As the Team USA men’s hockey team stays embroiled in controversy, one apparently disgruntled fan has left a defaced Quinn Hughes jersey at the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The jersey, whose photo is making the rounds via X, was from Hughes’ days with the Vancouver Canucks. It’s ripped down the middle with vulgar phrases written over his No. 43, including “pedo lover,” “f*** you,” and “fascist cuck.” Hughes, 26, was traded to the Minnesota Wild in December 2025.
The controversy stems from the team’s now-viral postgame celebration after the United States defeated Canada, 2-1 in overtime, to win the gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics. As they celebrated with FBI director Kash Patel, President Donald Trump called and spoke to the team via speaker phone to congratulate them.
During the call, Trump, 79, made seemingly disparaging comments toward the Team USA women’s hockey team, which also defeated Canada to win the gold medal at the 2026 Games.
“We have medals for you guys,” Trump said during the call in which he invited the team to the White House and his State of the Union address. “I must tell you, we‘re going to have to bring the women’s team.”
Trump then added that he would “probably be impeached” if he did not invite the women’s team as well, as the players laughed.
Team USA men’s and women’s hockey players have since spoken out about the incident, including Hughes, who backed up what several others have said about the tight bond between the two Olympic teams.
“There’s a lot going on on social media right now surrounding our team and [the women’s team],” he said during a Tuesday, February 24 appearance on Good Morning America. “In the last couple summers, we did a lot of training with them and got to know [them] really well.”
Quinn’s brother, Jack Hughes, who scored the game-winning goal to beat Canada, broke his silence in an interview with the Daily Mail, published Monday, February 23.
“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,” Jack, 24, said. “People are so negative about things. I think everyone in that locker room knows how much we support [the women’s team], how proud we are of them and we know the same way we feel about them, they feel about us.”
Even the pair’s mother, USA hockey consultant Ellen Hughes, has weighed in, going into detail during an interview on Today about how much the two teams support each other.
“If you could see what we see from the inside and the men and women sharing, you know, dorm rooms and halls and flex floors and the camaraderie and the synergy, and the way the women cheered on the men and the way the men cheered on the women,” she insisted on Tuesday. “That’s what it’s all about.”
As for the women’s team, they declined Trump’s invitation to attend the State of the Union, citing scheduling conflicts as they were invited just days before. Trump did say during his Tuesday speech, however, that the women would be visiting the White House “soon.”
