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Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger, a member of the U.S. men’s hockey team, was asked about comments President Donald Trump made about the U.S. women’s hockey team making light of their gold medal victory.
In the locker room after Team USA’s gold medal win over Canada, Trump invited the men’s team to the State of the Union address via phone call. He told the men’s players he would “have to” invite the women’s team or “I’d probably be impeached” and the players laughed.
Trump’s comments and the men’s team’s reactions went viral and drew criticism from fans. Oettinger was asked about his thoughts on Trump’s phone call and his comments.
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Jake Oettinger (30) of Team United States warms up before the men’s preliminary Group C match between the United States and Germany on day nine of the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, Italy, on February 15, 2026. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
“My opinion on that is that there is no one who supports women’s hockey more than me. I know a lot of those girls personally. I think if you would have been in the bar and watched the game with me, where I was, and watched women’s hockey, nobody was as excited as I was when they won the gold medal,” Oettinger told reporters Wednesday.
“They’re incredible and they deserve all the credit in the world. They’re dominant. I was just so happy for those girls. Getting to know a few of them in person made it so much cooler. It’s pretty cool in the fact that the men and the women both have the gold medal right now, it’s pretty cool.”
Oettinger said he attended the women’s hockey team’s win over Canada during the preliminary rounds.
Jake Oettinger of the United States warms up before a men’s ice hockey semifinal between the United States and Slovakia at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on February 20, 2026. (Hassan Ammar/AP Photo)
The women’s hockey team initially declined Trump’s invitation to the White House, but the president announced during the State of the Union that the players would be visiting.
Oettinger backed up Team USA star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck during the tournament, but did not appear on the ice during the Olympic Games.
The 27-year-old goalkeeper was one of five players who did not go to the White House to visit Trump. Oettinger said being invited was a huge honor, but cited family and the Stars’ upcoming stretch run as reasons for not going.
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Jake Oettinger, Connor Hellebuyck and Jeremy Swayman of the United States celebrate after winning the men’s ice hockey gold medal during the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, Italy, on February 22, 2026. (James Lang/Imagn Images)
“First of all, it’s a huge honor to be invited to go to the White House. I think for me, I basically lived in Italy for a month. I have a huge stretch. I didn’t play much,” Oettinger said.
“I wanted to come back and get my game ready to go, and I also have a three-month-old baby at home and we’ve been traveling the world. So that’s kind of what went into it. I think those guys had a great time there, but that’s why I didn’t go.”
Brock Nelson, Jackson LaCombe, Jake Guentzel and Kyle Connor were the other members of Team USA who did not attend the White House on Tuesday.
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