Team USA men’s hockey team wildly celebrated their Winter Olympics gold medal victory with a booze-fueled party that ran late into the night – thanks to Pat McAfee.
Jack Hughes and his victorious teammates were joined by hundreds of fans at the famed E11EVEN nightclub after defeating bitter rivals Canada.
The American team only landed back from Milan on Monday afternoon, having been redirected from New York to Florida due to the brutal winter storm in the region.
But the players showed no sign of slowing down as they smoked cigars, sang ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ and gave victory speeches to a packed dance floor.
According to E11EVEN, the hockey heroes – who were also seen spraying revelers with champagne – racked up a $150,000 bar tab on the night.
Thankfully for the hockey stars, they were not the ones who had to settle the tab as, instead, ESPN host Pat McAfee offered to cover the cost of the celebrations.
ESPN host Pat McAfee paid the tab for Team USA’s men’s hockey stars gold medal celebrations
Team USA hockey stars partied hard at E11EVEN nightclub in Miami on Monday night (pictured L-R: Zach Werenski, Brock Faber, Charlie McAvoy, Brady Tkachuk, Vincent Trocheck, Matthew Tkachuk and Dylan Larkin)
‘Thank you for representing the United States of America in such a great way, it was an honor to watch you win, enjoy the hell out of it, tonight all of your drinks are on me,’ McAfee said.
Just one day after their celebrations, the Winter Olympics gold medalists arrived in Washington DC, on Tuesday morning, and spent time with Donald Trump in the Oval Office following an invite from the president after their dramatic win.
While 20 members of the 25-strong squad were in attendance, five players chose not to go to America’s capital to continue the celebrations.
According to The Athletic, Kyle Connor, Jake Oettinger, Brock Nelson, Jake Guentzel and Jackson LaCombe all opted against spending time with Trump and their teammates in Washington DC.
Connor, who didn’t see any action in Milan after their first game, practiced with the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday ahead of their next NHL game on Wednesday.
Oettinger was scheduled to arrive back in Texas on Tuesday and was at the Dallas Stars’ morning skate on Wednesday ahead of their game against the Seattle Kraken.
Nelson is back in Denver to see his family and should be back with the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. Guentzel has arrived home in Tampa Bay but skipped Lightning practice on Tuesday.
Meanwhile LaCombe was heading back to California from Miami on Tuesday as he prepares to reunite with his Anaheim Ducks teammates for their game against the Edmonton Oilers.
Most of Team USA was on hand Tuesday at the Oval Office, where players met Donald Trump
Members of Team USA are pictured outside the White House on Tuesday afternoon
Interestingly, all but Connor grew up in Minnesota. There have been violent clashes in Minneapolis between immigration enforcement agents and anti-ICE protesters following the deaths of two Americans, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, last month.
The decision of their other 20 teammates to accept Trump’s offer has led to division across America in recent days.
The president was heard saying on a celebratory phone call with the men’s team that he’d ‘be impeached’ if he didn’t extend the same invite to the women’s team, who also won the gold medal in Milan.
But, speaking exclusively to Daily Mail at E11EVEN nightclub in Miami before their wild party, goalscoring hero Jack Hughes defended the team’s decision.
He said: ‘They (the women’s team) have got busy schedules, too. Everyone is giving us backlash for all the social media stuff today.
‘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.