{"id":497785,"date":"2026-03-01T16:31:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T16:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/497785\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T16:31:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T16:31:08","slug":"u-s-olympic-mens-womens-hockey-stars-joke-about-heated-rivalry-trump-invite-on-snl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/497785\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Olympic men\u2019s, women\u2019s hockey stars joke about \u2018Heated Rivalry,\u2019 Trump invite on \u2018SNL\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. Olympic hockey star Jack Hughes is well-known in the NHL for being lightning-fast on the ice. Well, how about how fast he got from St. Louis to Rockefeller Center in New York City for his \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d appearance?<\/p>\n

After the New Jersey Devils forward played a game against the St. Louis Blues that started at 4:08 p.m. CT on Saturday and ended at 6:33 p.m. in Missouri, he was wheels up on a Gulfstream V from Cahokia\/St. Louis Airport at 7:16 p.m. (8:16 p.m. ET), on a flight with Devils owners David and Allison Blitzer, younger brother and teammate Luke Hughes and Devils senior vice president of hockey communications and team operations Pete Albietz.<\/p>\n

After cruising at 49,000 feet and cramming for the \u201cSNL\u201d appearance by reading the script, Hughes landed in Teterboro, N.J., at 10:01 p.m. He jumped on a helicopter at Teterboro and flew to W30th Pier from 10:08 p.m. to 10:18 p.m. There, a car was waiting to hustle the traveling party to 30 Rock, where they arrived at the \u201cSNL\u201d loading docks at 10:32 p.m \u2014 58 minutes before the show\u2019s cold open.<\/p>\n

So, in all, it took Hughes 2 hours and 59 minutes from game\u2019s end in St. Louis to get to his final destination.<\/p>\n

Arriving at the famous Studio 8H, the Olympic gold medalist joined his older brother, Quinn, and U.S. women\u2019s national team pillars and PWHL stars Hilary Knight and Megan Keller to swap their skates for cue cards on \u201cSaturday Night Live.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nine nights ago, Knight and Keller were heroes in the United States\u2019 winning its third women\u2019s hockey gold medal with a 2-1 overtime win over Canada. Less than a week ago, Jack Hughes followed Keller\u2019s example and scored the \u201cGolden Goal\u201d in a 2-1 overtime win over Canada to deliver the Americans their first men\u2019s Olympic hockey gold medal since 1980.<\/p>\n

Saturday night, instead of playing hockey in front of thousands of people, they stepped in front of a studio audience and had the guts to do live television in front of millions.<\/p>\n

Connor Storrie\u2019s monologue! pic.twitter.com\/j3b9QkrcWB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) March 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The show was hosted by \u201cHeated Rivalry\u201d actor Connor Storrie, and at the end of his monologue, the Hughes brothers joined him on stage and pretended they had no idea what \u201cHeated Rivalry\u201d was about.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been so busy playing, we haven\u2019t had time to see your show yet. It\u2019s about hockey, right?\u201d Jack said, through some missing teeth after being high-sticked late in the third period of the gold-medal game.<\/p>\n

\u201cKind of,\u201d Storrie deadpanned.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got my teeth knocked out in the finals. Does that happen in your show?\u201d Jack said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMetaphorically,\u201d Storrie, with a wink, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat team do you play on?\u201d Quinn asked.<\/p>\n

When told the Boston Raiders, Jack asked what league that was in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe HBO,\u201d Storrie joked.<\/p>\n

Keller and Knight then joined the Hughes brothers on stage, with Keller cracking, \u201cDon\u2019t worry, we saw your show.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Storrie told them that it\u2019s so cool that they were all there, Knight snapped, \u201cIt was gonna be just us, but we thought we\u2019d invite the guys, too\u201d \u2014 a reference to U.S. President Donald Trump begrudgingly telling the men\u2019s hockey team after they won gold that he\u2019d be impeached if he didn\u2019t invite the women\u2019s team to the White House with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, we thought we\u2019d give them a little moment to shine,\u201d Keller said, with the Hughes brothers applauding.<\/p>\n

When Storrie told the players how cool it was to have four gold-medalists on stage, Quinn said, \u201cThanks. The last time the men did that was 46 years ago.\u201d Knight joked back, \u201cAnd the last time we did that was two whole Olympics ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack then told Storrie, \u201cBut these gold medals aren\u2019t just for us. They\u2019re for all hockey fans, yours, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Storrie asked if he could try on a medal, and all snapped back, \u201cNooooo.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was Knight\u2019s second appearance on \u201cSNL.\u201d In 2018, after winning gold at the Olympics, Knight \u2014 the all-time leading goal scorer and point getter in U.S. Olympic history \u2014 appeared on \u201cWeekend Update\u201d with Leslie Jones and Colin Jost.<\/p>\n

Knight, who scored the tying goal in her fifth and final Olympics, is currently sidelined as captain of the Seattle Torrent after returning from Milan with an injury. Keller, who scored an overtime winner in the gold medal game, flew to New York on Saturday night after assisting on a goal and playing more than 29 minutes in the Boston Fleet\u2019s shootout win at Ottawa on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The Hughes brothers are the first NHLers to appear on \u201cSNL\u201d since 2004, when Brett Hull made an appearance on \u201cWeekend Update\u201d with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.<\/p>\n

For Jack Hughes, the \u201cSNL\u201d appearance wasn\u2019t even his only comedic appearance of the night. On the plane to New York\/New Jersey, he and Luke Hughes FaceTimed comedian Matt Rife and appeared on the center-ice scoreboard for a few minutes as part of his set at Prudential Center.<\/p>\n

Quinn Hughes, meanwhile, played Friday night in Salt Lake City in a Minnesota Wild loss to the Utah Mammoth. He flew back to Minnesota after the game, flew to New York on Saturday, will return to Minnesota on Sunday to play a 4 p.m. CT game against the Blues and will return to New York on Monday to appear on \u201cThe Tonight Show\u201d with his brother Jack, and Knight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Tonight Show\u201d episode will also feature guests Nicole Kidman and Luke Thompson and airs at 11:35 p.m. ET on NBC and streams Tuesday on Peacock.<\/p>\n