There has been way too much political drama around the USA hockey gold medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina thanks to the efforts of Donald Trump and friends. But thankfully it appears we’ve finally put that behind us and found the real uniting force in hockey – Heated Rivalry.
One of the stars of the HBO Max series that has took the world by storm, Connor Storrie, served as the host of this weekend’s edition of Saturday Night Live. And coming off of their gold medal triumphs and whirlwind tour, it only made sense that Team USA men’s hockey stars Jack and Quinn Hughes would make an appearance. Jack was still there with his smile of broken teeth that have been etched into American sporting history after scoring the gold medal-winning goal in overtime against Canada.
But the real surprise came when Team USA women’s captain Hilary Knight and overtime hero Megan Keller also joined the stage. When the women’s players joined, the live crowd in New York erupted into huge cheers.
Team USA hockey champs Jack and Quinn Hughes, Hilary Knight and Megan Keller joined Connor Storrie for his SNL monologue pic.twitter.com/QRmCAIOf9L
— LateNighter (@latenightercom) March 1, 2026
Of course, the women’s team were the butt of Donald Trump’s joke while on the phone with the men’s team while FBI Director Kash Patel was inexplicably in the locker room celebrating as if he was on the ice himself. While the men’s team was being wined and dined with McDonald’s at the White House and showing up at the State of the Union, the women’s team had to deal with questions about why they were being viewed by their own country’s leadership as second-class citizens. Hilary Knight even got in a joke about making sure they invited the Hughes brothers along for the segment while on stage.
It was awesome to see both the men’s and women’s team united together in the moment and all smiles with each other. Both sides have maintained that there is deep respect between the two teams, no matter how the last week has played out. Their mutual success in Milan combined with the popularity of Heated Rivalry has led the sport of hockey to a cultural high point that hasn’t been seen in quite some time.
This scene is what America has wanted to see all along. This was a fantastic moment, and it shows what should have happened from the beginning had divisive government politicians not refused to stick to politics.
About Matt Yoder