Connor Storrie became a key cog in some rather obvious PR work during his Saturday Night Live debut this past weekend. Fans of the Heated Rivalry star’s performance as Ilya Rozanov in Crave’s enormously popular queer ice hockey romance series weren’t quite sure what to expect before his opening monologue, though it had been reported he would be joined by Olympic ice hockey gold medalists Jack and Quinn Hughes during the show, and this news had been poorly received by some fans following several viral incidents that occurred in the wake of the USA’s triumphant win in Italy last month.cnx.cmd.push(function() {cnx({playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530",}).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796");});It had been over 40 years since the men’s ice hockey team had secured Olympic gold in the so-called “Miracle on Ice” in 1980. New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes, whose front teeth were smashed during the climactic game, scored the winning 2026 goal against Canada in 3-on-3 overtime, shooting the puck past goalie Jordan Binnington. U.S. fans in the crowd and those watching at home were largely jubilant about the win, but when the men’s team went back to the locker room to celebrate, videos and images that captured the ruckus soured the good vibes for some.The team were seen drinking beers with FBI Director Kash Patel before a congratulatory call came in from President Donald Trump, who invited the players to attend his State of the Union address but said he would also have to ask the women’s team to attend or he “probably would be impeached.” The men’s team, including Jack and his brother Quinn Hughes, laughed at Trump’s comment in unison.To say that this did not go down well would be an understatement. Hilary Knight, whose U.S. women’s ice hockey team also won gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics, described Trump’s comment as “distasteful” and added that “whatever’s going on should never outshine or minimize their work and our success on the world stage.” The U.S. women’s team have won gold three times since women’s hockey became an Olympic event at the 1998 Winter Olympics, and is currently supported by the Hughes brothers’ mother, Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, who serves as player development consultant for Team USA.Reactions to the men’s team’s behavior also came in thick and fast on social media as the players and their respective NHL teams were bombarded with negative comments online. Some fans felt that Quinn Hughes, who plays for the Minnesota Wild, should feel particularly ashamed, given that the state has been such a visible target for Trump’s ICE crackdown. A defaced Hughes jersey was later left outside the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, where it was pictured scrawled with such comments as “bootlicker” and “fascist cuck.” After the men’s team, with a few exceptions, indeed attended Trump’s State of the Union and were seen wearing MAGA merch, the backlash continued across social media. It appeared that the new fans the NHL had picked up following the success of Heated Rivarly – reportedly boosting ticket sales by as much as 20% – were also becoming swiftly disillusioned by the sport. At this point, it was clear that the controversy wasn’t just going to go away.In the midst of this PR nightmare, Storrie stepped in, delivering some fun jokes about his road to stardom during his opening SNL monologue before bringing the Hughes brothers onstage wearing their Team USA jerseys and gold medals. The crowd clapped the men’s entrance before Storrie made some gags about the content of Heated Rivalry. The brothers admitted they hadn’t seen the show. That’s when Storrie brought on U.S. women’s hockey captain Knight and her teammate, Megan Keller, to massive applause from the audience. “It was gonna be just us, but we thought we’d invite the guys too,” Knight said pointedly, before Keller added, “We thought we’d give them a little moment to shine,” while the Hughes brothers stood smiling as the butt of the joke.It was no surprise to see NBC running this level of PR damage control. After all, both the Olympics and SNL are NBC properties, but some feel that Storrie, Knight, and Keller should never have been hijacked as PR puppets for the men’s team when they were just as capable of addressing the controversy themselves and taking some accountability for it. Nevertheless, the PR coup seems to have inevitably worked for the most part, with the players’ joint appearance alongside Storrie described as “healing” and “cathartic” for viewers.“A raise to whoever helped thread this PR needle because this managed not to be agonising despite literally everything pointing in that direction,” noted a user on r/hockey. “Storrie and Knight handled this with immense grace.” Another replied with “Accomplished more with a 3-minute skit than all of the NHL has managed in a week.” For the second time in six months, the NHL owes Connor Storrie. Big time.The post Connor Storrie’s SNL Monologue Was Like Snorting Pure PR Damage Control appeared first on Den of Geek.