Jake Guentzel reveals why he skipped Team USA's White House visit with President Trump

When Team USA visited the White House on Tuesday to cap off their Olympic gold celebration, five players were notably absent. Kyle Connor, Jake Guentzel, Jackson LaCombe, Brock Nelson and Jake Oettinger all passed on President Donald Trump’s invitation, instead returning to their respective NHL home cities.

While it wasn’t clear exactly why these five skipped going to the White House — and eventually the State of the Union — with the rest of their American teammates, some speculated it might have been due to political beliefs. However, for Guentzel, that wasn’t the case at all.

The Tampa Bay Lightning star winger revealed on Wednesday that his decision was more about preparing to get back into NHL action, noting that visiting the White House was a dream of his, which he got to do after winning the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017.

Guentzel said:

“Just to go on with the White House stuff, it was really just a timing thing for me and my family. I would definitely not deny the request — it would obviously be a dream come true to go. I was fortunate to go in 2017 when Trump was in office. But with games three in four and a lot of games coming up for the rest of the year, it’s going to be a tough schedule. So with two weeks of Olympic break, I thought it would be good to just come home, rest and recover, and spend some time with my family before we get going. That’s where I’m at with it.”