A whirlwind week for the USA men’s and women’s hockey teams – one that was filled with plenty of controversy – culminated in an appearance by a few stars on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” on Feb. 28.
The Hughes brothers, Quinn and Jack, were the first to hit the stage during host Connor Storrie’s monologue.
After a few jokes related to Storrie’s hockey-romance show “Heated Rivalry,” the trio were joined by Hilary Knight and Megan Keller. The women’s team stars seemed to receive a noticeably louder reception from the crowd.
Storrie said that it was “so cool that we’re all here,” to which Knight replied, “It was gonna be just us, but we thought we’d invite the guys too.”
That received a big reaction, and was followed up by Keller, who scored the overtime winner in the women’s gold medal game, saying ‘We thought we’d give them (the men) a little moment to shine.’
Those jokes, seemingly, were a direct shot at President Donald Trump’s comments made to the men’s team during its locker room celebration about ‘having to’ invite the women’s team to the White House and State of the Union, which most members of the men’s team − including Quinn and Jack Hughes − attended this week.
The women’s team declined the invite, citing ‘timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments’ as the reason.
The hockey stars closed out their section of the monologue by talking some hockey history.
‘My show speaks to people who are not always represented in hockey so this is really great to have actual hockey legends here tonight,’ Storrie said. ‘I mean, both of your teams just won the gold.’
‘Thanks, the last time the men did that was 46 years ago,’ Quinn Hughes said.
‘And the last time we did that, was two whole Olympics ago,’ Knight replied.
‘Good burn,’ Jack Hughes, who scored the overtime winner for the men’s team in the gold medal game, said. He added: ‘But these gold medals aren’t just for us, they’re for all hockey fans.’
Jack Hughes actually played an NHL game earlier Saturday in St. Louis, recording an assist as his New Jersey Devils won 3-1 before making his way to New York. Keller played a PWHL game Saturday, as well, helping lead the Boston Fleet to a shootout victory in Ottawa, Canada, recording an assist on the game-tying goal.
The four players rejoined Storrie and the cast to say goodbye at the end of the show. All had changed out of their USA Hockey uniforms, Knight and Keller sporting their PWHL jerseys. Musical guests Marcus Mumford and Hozier were both wearing gold medals around their necks.
This story has been updated with new information.