Team USA’s Megan Keller Shares Where She Thinks the 'Conversation Should Go' After Men and Women’s Olympic Hockey Wins (Exclusive)

Skyler CarusoThu, February 26, 2026 at 8:18 PM UTC

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Megan Keller (left) hits the "golden goal" for Team USA to defeat Canada in overtime at the 2026 Winter Olympics.Credit: EyesWideOpen/Getty -

Megan Keller opened up to PEOPLE exclusively about her "golden goal" at the 2026 Winter Olympics and praised her fellow U.S. women's hockey team members for the win

She shared where she'd like to see the conversation go after it took a political turn following President Donal Trump's phone call with the men's hockey team after their respective win

Keller also revealed what excites her about her return to the Boston Fleet for the second half of the season, where she serves as captain of the team amid her second year with the squad

Megan Keller is golden!

The U.S. women's hockey star, who hit the "golden goal" to defeat Canada 2-1 for a thrilling victory at the 2026 Winter Olympics, spoke with PEOPLE exclusively about the dramatic comeback in overtime and the conversation that's taken hold in the week that followed.

"It definitely hasn't settled in," Keller, 29, tells PEOPLE exclusively of her gold medal win for Team USA on Thursday, Feb. 19. "It's crazy to think that that was a week ago, to be honest. Super special. This is one of the best American teams that have stepped up to stage, I think ever."

"The golden goal to cap it off... and obviously Hilary Knight announced this was her last Olympics, so to do that for her and that one goal she had to send us into overtime, I could go on and on about the performances," she continued. "But yeah, it hasn't sunk in. It's super special."

Megan Keller (center) alongside her U.S. women's teammates celebrate Team USA's win over Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics.Credit: Andreas Rentz/Getty

While praising Team USA, Keller — who's now bringing the momentum back to PWHL's Boston Fleet — shared where she thinks the conversation should go after it took a political turn three days later, thanks to a now-viral phone call between the U.S. men's hockey team and President Donald Trump.

“I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team,” Trump, 79, told the men as he began to laugh after inviting them to his State of the Union address. The men's team laughed along with him as they took his call from the locker room. Trump added, “You do know that. I do believe I’d probably would be impeached [if the women’s team wasn’t invited].”

The Fleet star tells PEOPLE days after the call, "I try to honestly stay away from all the comments, everyone has their own opinion."

"Yeah, it’s a little unfortunate to see where the conversation has gone in some sense, but I think I can just speak to how proud I am of our group and how proud I know we are to represent our country on the world’s biggest stage," she adds.

"This is the honor of a lifetime for all of us, and to bring home gold — not only the women’s team, but the men’s team as well — is pretty incredible," Keller continues. "That’s never been done, so that’s what I think the conversation should be about, is all of us as athletes."

Team USA women's hockey team celebrate their gold medal win at the 2026 Winter Olympic in Milan.Credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty

"It’s been our dream to put on a USA jersey and represent our country on the biggest stage," she says. "It’s a dream to win a gold medal for your country and all of the people back home who helped get you here. All of the people around the nation."

Keller makes clear, "All the men and women that serve and allow us to represent our country in the fashion that we do, so that’s where I think the conversation should go, to be honest."

Keller, who called in by video from the ice rink during her first practice back with the Fleet since her return home from Milan, then opened up about channeling all of the excitement from the Olympics into the second half of the PWHL.

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"Could not be more excited to get back to Boston. I think we have a really special group here and miss these girls so much, but especially getting the chance to represent Boston, play for this city," she tells PEOPLE. "It's become a home for me, really special to be a part of."

"And we've got a big second half coming up," she continues. "We're sitting at the top of the league right now, and I think it's all of our goals to bring home a Walter Cup to the city of Boston. So that's at the forefront of our minds and we're really excited to get back to work."

Gold medalists Kendall Coyne #26 and Hilary Knight #21 celebrate Team USA's win at the 2026 Winter Olympics.Credit: Gregory Shamus/Getty

Keller, who was named Fleet captain in November 2025, says she's already feeling increased attention on the PWHL following Team USA's gold medal, which is a nostalgic moment for her when thinking back to her aspirations as a young female player.

"When the U.S. team brought home the first gold medal... that was the team that sparked a dream in all of us that made us want to play hockey," she says of the Team USA victory over Canada at the 1998 Nagano Games, which marked the first time women's hockey was included in the Olympics.

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"You definitely feel the impact right away," Keller says. "A lot of us, we want to be great ambassadors for sport and women in sport and just continue to push the envelope. There are so many good things to come. I don't think we've even scratched the surface on what we've been able to accomplish."

When reflecting on her golden goal, Keller opened up about her interaction with men's hockey star Jack Hughes, who hit the golden goal for the men's team three days after her to secure their respective win over Canada.

Hilary Knight poses with Jack Hughes' mom, Ellen Hughes, who works as development consultant for Team USA women’s ice hockey, after winning gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics.Credit: CARL SANDIN/BILDBYRAN/Shutterstock

Hughes, 24, spoke highly of Keller immediately after he hit the game winner at the Milano Santagiulia arena in Italy. During a post-match interview, he told Jackie Redmon of the NHL Network that the women's hockey star was the first person he thought of after sinking his shot.

"It was pretty cool to be honest," Keller tells PEOPLE of her reaction to hearing she was the first person to come to Hughes' mind after that milestone moment.

"I saw him in the cafeteria after we won and he just came up and congratulated me," she recalls, adding, "And I was fortunate enough a few days later when he got the golden goal, I was able to give him a hug in the caf and say 'congrats.' "

"Those are goals that we'll remember forever and honestly to have a sweep and have U.S. hockey bring home gold on both sides is something that I think we'll all be connected and remember forever," Keller continues.

"We were able to have lunch with the men's team and creative friendships, relationships throughout the tournament," she shares, highlighting, "First time that the United States men and women's [hockey teams] brought home gold for U.S. hockey, pretty legendary."

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Source: “AOL Sports”