The punchline landed before the audience even caught its breath.
According to the New York Post, Hilary Knight stepped onto the “Saturday Night Live” stage, gold medal hanging from her neck, and turned a week of Olympic chatter into a live comedy moment.
Knight and teammate Megan Keller surprised viewers by joining men’s players Jack and Quinn Hughes during the opening monologue of “Heated Rivalry” actor Connor Storrie.
The crowd erupted as the four Olympians, all in Team USA jerseys, lined up shoulder to shoulder.
“It was going to be just us, but we thought we’d invite the guys, too,” Knight said, drawing laughs and an immediate callback to the controversy that had followed the teams since the Milan Cortina Games.
The joke referenced the moment when President Donald Trump phoned the men’s team after their 2-1 overtime win over Canada and invited them to his State of the Union, adding that he would “have to also invite the women, too.”
He later quipped that failing to do so could get him impeached, a remark that prompted laughter from players and criticism from others.
Knight had called the comment “distasteful and unfortunate” earlier in the week.
On the ice, both teams had mirrored each other’s success, with the women defeating Canada by the same 2-1 overtime score days earlier. Keller netted the winner, while Knight forced extra time with a late goal.
The comedy continued onstage when Quinn Hughes noted the men’s last gold had come 46 years earlier at the 1980 Lake Placid Games. Knight shot back that the women most recently won in 2018.
Jack Hughes laughed and replied, “nice burn,” before adding, “These gold medals aren’t just for us, they’re for all hockey fans, yours’ too.”
When Storrie asked to try one on, the four players turned in unison and answered, “No.”
