Hockey SNL

What people are saying…

by Lily Smith ★ March 19th, 2026

Design by: Maisy Wood

Connor Storrie during his SNL Monologue on Feb. 28, brought out women's USA hockey team members, amid the recent controversy surrounding the men's team and President Donald Trump. 

Storrie, who plays Russian hockey player Ilya Rozanov on the hit HBO series “Heated Rivalry” first brought out brothers Jack and Quinn Hughes, members of the men's team. 

But when he learned that neither of them had seen “Heated Rivalry,” he humorously feigned disappointment and said he wished at least “some hockey players watched it.”

At that moment women's team players Hillary Knight and Megan Keller walked onto the stage and received rapturous applause from the audience.

“Don’t worry we saw your show,” Keller responded.

After Storrie thanked them for being there, Knight said “It was going to be just us, but we thought we’d invite the guys too.”

“Yeah, we thought we’d give them a little moment to shine,” Keller added.

The joke was a direct reference to the controversial locker room phone call after the Olympics between Trump and members of the men’s USA hockey team, during which Trump invited them to the State of the Union address.  

In videos that spread online of the call Trump is heard saying to the men’s hockey players that “we’re gonna have to bring the women’s team – you do know that.” And if he didn’t invite them “probably would be impeached.” 

The members of the men’s team are heard laughing in the video.

Many fans have condemned the men’s team for laughing and have called Trump's remarks misogynistic. 

Aubrey Gallione, founder of Project Love U, said how disappointing it is that “women can reach the pinnacle of their sport and still somehow end up being a punchline.” 

Similarly, Knight called the joke “distasteful” and said that this is “a really good learning point to really focus on, you know, how we talk about women.” She added that “women aren’t less than and our achievements shouldn’t be overshadowed by anything else other than how great they are.”

Some men’s USA hockey players have apologized for their reactions to Trump's joke, including Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins and Jake Sanderson of the Ottawa Senators. 

Sanderson said that the team's response was a “mistake” but that the situation has gotten “blown out of proportion.” He added that the men’s team has the “utmost respect for all of them.”

Other players like Jack Hughes said that the men’s team reaction “is what it is.”

The women’s team rejected Trump’s invitation to the State of the Union, however, most of the men's team went. 

Edited by: Alexa Murland