In 2026, what should have been a historic moment was overshadowed by an insular moment that didn’t have to happen; but, paradoxically, the instance was always going to happen because of our societal systems of power. Here is the full breakdown on the U.S. men’s hockey team drama, as well as an analysis through a critical feminist lens.
For the first time since 1980, the U.S. men’s hockey team won gold at the Winter Olympics, beating Canada 2-1 in overtime. This quickly spiraled into a viral moment, due to an amalgamation of its inherent patriotism, the record-breaking nature of it, and the climactic nature of the victory in overtime. A picture of Jack Hughes, the U.S. team’s center who scored the winning goal, quickly dubbed America’s “Golden Boy,” smiling toothless with his medal and an American flag wrapped around him, went viral online. This portrait seemed to harken back to simpler days of American patriotism, where icons of masculinity, cultural unity, and American hegemony prevailed over political divisiveness.
However, what was abandoned in this All-American perspective was that the U.S. women’s hockey team had also won Gold, meaning that this was the first time that America had achieved “double-gold” in hockey. Despite being underfunded and receiving less recognition, the U.S. Women’s hockey team has continued to excel and is one of, if not the best, women’s hockey teams in the world. In 1998, the team won the very first Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey, and since then, they have earned a medal every single year. They have also produced some of the best female hockey players ever, such as Hilary Knight, Brianna Decker, and Kendall Coyne Schofield. Despite this, their team is seen as auxiliary to the men’s team, and their accomplishments are somehow less laudable, based on their gender.
Simone De Beauvoir came up with the explanation for this concept in her book The Second Sex. She coined the term “women as The Other,” defining that women are always seen in relation to men, and as almost existing as a secondary species within the human race. Women are seen as female before they are seen as people, whereas men are the people women are supposed to emulate. This is why men’s hockey is simply called “hockey”, and women’s hockey needs the modifier of “women’s” because men are the default and women are the alternative.
Following their decisive victory, the men’s hockey team received a visit from Kash Patel, the Director of the FBI, in the locker room. As bizarre as this incident is, the FBI director using taxpayer dollars to fly himself on a private jet to meet a sports team, it’s still not as bizarre as the realization that Patel himself used to play hockey, purportedly. Shockingly, the scandal arises not from the Director of the FBI guzzling beer in the locker room, dwarfed by the men around him and acting like a pledge at his first frat party, but instead from a congratulatory call from President Donald Trump.
The controversy arose because during the call, Trump made a poor attempt at a joke, hedging that he would have to invite the women’s team, who also won, or he would be “impeached”. Most of the men laughed at the comment, which is what has sparked the most criticism. For me, the criticism began when the team accepted a call from an alleged sexual offender, but the title of president seems to do a lot for negating one’s sexual crimes. Regardless, the fact that some of the top athletes in the world would laugh at a poke about the inferiority of their female counterparts shows that sports equality is more illusory than it appears.
Men’s hockey, by and large, is the most socially and politically conservative sport. It has the most “apolitical” or right-leaning players, and it receives the most amount of conservative coverage. In part, this is due to the violence and aggression inherent to the sport, which is associated strongly with hypermasculinity. Despite recent developments that might alter public perception, like the viral TV show “Heated Rivalry,” men’s hockey is one of the only major sports with no “out” queer players. The fact that the US. The men’s hockey team felt comfortable making fun of the women’s team is symptomatic of the conservative, “macho” culture embedded in hockey.
This incident reflects how we hold men to lower standards of professionalism. Many famous athletes, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, have allegations of sexual assault that are swept under the rug due to the manosphere that professional sports create and uphold. We expect so much of female players, poise, graciousness, and even a flawless physical appearance, but male players only have to be good at their sport. As a society, we have to demand better from our male athletes. For me, the only way to do this is to uplift the women’s team to the same heights as men. It is because of male “exceptionalism” that incidents like these are manufactured. We need more media coverage of women’s sports, better pay, and, as a whole, we need to acknowledge and counteract the misogyny that permeates the athletic atmosphere.