Peter King: A heart-stopping hockey victory was marred by politics

The U.S. men’s hockey team’s 2-1 sudden death, overtime win over Canada to win the Olympic gold medal set off a wave of patriotism that few people anticipated. There was, of course, the usual hope of victory when the Americans won their first four games in Italy. That hope increased when they advanced to the final against Canada, the clear favorite.

It wasn’t a David vs. Goliath match like the fabled 1980 Miracle on Ice, in which an American team comprising a bunch of amateur college kids defeated the Soviet Union, which was acknowledged to be the overwhelming favorite. But this year’s gold medal game, too, was an instant classic. The winning goal came less than two minutes into overtime on a rocket-like shot by Jack Hughes.

There was exultation among the American fans in the arena, and the many millions watching on TV across the country. On the ice, the players were euphoric, overcome with absolute joy. The exuberant Hughes topped it all off by giving credit to his teammates and exclaiming, “I love the USA. I’m so proud to be an American!”

His words were obviously genuine and sincere — a raw, unfiltered expression of Americanism that would have had a visceral impact on many Americans at any event. But they came against the backdrop of other American Olympians criticizing the United States and President Trump. The attacks by these athletes against their own country on foreign soil, at an international event, infuriated and disappointed countess Americans regardless of whether or not they supported the president.

The reaction of many progressives in politics and the media was that these statements were merely free speech. No one, of course, was denying that the athletes had the right to say what they did. But just because you have the right to say something doesn’t make it right. Nor should you say it in another country, when you’re representing the United States.

Whenever I traveled overseas as a congressman, I never said a critical word about my country or the president, whether he was Democrat or Republican. I believe that politics stops at the water’s edge. Besides, I can think of no country that offers more opportunity for more people or has done more good for the world than the United States.

For whatever the reasons, the several days after the Olympics ended saw a wave of unabashed patriotism and expressions of love of country spread across the land. It peaked when Trump presented the hockey team at his State of the Union address. And then Hughes got a heartwarming welcome when he returned to play his first home game for the New Jersey Devils.

Unfortunately, there were the naysayers. An op-ed in The New York Times claimed that the American had allowed themselves to be politicized, and had gone from heroes to zeros. The genesis of the criticism of the players was their acceptance of Trump’s invitation to visit the White House and be his guests at the State of the Union. The invitation had been made by way of FBI Director Kash Patel, who had celebrated with the players in the locker room and held his phone so they could hear Trump’s congratulations.

The president’s call to the locker room was described as a political intrusion, though it’s customary for presidents to make such calls. When President Jimmy Carter called to congratulate the 1980 gold medal winners, Coach Herb Brooks not only accepted the call, but also told Carter he supported his controversial decision to boycott that summer’s Olympics in Moscow. Back then there wasn’t a word of complaint from the media.

Though Trump also invited the American women’s gold medal-winning hockey team to the White House and the State of the Union, he was assailed for prefacing the invite with the friendly jibe, “I guess I have to invite the women.” Talk about political correctness run amuck! Lighten up!

Similarly, there was the criticism that the men were the object of more public acclaim than the women, ignoring the fact that the women’s team had been favored from the start and has now won three gold medals since 1998, while the men hadn’t won in 46 years.

We must put aside stridency and needless political division to enjoy such moments of national patriotism, and celebrate that we are fortunate to live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. USA!

Peter King is a former congressman, and a former chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security. Comments? pking@ liherald.com.