The U.S. Men’s National Junior Ice Hockey Team received praise over the weekend on social media for proudly singing along to the National Anthem after winning the IIHF World Junior Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Friday.
A video posted on X, formerly Twitter, shows the junior ice hockey champions celebrating the team’s sixth gold medal in U.S. history by loudly singing the words of “The Star-Spangled Banner” with huge smiles on their faces. The video quickly received millions of views on social media.
Multiple social media users immediately contrasted the junior USA ice hockey team’s patriotism with the U.S. Women’s National Team’s lack of patriotism during the World Cup. At the time, Fox Business reported that multiple players on the women’s soccer team did not sing or hold their hands over their hearts during the National Anthem.
On Saturday, Riley Gaines, an American swimmer and conservative activist, shared the video of the USA junior hockey team’s national anthem celebration on X. Taking a shot at Megan Rapinoe and the women’s soccer team, Gaines wrote, “Hey @mPinoe, take notes.”
The viral video was also shared on social media by Carli Lloyd, a former member of the U.S. women’s national soccer team. In a post on X, Lloyd shared the video along with the caption, “Amazing moment to see.”
According to The New York Post, SiriusXM podcast host Megyn Kelly previously criticized the U.S. women’s soccer team for their behavior at the World Cup, saying, “I really do believe their version of what a feminist is, what it means to be an empowered woman, at least as an American woman, means you need to hate your country. It means to go out on the national stage and embarrass yourself and your country by not singing the national anthem.”
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The contrast between the women’s soccer team and the junior ice hockey team was repeatedly pointed out on social media over the weekend. One social media user highlighted the difference between the two teams, saying, “This is how you celebrate when you represent America… and you are supposed to be the adults? @USWNT.”
Another X user praised the patriotism of the young hockey players, writing, “I don’t know a single one of those kids or their parents, but I instantly respect all of them for this proud showing. Thank you!”
