Members of the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team arrived in Washington, D.C. with plans to attend the State of the Union address later on in the evening.
Of the 25 members of the gold medal-winning team, 20 will be in attendance in the nation’s capital on Tuesday evening, The Athletic reported, with five returning home in preparation for the resumption of the NHL season on Wednesday.
Jets’ winger Kyle Connor, Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger, Avalanche forward Brock Nelson, Lightning winger Jake Guentzel and Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe are not taking part in any celebrations in D.C.
Nelson, a former Islander, skipped the trip in order to return to Denver with his family and is expected to join the team on Wednesday in Salt Lake City, where they will face the Mammoth, according to the Denver Post.
Connor, who played during Team USA’s first game of the Olympic tournament but did not appear again the rest of the way, was on the ice with the Jets for Tuesday’s practice as the team prepares to face the Canucks on Wednesday.
“It’s a big second half, so I just wanted to make sure I was ready,” Connor told reporters about the early return.
Oettinger will be back in Dallas on Tuesday and will back up Casey DeSmith for Wednesday’s game against the Kraken, a Stars spokesperson told the Dallas Morning News.
Guentzel was back in Tampa on Tuesday, but did not practice with his team.
The Tampa Bay Times reported that his decision to remain in Tampa was so that he could rest and prioritize the game on Wednesday.
LaCombe had been en route back to SoCal on Tuesday and was expected to land in California later on that evening, the Sporting Tribune’s Zach Cavanagh reported.
There has been no indication that their decisions to skip Tuesday’s events had to do with any political ideology.
The rest of Team USA arrived in Washington on Tuesday morning on a US Air Force 757 that picked them up at Miami International Airport after they spent the night celebrating the gold medal win in South Beach.
The U.S. squad was invited to the State of the Union and the White House in a postgame phone call with president Donald Trump after they defeated Canada in the gold medal game.
Video and images of the team at the White House on Tuesday have circulated around social media, including by accounts connected to the Trump Administration.
In one video posted online, Matthew Tkachuk hands Trump his gold medal to wear before he and the other members of the team posed for photos with the president in the Oval Office.