishing with the silver. Chock, Bates, and Malinin did, however, play a major role in solidifying the gold for the team event.
Snowboarder <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/snowboarder-chloe-kim-falls-short-of-historic-gold-medal-threepeat?author=Andie+Valdes&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=American+Snowboarder+Chloe+Kim+Falls+Short+Of+Historic+Gold+Medal+Threepeat">Chloe Kim</a> was also hoping to earn her third consecutive gold medal in the women’s halfpipe, but was edged out by Korea’s 17-year-old Choi Ga-on and finished with the silver.

Closing Ceremony – Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics: Day 16

Team USA Breaks American Record For Most Gold Medals Ever At Winter Olympics

Italy

United States

World

President Donald Trump made a very important phone call on Sunday — a call to the locker room in Milan, Italy — to congratulate the United States men&#8217;s hockey team after they clinched their first gold medal in nearly half a century.
Video circulated on X of the team receiving the president&#8217;s phone call in the locker room as they celebrated their overtime victory over rival Canada, and the players responded with cheers and laughter as he congratulated them on a job well done.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
You can hear the genuine pride in Donald Trumps voice when he called the Team USA Hockey Team <a href="https://t.co/ch6GbXShwh">pic.twitter.com/ch6GbXShwh</a>
— Harrison Krank (@HarrisonKrank) <a href="https://twitter.com/HarrisonKrank/status/2025740079319175508?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;By the way, your goalie played &#8230; not bad,&#8221; Trump could be heard saying of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, and several of the players laughed and cheered. &#8220;I have seen hockey goalies have slightly worse games than you did. Unbelievable – and you were all unbelievable. And that team is pretty good you played, I don&#8217;t know if you have to play them again any time soon.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;ll tell you what, I just told my people two minutes ago, I didn&#8217;t know they&#8217;d be calling, I said we&#8217;re giving the State of the Union speech on Tuesday night,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;I could send a military plane or something, but if you would like to, it&#8217;s the coolest night, it&#8217;s the biggest speech —&#8221;
Several of the players interrupted as Trump was talking to say, &#8220;We&#8217;re in!&#8221;
&#8220;Can you pick us up in Miami on Tuesday morning?&#8221; one asked.
Trump said that FBI Director Kash Patel — who could be seen in the video as well — would help get the necessary plans moving to get Team USA to the State of the Union.
&#8220;The nice thing about being president, is I can tell you, you don&#8217;t have to worry about the weather or landing,&#8221; Trump added, prompting more laughter from the team. &#8220;We don&#8217;t care if it&#8217;s snowing, if it&#8217;s the worst blizzard, you&#8217;ll be sailing through that sucker just like you did on the ice.&#8221;
&#8220;Thank you, Mr. President!&#8221; one shouted then.
Trump went on to joke about an upcoming visit to the White House, saying that he would &#8220;have to&#8221; also invite the women&#8217;s team — who also defeated Canada in their gold-medal match days earlier — and getting more laughs from around the locker room when he predicted he&#8217;d be impeached if he didn&#8217;t.
&#8220;Congratulations, that was an unbelievable game,&#8221; Trump said as they wrapped up the call. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know one person that wasn&#8217;t — everybody that called me said, &#8216;I&#8217;m watching the hockey game,&#8217; I don&#8217;t know of anybody that wasn&#8217;t. You&#8217;re going to be proud of that game for fifty years as you grow older, I mean, it was amazing. Congratulations, we love you guys, and I hope to see you!&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m going to shake hands with everybody, but I gotta shake hands with that goalie,&#8221; Trump concluded, and the room exploded again with laughter and cheers.
&#8220;We&#8217;ll see you Tuesday night, Mr. President,&#8221; one said.
&#8220;I&#8217;m driving the bus, boss,&#8221; Patel quipped as the video came to an end.
&#8220;He just spoke to the group expressing how proud he was of the group and congratulating everybody on the win. Obviously this game in a lot of ways was an inspiration to our country,&#8221; Coach Mike Sullivan said of the president&#8217;s call. &#8220;I can’t tell you how many texts I’ve received over the last day or so about watch parties at 8 in the morning. I think from a viewership standpoint in the United States, there were a lot of people paying attention, the president included.&#8221;

Listen To Donald Trump’s Call To USA Hockey Team

FBI Director Kash Patel praised the gold-medal winning U.S. hockey team — and mocked the &#8220;very concerned media&#8221; — in a social media post acknowledging that he had, in fact, rubbed elbows with the Olympic champions after their dramatic win over Canada.
&#8220;For the very concerned media — yes, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys,&#8221; Patel posted on X. &#8220;Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
For the very concerned media &#8211; yes, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys- Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth.…
— Kash Patel (@Kash_Patel) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kash_Patel/status/2025736412125855918?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Patel shared another congratulatory post earlier on Sunday, including several photos of the team and of himself celebrating alongside them. &#8220;Unity, Sacrifice, Attitude,&#8221; he said. &#8220;What it takes to be the best in the world. These men live and breathe it. Now Team USA are gold medal champions, legends standing on the shoulders of giants. Thank you for representing the greatest country on earth, in the greatest game ever created. Congrats, boys.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Unity, Sacrifice, Attitude- what it takes to be the best in the world. These men live and breathe it. Now Team USA are gold medal champions, legends standing on the shoulders of giants. Thank you for representing the greatest country on earth, in the greatest game ever created.… <a href="https://t.co/hBG987pxM2">pic.twitter.com/hBG987pxM2</a>
— Kash Patel (@Kash_Patel) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kash_Patel/status/2025663993205936176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The game Patel attended was historic in itself, as the American team won in overtime against rival Canada — marking the first time a U.S. men&#8217;s hockey team has won Olympic gold in 46 years. In fact, the Americans haven&#8217;t taken the top of the podium since the game dubbed &#8220;the Miracle on Ice&#8221; — 1980&#8217;s Lake Placid win over the heavily-favored Soviet Union.
Patel&#8217;s trip to Italy — which coincided with the final weekend of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan and included a number of visits with various Italian officials — has been the subject of much media speculation.
Some outlets criticized the FBI director over the timing of the trip, claiming that the real purpose was for him to attend the Olympic Games at taxpayer expense. Others were concerned about the number of active investigations in which the FBI was playing a role.
Xochitl Hinojosa, a Democratic strategist, <a href="https://x.com/XochitlHinojosa/status/2025731516236480756">complained</a>, &#8220;There was a threat at the president’s residence at MAL, Americans in Mexico are facing major threats by cartel members, Nancy Guthrie is still missing, and our FBI Director thinks he’s a frat bro?&#8221;

Kash Patel Owns Partying With USA Hockey Team: ‘Yes, I Love America’

Kash Patel Owns Partying With USA Hockey Team: 'Yes, I Love America'

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