Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
The NHL should have reaped the benefits of Team USA beating Canada at the Winter Olympics, but the league has found itself dealing with a major PR headache thanks to what unfolded in the wake of the win. It also had to do some damage control after highlighting Dylan Strome’s status as a “Girl Dad,” which led to his wife going off on ignorant fans who went after their family over a controversy he had nothing to do with.
On Sunday, America’s men’s hockey team won its first gold medal at the Winter Olympics since 1980 on the 46th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice with a 2-1 victory over Canada in a game where Jack Hughes netted the game-winning goal in overtime.
That tournament also marked the first time NHL players had competed at The Games since 2014, and while it seemed like the league might be able to take advantage of the hype surrounding the gold medal matchup, it doesn’t seem like that’s going to be the case based on the political controversy that unfolded after Team USA earned the top spot on the podium.
FBI director Kash Patel was somewhat oddly invited to celebrate with the Americans in the locker room, and he mediated the phone call where Donald Trump invited them to the White House.
The president made what Hilary Knight described as a “distasteful” joke about the women’s team while on the line, and the players who were present received plenty of heat for greeting it with laughter (it’s worth noting that Knight and some of her teammates made it clear they didn’t have any real beef with the men’s squad over their reaction).
That backlash was compounded by the majority of those players deciding to meet with the Commander in Chief in the Oval Office before attending the State of the Union, as many hockey fans who are firmly not on Team Trump viewed their presence as an implicit endorsement of the president.
The NHL has found itself dealing with plenty of angry comments on social media as a result, and we were treated to an incredibly idiotic situation over the league’s ill-timed post about Dylan Strome.
Dylan Strome’s wife blasted NHL fans who assumed he was American and went after their family in a now-deleted post about him being a “Girl Dad”
Around 40% of NHL players hail from Canada. That includes Dylan Strome, the Ontario native who’s spent a decade in the league and has served as a center for the Capitals since 2022.
He not only did not represent the United States at the Winter Olympics but watched them unfold from the comfort of his home, as he was also not selected to play for Canada. As a result, you’d think it would be very hard to tie him to the aforementioned controversy, but that didn’t stop some misguided fans from trying.
Earlier this week, the NHL decided to post a picture of Strome with his daughter at Disneyland while labeling him the “ultimate girl dad.” You could argue the league failed to read the room based on the conversation that was dominating the Hockey Discourse when it went up, but it would be hard to place any blame on the 28-year-old father of three girls.
However, that didn’t stop some people who falsely assumed Strome was a member of Team USA’s hockey team from doing exactly that before the NHL took the post down.
The NHL posted a picture of Dylan Strome with his daughter at Disneyland.
Pronoun people were in the replies with unhinged comments about the USA hockey team.
Dylan Strome is Canadian and didn’t even play at the Olympics.
NHL then deleted the tweet. pic.twitter.com/XWX1kpBFCX
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 24, 2026
Strome’s wife Tayler subsequently sounded off on Instagram, saying she was subjected to “some of the most vile and disgusting things I have ever read in my life” courtesy of the morons who went after their family for literally no reason.
Do better indeed.