Connor Hellebuyck can handle the criticism he received for attending a White House reception hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump, but the Winnipeg Jets goalie is upset that his wife has had to bear the brunt of it.
After Hellebuyck backstopped the United States to victory over Canada in the gold-medal final of the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Games, he and his teammates received a phone call from Trump in their dressing room.
In that call, captured on video, Trump belittled the U.S. women’s team, who had also won gold, as he invited the men’s team to a celebratory reception.
All but five of the American players attended the reception where Trump announced that Hellebuyck would be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Hellebuyck and his teammates who visited the White House have been heavily criticized on social media.
Hellebuyck was asked about that blowback for the first time on Friday.
“The blowback that my wife [Andrea] was getting is just not fair. I don’t understand how she can take so much heat for just being with me as a hockey player. We’ve done nothing wrong, she’s done nothing wrong, my kids have done nothing wrong and everyone in my family is happy.
“I’m just going to continue living and moving on with my life and let that just fizzle out, because it always will.”
Jets coach Scott Arniel also took exception to Hellebuyck’s loved ones being dragged into the controversy.
“I really feel for him [because] it got real personal, not just with him, but with his family, with his wife,” Arniel said.
“That’s the stuff that is out of bounds for me, and that’s the part that really, really upset him. I think he’s handled it well.”
Hellebuyck said he did not have any regrets about the experience.
“I didn’t get booed when I got back. That shows a lot from our fan base,” said Hellebuyck. “The majority of the conversations I’ve had with people since being back have been, ‘You beat our team [Canada], but we’re so happy for you,’ and that’s kind of what I would expect.
He and the Jets fan base have grown close over the years, and Hellebuyck says they know he’s “doing everything that I can for them.”
“When I achieve some personal things along the way, it doesn’t have to just be, ‘Oh, look what you did.’ It’s, ‘we got to experience this all together.'”
Hellebuyck has 15 wins, a 2.75 goals-against average, and a .901 save percentage for Winnipeg over 40 games this season. He won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player last season and the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender.
“I’m very proud and these moments are really going to make a lifetime and a career for me,” said Hellebuyck. “Receiving that highest honour [the Presidential Medal of Freedom] is something I’ll be so proud of and as I get older, I can show my kids.“
He wants to bring the same joy to Winnipeg, he said.
“I think everyone understands that. I think that’s why I didn’t get booed and I still got cheered. They know that I still care about the city and I want them to feel exactly how I just felt.”
Defenceman Josh Morrissey will return to Winnipeg’s lineup on Saturday for the first time since being injured during Team Canada’s first game of the Olympics.
“It’s disappointing, obviously,” Morrissey said Friday. “I worked really hard to get that opportunity, and I wanted to be out there helping the guys and obviously, representing your country.”
Team Canada “tried to do whatever we could to try to play throughout the tournament,” but “just wasn’t able to do it,” he said.
Morrissey has 10 goals and 32 assists in 56 games for the Jets so far this season. The Calgary native has a plus-10 defensive rating.
He says the Olympics were still a great experience, and he’s proud of Team Canada for the effort they put in and for representing their country “incredibly well.”
“On an individual level, though, it was obviously disappointing and, like all Canadians, it was tough with the final result [losing the gold medal final] as well,” he said.
“As I said, I was proud of the way the guys competed throughout the entire event.”
