OTTAWA — Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk said he understands why the U.S. women’s hockey team would feel put down by President Donald Trump’s comments on a call with players Sunday following the U.S. men’s hockey team’s gold medal win over Canada.
On the call, Trump joked he would have to invite the gold-medal-winning women’s team to the White House in addition to the men to avoid being impeached. The women’s team declined an invitation, citing scheduling issues. On Wednesday, U.S. captain Hilary Knight called the remarks “distasteful and unfortunate.”
Asked why he would laugh at Trump’s comments, Tkachuk said he didn’t have an answer.
“Honestly, it was just a whirlwind of a moment that (you) can’t really control what somebody says, and it’s just caught (me) off guard a little bit,” Tkachuk said Thursday morning ahead of his first game back from the Olympic break with the Ottawa Senators.
In his first media appearance in Ottawa since returning from Milan-Cortina, Tkachuk called the experience “a dream come true.” He and Ottawa teammate Jake Sanderson joined most American players at the White House as Trump’s guests before attending the State of the Union address, where the team was celebrated and cheered.
“I remember thinking, being in the Oval Office, ‘How did I get here?” Tkachuk said. “It was special. Just being an American citizen, you never really think you’ll go in the White House, see the White House, be in the Oval Office. And for it to happen, it was really cool.”
That evening, Tkachuk appeared on Fox News and acknowledged Ottawa fans weren’t the “happiest” with him right now.
“It’s a funny feeling when you feel their support every day. And then, within two weeks, you’re public enemy No. 1,” he said on Fox.
Members of the U.S. team have faced criticism for laughing at Trump’s joke. Some of Tkachuk’s U.S. teammates, including defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Zach Werenski, apologized in their first media appearances back with their NHL teams.
“(We’re) just coming off the ice, and I think it was 15 minutes later, you have the President of the United States calling you,” Tkachuk said Thursday, recounting the events that led to Trump’s call. “You just can’t really believe, you’re still riding the high of being a world champion, and for the President to take the time and call.
“When it comes to the women’s team, one of my favorite memories from the Olympics is after we won and after the women’s team came back from the closing ceremonies, both our teams are just in the dining hall hanging out having fun, just kind of being on top of the world. You have two gold medalist teams just hanging out before we’re going back to our respective cities. And it was just great to hear their experience. A lot of us went to a couple of their games, and they know that we support them throughout the whole tournament.”
Tkachuk was also asked about an AI-generated video shared earlier this week by the White House’s official TikTok account in which he and his brother, Matthew, are answering a question during last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. In the video, Brady’s answer is overdubbed to make him appear to refer to Canadians as “maple syrup-eating f—s” before showing highlights of the Americans during the Olympic tournament to the tune of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird.” It has been viewed over 11 million times.
“Well, it’s clearly fake,” Tkachuk said. “Because it’s not my voice, not my lips moving. … I’m not in control of any of those accounts, and I know that those words would never come out of my mouth. So, I can’t do anything about it.
“It’s not my voice. It’s not what I was saying. I would never say that. That’s not who I am. … I don’t like that video because that’s just never come out of my mouth.”
Tkachuk also said he didn’t yell “close the Northern border” during the team’s phone call with Trump.
“I’ve been seeing stuff that people think it’s me,” Tkachuk said. “But if you watch the video, that’s not my voice. It’s something that I’d never say. I don’t really know how that kind of took a storm on its own when I play here (in Ottawa) and give everything I have here. I just think that’s something that I never thought would happen in my head and especially would never say. It’s crazy when things go on social media, how fast they go. And, of course, I would never say anything like that.”
Sanderson was also asked about Trump’s phone call and said the team’s reaction to his comments was a “mistake.”
“But I think things got blown out of proportion a little bit,” Sanderson said. “We have nothing but the utmost respect for the women. We had a lounge in the village that we were hanging out with them all the time, watching other events, and going to their games …
“If we were to do it again, I think we wouldn’t do that, and we made a mistake. But, again, I think it kind of got blown out of proportion a little bit.”
Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk attend a celebration of Team USA’s gold medal in Olympic men’s hockey in Miami, Fla. (Alexander Tamargo / Getty Images for E11EVEN Miami)
On Wednesday, Senators teammate Drake Batherson admitted he was “jealous” of Tkachuk and Sanderson being able to celebrate a gold-medal victory at the Olympics and wasn’t surprised to see Tkachuk indulge in celebratory festivities, including at the White House.
“I think he’s just celebrating a championship with his teammates,” Batherson said. “If anyone (else) won, they would be doing the same, no matter what country they are. I think they’re just proud as a group to win a championship and celebrate. I don’t know much at all about politics, so I can’t get into that. But I think they’re just celebrating and having a good time, and just going with the flow.”
Senators head coach Travis Green echoed those sentiments, saying the celebration with President Trump “isn’t about politics.”
“I’m not going to talk about personal, political views,” Green said Wednesday. “And I’m sure they’re not doing that either. This is about them celebrating a big win for them. Something that they’ve probably dreamed of for a long time. I don’t look at it like they’re making a political statement by any means.”
Tkachuk and Sanderson will return to the Senators’ lineup in their first game back from the break Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings, as part of the Senators’ “Women in Sport Night” festivities. The Senators are six points out of a playoff spot, trailing the Boston Bruins, who own the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.