{"time":1771958351669,"blocks":[{"id":"sLknNXJI6n","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Following USA's men's hockey gold medal win, a scene unfolded in the men's locker room that has sparked debate and discourse across not only the hockey world, but politically."}},{"id":"mDf6sfDtZR","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Celebrating their win with FBI director Kash Patel, the men's team was seen on video on a call with American President Donald Trump. During the call, Trump discussing having to invite the women's gold medal winning hockey team to the White House along with the men."}},{"id":"gpaWFpS8S2","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"\"We'll do the White House...we'll just have some fun, we have medals for you guys,\" Trump was heard saying on the call. \"And we have to, I must tell you, we're going to have to bring the women's team, you do know that?\""}},{"id":"smg2DB5i-9","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Following this statement, which drew laughter from the entire men's hockey team, Trump added that if he didn't bring the women's team too, \"I do believe I probably would be impeached.\""}},{"id":"L9JmXwTkCn","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"While the White House did extend an invitation to the women's team to attend a State of the Union address, the American women's hockey team declined the invitation claiming scheduling conflicts for players returning to PWHL and NCAA teams."}},{"id":"QVXTYzjSm2","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Since then, politicians, celebrities, and members of the hockey community have spoken out about the comments and actions of the men's hockey team."}},{"id":"Aemme5CEN9","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Hockey Hall of Famer and former Olympic men's hockey gold medallist Dominik Hasek spoke out in support of the American women's team, and against President Trump."}},{"id":"vNbThMRCL8","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"\"Much respect to these women,\" Hasek posted on X. \"Yes, your president is a big liar and a fraud who abuses his position to insult and bully his fellow citizens. Still, I believe you must have shown a great deal of heroism in making this decision. Thank you for that.\""}},{"id":"mm0y6jl7","type":"video","data":{"url":"https://us-central1-deweb-519a7.cloudfunctions.net/mediaService-api/videos/95dc602c-d13a-496d-b287-06af2e9c63fd/mp4","caption":"Caroline Harvey highlights","autoplay":false,"controls":true,"muted":false,"stretched":true,"width":0,"height":0,"image":{"url":"https://us-central1-deweb-519a7.cloudfunctions.net/mediaService-api/videos/95dc602c-d13a-496d-b287-06af2e9c63fd/thumbnail"},"cdn":{"videoId":"95dc602c-d13a-496d-b287-06af2e9c63fd","libraryId":"372172","collectionId":"30032062-eefd-4041-a355-12ad05bc987b","cdnBaseUrl":"https://vz-052fc010-b27.b-cdn.net","mp4Url":"https://us-central1-deweb-519a7.cloudfunctions.net/mediaService-api/videos/95dc602c-d13a-496d-b287-06af2e9c63fd/mp4","thumbnailUrl":"https://us-central1-deweb-519a7.cloudfunctions.net/mediaService-api/videos/95dc602c-d13a-496d-b287-06af2e9c63fd/thumbnail","previewAnimationUrl":"https://vz-052fc010-b27.b-cdn.net/95dc602c-d13a-496d-b287-06af2e9c63fd/preview.webp"}}},{"id":"fg7S9qFRnv","type":"header","data":{"text":"Hughes Family Defends Actions","level":1,"linkUrl":"","anchor":""}},{"id":"c5aniBMLA9","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The Hughes family, with Jack Hughes and Quinn Hughes playing for the American men's team, and mother Ellen Hughes, a former USA national team member who was never able to compete in the Olympics as women's hockey was not granted inclusion to the Olympic Games until 1998, after her tenure with the national team ended."}},{"id":"Sw_B-wZOD5","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"While the Hughes family stated the men's and women's teams spent time together and are supportive of each other, none said joking or laughing about the inclusion of USA's women's team was wrong."}},{"id":"033TLWGcxG","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"\"Everyone is giving us backlash for all the social media stuff today. 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,\" Jack Hughes said in an interview."}},{"id":"fSnt_kxdkb","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"\"Our relationship with them, over the course of being in the Olympic Village, I think we are so tight with their group. After we won the gold medal, we were in the cafeteria at 3:30 a.m. in the morning with them. We go from there, pack our bags and we're on the bus. People are so negative about things. I think everyone in that locker room knows how much we support them, how proud we are of them. The same way we feel about them, they feel about us.\""}},{"id":"7CDSU4hQHp","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Hughes' mother, a development coach with USA's women's national team, also weighed in."}},{"id":"rF2dEPTFYQ","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"\"These players, both the men and women, can bring so much unity to a group and to a country,” Ellen Hughes said in an exclusive with the Today Show. “People that cheered on that don’t watch hockey, people that have politics on one side or on the other side, and that’s all both the men’s team and the women’s team care about....If you could see what we see from the inside, and the men and women sharing, you know, dorm rooms and halls and flex floors and the camaraderie and the synergy and the way the women cheered on the men and the way the men cheered on the women — that’s what it’s all about. And the other things they cannot control. They care about humanity. They care about unity and they care about the country.\""}},{"id":"__JMkIUzq4","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"While both members of the Hughes family pointed at the external perception, many felt that the players could control their laughter at what's being deemed misogynistic."}},{"id":"LtQuKcAIP9","type":"header","data":{"text":"Experts Call Out USA Men's Sexism","level":1,"linkUrl":"","anchor":""}},{"id":"_wTuFR5g4B","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"As Dr. Lindsey Darvin, a professor of Sports Management wrote for Forbes, the laughter of USA's men's team was sexism and fear as they were faced with a dominant athletic performance by women."}},{"id":"j1RHz1C_Wu","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"\"Sport has long functioned as one of the most visible arenas for performing and working hard to sustain the stereotypes associated with masculinity. For decades, researchers have examined how men athletes are socialized within these environments to protect their status and do whatever it takes to preserve authority inside competitive spaces that have always centered men,\" Darvin wrote. \"When women’s teams achieve sustained excellence and begin to command comparable attention, that long held hierarchy can feel unstable and threatening to men. The research tells us that in those moments, the response is not always overt hostility. Sometimes it surfaces through humor, through eye rolls, through comments, and through any subtle action designed to reassert who is presumed to belong at the center of the stage.\""}},{"id":"jlhMU3debe","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"\"The laughter captured during that locker room call fits squarely within that pattern,\" Darrvin continued. \"Implicit reactions to intentional sexism offer insight into our culture because they expose what feels acceptable in real time to certain populations. In this instance, the mention of honoring a dominant women’s program was met with a joke about obligation and political inconvenience, signaling that equal recognition was not instinctive but framed as something extra, a process of pitying some of the most dominate women athletes in the country.\""}},{"id":"On-qK7ntN2","type":"header","data":{"text":"Flavor Flav Offers Celebration","level":1,"linkUrl":"","anchor":""}},{"id":"ZwlI5m6YeH","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Flavor Flav, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient offered to host a celebration appropriate of the women's hockey team's achievement in Las Vegas. Flavor Flav, whose real name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr., has a record of supporting women in sport including as a WNBA fan, paying rent for Olympic discus thrower Veronica Fraley, and making a custom necklace for gymnast Jordan Chiles after her Olympic bronze was controversially rescinded."}},{"id":"HLpLA3x-sn","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"\"First, massive congratulations on the gold!! We saw the story about the men’s invite to the White House, and the not-quite invite for the women’s team,\" Flavor Flav wrote."}},{"id":"gQmqIpMFi5","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"\"If the team wants a real celebration and invite, I’ll host them in Las Vegas. Do some nice dinners and shows and good times. I think a lot of other celebrities like myself need to step up to the plate and sponsor some of these Olympic teams, because these Olympians are out there busting their butts to make us look good. After the sport has been played, people have a tendency to forget about the sport until it’s played again. I want this sport to stick in your mind after the season is over.\""}}],"version":"2.31.0"}

Iran and Kyrgyzstan Make IIHF Women’s Debut