Multiple U.S. men’s Olympic hockey players decline White House invite

Despite the viral video of the United States men’s Olympic hockey team on a call with U.S. president Donald Trump, seemingly agreeing in unison to attend Tuesday’s State of the Union address and then visit the White House on Wednesday, not every member of the gold medal winning squad has accepted Trump’s invitation.

Forwards Jake Guentzel, Kyle Connor, Brock Nelson, and goaltender Jake Oettinger will not be joining the rest of their Olympic teammates in the United States’ capital. No other members of the team have been reported to have declined the invitation.

The United States women’s hockey team, which also won gold at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, declined as a whole President Trump’s offer to visit the White House.

For the men’s players that declined Trump’s invitation, the decision is not necessarily political. Each of the four player’s NHL teams are scheduled to restart their season on Wednesday, meaning they would have to miss a regular season game in order to visit the White House. These players could simply be prioritizing their professional responsibilities with their teams over the opportunity to meet with the president in Washington D.C.

The U.S. women’s team cited scheduling conflicts as their reason for declining the invitation, mentioning “the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games.” It would be understandable if they declined as a result of the seemingly misogynistic joke Trump made in his call to the U.S. men’s team, when he groused that “we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that? … I do believe I probably would be impeached.”

Championship teams eschewing visits to the White House has become a common occurence during each of Trump’s terms as president. The 2017 North Carolina Tar Heels men’s basketball team, the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles and multiple other teams either declined or were not invited to visit the White House.