Ellen Hughes Responds To Viral Comment By Shifting Focus Back To Team USA’s Historic Olympic Gold

The Hughes brothers’ mother is also deeply connected to the sport herself, having played hockey in the past and now working as a player development consultant for Team USA women’s ice hockey.

Ellen Hughes — mother of Olympic men’s hockey standouts Jack and Quinn Hughes and a player development consultant for Team USA women’s hockey — shared her perspective after a video went viral showing President Trump calling the men’s team to congratulate them, then joking about inviting the gold medal–winning women’s team to the State of the Union.

“I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that,” Trump told the men’s team before adding if he didn’t, “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”

When asked how she felt about the remark, Ellen Hughes said on TODAY on Feb. 24 that “at the end of the day, it’s just about the country.”

“These players, both the men and women, can bring so much unity to a group and to a country,” she said. “People that cheered on that don’t watch hockey, people that have politics on one side or on the other side, and that’s all both the men’s team and the women’s team care about.”

She also emphasized the close connection between the two teams, pointing to what she described as a shared sense of purpose.

“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 — that’s what it’s all about,” she said. “And the other things they cannot control. They care about humanity. They care about unity and they care about the country.”

Both the men’s and women’s hockey teams captured gold medals at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. Jack Hughes delivered the decisive overtime goal against Canada, securing the United States its first men’s hockey gold since 1980, while the women’s team also defeated Canada to claim their own gold.

Ellen Hughes reflected with pride on the success of both squads and what the moment represented.

“It couldn’t have gone better,” she said. “Both teams going undefeated. We couldn’t have written a better story, and I hope everybody just understands what we did in the moment, both the men and the women to bring this country together and let everybody cheer in the same direction.”

Even so, she admitted that the scale of everything that happened in Milan is still difficult to fully process.

“It still seems surreal,” she said. “ … But I couldn’t be prouder. I couldn’t be prouder of what the men’s team did, and what the woman’s team did.”

“When I watched the women win gold in overtime, I thought it was the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life,” she added. “And then I had to do it a couple of days over when the men did it to us as well and took us to overtime. But what special moments for a bunch of amazing women and a bunch of amazing men, and to win gold twice, it just says so much for USA hockey and where our sport is in this great country.”

The day after the phone call video circulated on Feb. 22, the U.S. women’s hockey team chose to decline the president’s invitation to attend the State of the Union.

“We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal–winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement,” a USA Hockey spokesperson said on Feb. 23. “Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate.”

“They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment,” the spokesperson added.

Jack and Quinn Hughes later appeared on TODAY via video call on Feb. 24, offering additional insight into the bond between the men’s and women’s teams.

“I’m glad you brought up the women because it was amazing to spend some time with them, too,” Quinn Hughes said. “And then obviously watch them, me and Jack were there, we watched them win the gold medal.”

“They came to our game and were able to watch us,” he added. “So just the support back and forth, just to get to know them a little better was special, too.”