Heroes or Sellouts? Olympic Champions Skate Back Into America’s Political War

Members of the United States men’s hockey team returned to their day jobs on Wednesday, skating back into NHL arenas while Americans continued to debate whether they should be embraced as conquering heroes or condemned as political sellouts to President Trump.Since Jack Hughes’ stunning overtime goal Sunday lifted the U.S. past rival Canada for its first men’s Olympic hockey gold medal since Lake Placid in 1980, the celebration has been loud, lavish and increasingly controversial. The Americans partied like rock stars in Miami, spent a day at the White House, and were saluted during President’s Trump State of Union address.Now the party is over. The NHL regular season resumed on Wednesday after a three-week break for the Olympics, forcing players to shift abruptly from global glory to the final stretch of a long regular season schedule. What awaits them, however, may be more complicated than hangovers and jet lag. The receptions members of the gold-medal team get around the league could be mixed.The initial moment of national unity when Mr. Hughes’ goal gave the U.S. its 2-1 victory has dissolved into a political firestorm. Conservative voices hailed the men’s hockey team as patriots, while liberal pundits criticized them as sellouts for endorsing the MAGA movement and Mr. Trump, blurring the line between national pride and partisan symbolism.There was little reaction when the players sang the national anthem at a Miami nightclub, flanked by scantily clad dancers holding their hands over their hearts. Yet, social media erupted when 20 members of the U.S. team were saluted during Tuesday night’s State of the Union address.While anyone with a typewriter and a cellphone debates imagery and intent, the American NHL players are left to wonder how they will be received by fans who once cheered them without hesitation.For decades, Olympic heroes returned home to universal acclaim. Mr. Hughes would be a marketing dream in line for talk show appearances and endorsement deals after the photo of his broken tooth while biting on his gold medal went viral.But his comments expressing excitement about attending the State of the Union address, and his visible laughter at President Trump’s lukewarm White House invitation to the women’s hockey team have tied him to a broader political narrative unpopular to Democrats in New Jersey.A center for the New Jersey Devils, Mr. Hughes is expected to dress for Wednesday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres at the Prudential Center, the team’s first game in 20 days. Mr. Hughes last played for the Devils on Jan. 29 before sitting out the next three games before the Olympics with a back injury.“People are so negative out there and they are just trying to find a reason to put people down and make something out of almost nothing,” Mr. Hughes told the Daily Mail in Miami. “We’re so proud to represent the U.S. and when you get the chance to go to the White House and meet the president, we’re proud to be Americans and that’s so patriotic.”For goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, the transition back to league play may be even more complex. In his 11th season playing for the Winnipeg Jets, Mr. Hellebuyck made 41 saves on 42 shots in the gold medal win over Canada, and Mr. Trump recently announced the Commerce Township, Michigan native will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his performance. That will surely make Mr. Hellebuyck’s friends and family happy but may not sit well with Canadians who support his NHL team. The Jets resumed play at Vancouver Wednesday in the first game since the Olympic break. Mr. Hellebuyck, a three-time winner of the Vezina Trophy presented to the NHL’s top goaltender, is expected to be in goal on Friday when the Jets play at Anaheim.“Mentally, this is going to be hard to get back in it,” Mr. Hellebuyck admitted. “I know my city loves me in Winnipeg and I’m really looking forward to trying to bring some joy back to that city as well and hopefully chasing a Cup.”His Winnipeg and USA teammate, Kyle Connor, skipped the White House visit after not making much of an impact in Milan where he was a healthy scratch for the last four games. “It’s a big second half (of the NHL season),” Mr. Connor told reporters. “I just wanted to make sure I was ready.”Beyond the political backlash, the players face legitimate physical and mental concerns as NHL teams shift immediately into the grind of the Stanley Cup playoff race. The Milan-Cortina Games marked the first time in 12 years that NHL players competed in the Olympics, and there’s no time to rest and recover.Whether they are greeted with cheers, boos or an uneasy silence, players who won Gold in Milan are now being judged as much for how they celebrated as for how they performed on the ice.

Heroes or Sellouts? Olympic Champions Skate Back Into America’s Political War

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