Gold Medal Hockey Teams Split on Trump's SOTU Invite: Men Accept, Women Cite 'Commitments'

President Trump invited both gold-medal-winning U.S. hockey teams to attend his State of the Union address Tuesday night, but got two starkly different responses. The men's team — fresh off its thrilling overtime victory over Canada that ended a 46-year gold drought — enthusiastically accepted and flew directly to Washington after landing in Florida. The women's team, which won gold earlier in the week, politely declined, citing 'previously scheduled academic and professional commitments.' The divergence instantly became a political flashpoint: FBI Director Kash Patel, who celebrated in the men's locker room after the gold medal game, defended his 'beer-guzzling' celebration, while commentator Keith Olbermann called the men's team 'self-absorbed scumbag misogynists' for accepting and praised the women as 'patriots' for declining.