Team USA hockey star Jake Guentzel has revealed that he did not visit the White House due to a ‘timing thing for me and my family.’
President Trump welcomed Mike Sullivan’s gold medalists to his State of the Union address on Tuesday night to celebrate their Winter Olympics triumph.
Guentzel was among only five players not to take up his offer, along with Brock Nelson, Kyle Connor, Jackson LaCombe and Jake Oettinger.
On Wednesday, the Tampa Bay Lightning star insisted that his absence was not out of opposition to the president.
‘I was definitely not denying the request to go,’ Guentzel said. ‘It would obviously be a dream come true to go, I was fortunate to go in 2017 when Trump was in office…
‘[But] we’ve got a lot of games coming up the rest of the year, it’s going to be a tough schedule,’ he continued.
Team USA hockey star Jake Guentzel has explained why he did not visit the White House
‘So, two weeks of Olympic break, thought it would be good to come home, rest and recover and try to spend some time with my family before we get going.’
Guentzel’s teammate Matthew Tkachuk opened up on the ‘special’ experience of attending Trump’s speech following their triumph over Canada in the gold-medal clash.
The Olympic champions were given a rousing welcome as they entered the House chamber at the Capitol to wild chants of ‘U-S-A.’
The Republicans and most others in attendance rose to give the gold medal winners a standing ovation – with the notable exception of a handful of Democrats.
However, even the frosty reception from Trump’s political rivals couldn’t mar the experience for Tkachuk.
‘I’m gonna be honest, I was chanting “U-S-A” myself – like I’ve never done that before. I don’t think in my life other than like another sports event,’ the forward, a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Florida Panthers, told Fox’s Sean Hannity.
‘It was really cool to walk down and hold the gold medal and chant “U-S-A” and see everybody standing and applauding,’ Tkachuk continued.
‘It was a really special moment for myself and my teammates. We felt the love and support ever since we’ve stepped foot back in the US.’
Led by goalscoring hero Jack Hughes and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, the men’s players entered the House chamber through two sets of doors and walked down the rows of the press gallery.