The men’s hockey team is in the news because of mixed reactions to the U.S. women’s team’s Olympic gold, including both public praise and a now-viral moment in the locker room that many saw as mocking or dismissive of the women’s achievement.

What the men’s team said (and did)

From recent coverage of the Milan–Cortina Olympics:

  • U.S. men’s coach Mike Sullivan publicly praised the women’s team, calling them “a terrific hockey team” and saying they would inspire “the next generation of girls” and that his squad “couldn’t be more proud of them.”
  • He also said the women had been “dominant” and that his team “aspire[s] to do the same on the men’s side,” explicitly using the women’s performance as motivation.
  • Several U.S. men’s players were shown in broadcasts and reports watching and cheering on the women in person during their gold‑medal win over Canada, describing the experience as “incredible” and saying they had “chills” watching them play.

At the same time, a separate, more controversial moment has driven a lot of forum and social chatter:

  • After the U.S. men beat Canada 2–1 in overtime for gold, Donald Trump phoned the men’s locker room to congratulate them.
  • During that call, he made a “joke” that appeared to belittle the women’s team and their gold; several men’s players were seen laughing along.
  • That reaction — laughing at a line that seemed to minimize the women’s achievement — is what many fans are angry about, saying the men were effectively mocking or disrespecting the women’s team even though the women have historically been more successful internationally.

Snapshot: praise vs. backlash

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Aspect What happened
Public comments Coach Mike Sullivan and others called the women’s team “terrific,” “dominant,” and inspirational, saying the men’s team was proud of them and wanted to match their standard.
Shared celebration Men’s players attended the women’s games, described the atmosphere as “incredible,” and framed the women’s win as motivation for their own run.
Locker‑room controversy During a congratulatory phone call after the men’s gold, Trump made a remark that came off as dismissive of the women’s team; several men laughed, which viewers interpreted as mocking the women’s accomplishment.
Fan reaction Online backlash focuses less on the exact words the men said and more on them laughing along, with fans calling it disrespectful given the women’s multiple golds and world titles.

How forums and fans are talking about it

Forum threads and comment sections are doing a few things at once:

  • Re‑circulating the clip of the locker‑room call and arguing over whether the men’s laughter was harmless “locker‑room banter” or clear disrespect toward women’s hockey.
  • Pointing out the irony that the U.S. women’s program has three Olympic golds and 11 world championships, and has been the more consistently successful side, which makes any belittling jokes land especially badly.
  • Highlighting family ties: fans note that the mother of star forward Jack Hughes, Ellen Weinberg‑Hughes, is a former U.S. women’s national team player and now works in player development, which makes the perceived mocking even more uncomfortable for some viewers.

You’ll also see older and ongoing forum debates about comparing men’s and women’s hockey in general — some users argue those comparisons are bad for the sport, while others discuss sexism and experiences of women in men’s leagues — and this latest incident is being plugged into that longer‑running conversation.

Big picture: what it amounts to

Putting it all together, what the men’s team has “said” about women’s hockey in this moment is really two conflicting messages:

  • On the record, via coaches and formal comments, they’ve framed the women’s team as elite, inspiring, and a standard they aspire to reach.
  • In the viral locker‑room moment, their laughter at a dismissive joke has been read by many fans as undermining that respect and reinforcing the idea that women’s hockey is still treated as a punchline, even when the women are winning just as much — or more.

So the latest “what did the men’s hockey team say about women’s hockey” story is less about a single quotable line and more about this clash between public praise and a casual, joking tone that a lot of people feel gave away how some players actually see the women’s game.

TL;DR:
They’ve officially praised the women’s team as dominant and inspirational and said they’re proud of them, but a viral locker‑room moment where players laughed at a dismissive joke about the women’s team has sparked backlash and a wider debate about how seriously men’s hockey really takes women’s hockey.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.