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On Tuesday, the NHL players who beat Canada to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics headed to the White House for a hero’s welcome. Their decision to do so was a very hot topic of conversation among many hockey fans, and Tage Thompson was able to figure out a way to rile up some Sabres supporters for reasons that had nothing to do with politics while reflecting on the experience.
By now, I assume most hockey fans are familiar with The Discourse surrounding the men’s team that managed to leave Milano Cortina with a gold medal after outlasting Canada to earn the top spot on the podium thanks to the goal Jack Hughes netted in overtime.
The victory that had the ability to unite Americans has turned out to be a fairly divisive one due to the political debate that has overshadowed the celebration that ensued.
We were treated to our first controversy when FBI director Kash Patel ended up in the locker room after the game (Wild GM Bill Guerin was reportedly the person who invited him), and he was partially responsible for the second one when he pulled out his phone for the call where Donald Trump implicitly minimized the achievement of the women’s team that also beat Canada for gold while inviting the men to the White House.
On Tuesday afternoon, all but five members of Team USA met with Trump in the Oval Office, and most of them were also in attendance when the Commander in Chief announced he’ll be presenting Connor Hellebuyck with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his goaltending heroics during the State of the Union.
Sabres center Tage Thompson was among the group that attended both events, and he inadvertently threw some shade at the franchise he currently plays for while recapping the experience.
Tage Thompson implied he’ll never win the Stanley Cup while talking about his trip to the White House
Two of the players who traveled to the White House on Tuesday had already been there before. Jack Eichel made the trek to the nation’s capital when Joe Biden invited the Golden Knights in the wake of their Stanley Cup victory in 2023, and Matthew Tkachuk was welcomed by Trump after the Panthers won the trophy in 2024 and 2025.
Those were the only two guys on the roster who’ve earned the right to hoist hockey’s ultimate prize, and there aren’t many people who’ve had less of a chance to do so than Tage Thompson, who has played in over 500 NHL games since making his debut with the Blues in 2017 but has yet to appear in a postseason contest.
The forward has been a member of the Sabres organization since the start of the 2018 season, and he’s been unable to help them snap a playoff drought that currently stretches 14 years It seems like it will be coming to an end in a couple of months barring a second-half collapse when you consider MoneyPuck currently estimates Buffalo has a 69.1% chance to make the postseason, but their odds of winning the Stanley Cup sit at just 1.9%.
On Wednesday, Thompson got the chance to talk about the trip to the White House, and plenty of people couldn’t help but notice he seemed to admit he doesn’t think he’ll ever be back in the wake of a Stanley Cup victory when you consider he said the trip was “something that I’ll probably never get to do again.”
Tage Thompson on meeting the president and visiting the White House pic.twitter.com/RrehjVy7h2
— Matthew Fairburn (@MatthewFairburn) February 25, 2026
It’s hard to believe that’s the message Thompson intended to get across when he uttered those words, and you could easily spin that quote as talking about the entire experience as opposed to a prophecy concerning his Stanley Cup prospects.
However, it’s hard not to read it and think that’s just what playing in Buffalo will do to a man.