The gold medal celebration the United States men’s hockey team has moved from Milan to Miami and will make a stop in Washington before the players head their separate ways.

Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson were in Miami Beach for a party on Monday night and will be spending Tuesday at the United States Capitol before returning to Canada’s capital.

After winning a gold medal with Team USA on Sunday in Milan with a 2-1 overtime victory against Team Canada, the Ottawa Senators’ captain and the club’s top defenceman aren’t expected to rejoin the club until hours before they faceoff against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.

Tkachuk and Sanderson were invited to attend the State of the Union address by President Donald Trump on Tuesday night, with the rest of their teammates. Trump also mentioned on the call that they could come to the White House on Wednesday, but that may not happen.

As luck would have it, the Americans were rerouted to Miami on Monday because of a storm along the East Coast. A bar called E11leven Miami announced that it would be hosting Team USA on Monday night for a party to “celebrate Olympic gold.”

It calls itself “the No. 1 club in the USA” and adds that it’s “ranked No. 6 internationally by the Global Nightlife Association.”

Yes, it sounds like fun.

All of this means Tkachuk and Sanderson will likely return to Ottawa on Wednesday, and they’ll participate in Thursday’s morning skate before the Senators host the Wings at the Canadian Tire Centre.

Coach Travis Green told reporters on Monday that both players will face the Wings. Detroit’s Dylan Larkin was also a member of the U.S. club, which means he’ll likely meet his teammates in Ottawa.

The reality is that while most of the Senators, except Tim Stutzle, Lars Eller, Nikolas Matinpalo, Sanderson, and Tkachuk, were on a beach before returning to skate last Tuesday, the Olympians were in hockey mode.

In a video posted by Team USA on the social media site X, Trump, in a phone call set up by Kash Patel, the director of the FBI, praised the Americans for the historic win over Canada.

Then, Trump offered to send a U.S. military plane to pick the team up in Miami and bring the group to Washington for the State of the Union. He also noted he was going to invite the women’s gold medal club

The call with Trump lasted just over two minutes.

“And you were all unbelievable. And that team is pretty good, you played. I don’t know if we’ll see them again anytime soon, right?” Trump said.

“You know, I tell you what … I just told my people two minutes ago, I didn’t know they’d be calling, I said we’re giving the State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, I could send a military plane or something, but if you would like to, it’s the coolest night, it’s the biggest …”

At that point, one of the American players told Trump they “were in”.

“We’ll get Kash, and we’ll get the military to get you guys over there,” Trump said. “The nice thing about being President is, I can tell you, you don’t have to worry about the weather or landing. We don’t care if it’s snowing, if it’s the worst blizzard, be sailing through that snow just like you did on the ice.”

It wasn’t without controversy. The President chuckled when he told the men’s team that he’d invited the women as well.

“We’ll do the White House … we’ll just have some fun, we have medals for you guys,” Trump said. “And we have to, I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that?”

That brought laughter from the USA players. The American women beat Canada for the gold medal on Thursday, but a spokesperson for USA Hockey told reporters on Monday that the ladies have politely declined the invitation due to prior commitments.

“I do believe I probably would be impeached,” Trump said if he didn’t extend an invitation to the women’s club.

Stutzle, who returned to Ottawa on Saturday after suiting up for Team Germany, wasn’t on the ice for Monday’s skate. The expectation is he’ll resume skating with the Senators on Wednesday.

The Senators recalled forwards Stephen Halliday and Tyler Boucher, along with defenceman Carter Yakemchuk, from the club’s American Hockey League affiliate to skate with the club on Monday.

Anybody upset with the Americans spending time celebrating their victory needs to get over it. You may not like the politics in the United States, but this is no different than what’s happened in the past with National Hockey League players who have suited up for their country.

After winning gold in 2006 in Turin, Italy, former Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson and members of the Swedish Olympic team were invited to Stockholm for a celebration.

In fact, when Team Canada won a gold in 2010, all of the players just went their separate ways, and that victory was on home soil in Vancouver. Looking back, it looks like a big missed opportunity.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

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