USA Hockey had a good couple of weeks at the Winter Olympic Games in Milan, Italy. Both the men’s and women’s teams won overtime games against archrival Canada to win gold medals, the first time each team had won gold in the same Games. The respect between the teams there was mutual, the Minneso ta Frost’s Olympians said Wednesday as the team reconvened to finish the PWHL season. The U.S. men and women attended one another’s games, and the teams shared a medical room in the Olympic Village. United States' Kelly Pannek (12) celebrates after a women's ice hockey gold medal game between the United States and Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) “I didn’t meet a single one of them who wasn’t very kind and asking us how we’re doing, how the Games were going,” Frost forward Britta Curl-Salemme said Tuesday after a practice at TRIA Rink. “They were watching and supporting, so it was really cool to meet them.” “We did feel their respect,” former Gopher and two-time Olympian Grace Zumwinkle said. “And having been in the Village as well was a good experience.” That doesn’t mean they appreciated the men’s team laughing at a joke by President Donald Trump that minimized the women’s achievement. Not long after the U.S. men beat Canada on Jack Hughes’ overtime goal on Sunday, the president spoke to the team via cell phone and invited the team to Tuesday night’s State of the Union address. After the team — still celebrating in the locker room — eagerly accepted the invitation, the president added, “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that.” Most of the men’s team laughed. “I think the video is what it is,” three-time Olympian and former Gopher Kelly Pannek said Wednesday. “You’d have to ask them about their feelings on it, but I think there’s also elements to it, with the phone call specifically, (that) is not that surprising, to be frank. So I don’t know why we expect differently.” The women’s team officially declined the president’s invitation to the State of the Union on Monday. Curl-Salemme and former Gophers center Taylor Heise said several U.S. men’s players have reached out to the women’s team collectively and the players individually to apologize for their behavior captured by the video. “(Was) that the perfect response? Is it an appropriate comment or joke to make? No, I don’t think so,” Curl said. “I just go back to the way they treated us, and the support they gave us. “They were happy as anyone to see us succeed, and the same for us with them. So that’s what I’m focusing more on.” With PWHL action resuming this weekend — the Frost are at Montreal on Sunday afternoon — players are hoping the focus can shift to the fact that USA Hockey swept the hockey tournaments with undefeated records. It was the third gold medal for each team. The women won it all in 1998, 2018 and 2026. “It really was such a special feeling being there, and even being able to spend some time with them after their win, and the respect they were showing us,” Pannek said. Said Zumwinkle: “It’s the first time in history that’s happened, and it’s super exciting to take part in that.” “But I think it goes so much further than just a gold medal,” she added. “We see the grassroots, and we see 1980 and what the Miracle on Ice did for so many younger people, and I think the women’s team and the men’s team, we can continue to do that for generations to come.” Minnesota Frost wing Grace Zumwinkle models the team's new uniforms, unveiled Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Courtesy of PWHL) Minnesota Frost center Taylor Heise models the team's new home uniforms, unveiled Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. Related Articles Canada enters women’s Olympic hockey quarterfinals beating Finland, rebounding from loss to US Finally, Taylor Heise, Grace Zumwinkle are Olympic teammates Meet the Minnesotans competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics Frost overpower Goldeneyes More sports figures speak out on ICE actions in Minnesota ...read more read less