Thoughts for the Day, February 23, 2026: A hockey game like no other. His comments were arguably the worst moment of his Presidency

Olympics: USA vs Canada Gold Medal Game

Last week, after the quarterfinal games of the Men’s Olympic hockey I said there are few better sporting events than Olympic hockey. After watching the gold medal game Sunday morning between the U.S. and Canada, I am doubling down on the statement.

Yesterday’s 2-1 overtime win by the U.S. was as fine of hockey game as I have seen in my lifetime. On the biggest world stage, both teams brought their A-games from the opening puck drop to the golden goal at 1:49 of overtime.

Within the first minutes of the game, Leah couldn’t believe how fast the players were skating as she compared them to speed skaters. I said, I have never seen two teams fly around like they were flying around. NBC broadcaster and former NHL player Brian Boucher said he had never seen such speed and intensity on the ice as he saw in the first few minutes of the game.

The U.S. carried the play in the first period as they jumped out to a 1-0 lead. The last two periods, Team Canada showed why they were the greatest team in the world as the ice seemed to be tilted in their favor. Fortunately, the U.S. had Connor Hellebuyck, the best goaltender in the world, in goal for them. Hellebuyck singlehandedly won the gold medal for the U.S. as he made spectacular save after spectacular save throughout the last two periods. A couple were of the “how did he do that” variety.

U.S. forward Matt Baldy scored the first goal for the U.S. when he passed the puck to himself not once but twice as he used his speed to split two defenders and sneak the puck past the goalie. The winning “golden goal” was a great play by Zach Werenski who split two defenders and hit teammate Jack Hughes with a perfect pass who buried a shot through the “five-hole” of the Canadian goalie. Earlier in the game Hughes had two front teeth knocked out as he took a high stick straight to the mouth.

The U.S. was able to get to OT by killing off a 5 on 3 penalty advantage for Canada for one minute and 33 seconds mid-way through the second period.

The U.S. Men’s hockey team, gets my Second Orchid of the Day

See my Video of the Day

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Not a dry eye in the house

Following the gold medal ceremony, the U.S. men’s hockey team was preparing for the official gold medal picture. After the first picture, posed for a second picture, but this picture included the jersey of Johnny “Hockey” Gaudreau, who was a member of the U.S. team until Johnny and his brother Matthew, were killed by a drunk driver while cycling in New Jersey on August 29, 2024.

Prior to the picture being taken, U.S team members Dylan Larkin (Red Wings) and Zach Werenski went into the stands to bring Gaudreau’s two young children, Noa and Johnny, Jr. to be included in the team picture. Gaudreau’s family made the trip to Milan to provide support for the U.S. team. My eyes started watering immediately when I saw Larkin and Werenski carrying the two kids onto the ice. There are special moments that will stick with you for the remainder of one’s life. This is one of those moments.

The U.S. Men’s hockey team gets my Orchid of the Day for this special moment. Note the Gaudreau 13 jersey and Noa and Johnny Jr. in the front row.

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Shades of Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini

From NY Times: Large banners of President Trump now hang from multiple federal buildings in Washington, including the nation’s top law enforcement branch, in a bold statement of power and influence over the government.

A long blue banner with Mr. Trump’s visage was draped on the exterior of the Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, making it the latest federal building to have a banner with the president’s face. The banner’s lower border says “Make America Safe Again” in capital letters.

The signage is a strikingly prominent indication of how Mr. Trump has eroded the separation that has long existed between the Justice Department and the White House to protect the department from political influence. That careful distance has been dissolving since the beginning of Mr. Trump’s second term.

When I first saw the picture of Trump’s banner on the Justice Department building, all I could think of was the images I remember from films from WWII of Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini and how they put pictures of themselves on government buildings. It was pure propaganda. I couldn’t believe it was now happening in my country, the U.S.A.

It makes me sick to my stomach that our president, the leader of the free world, is doing things that Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini did as part of their personal propaganda campaign.

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Per the WSJ Trump owes SCOTUS an apology

The following comments were made by President Trump after the Supreme Court ruled against his using the “emergency” act to charge tariffs without approval of Congress. The Walls Street Journal Editorial Board came out strongly against Trump’s personal attack on SCOTUS. Here are Trump’s comments about SCOTUS followed by excerpts from the WSJ Editorial Board.

The Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing, and I’m ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed, for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country.

The Democrats on the court are thrilled, but they will automatically vote no. They’re an automatic no, just like in Congress, they’re an automatic no. They’re against anything that makes America, strong, healthy and great again. They also are a, frankly, disgrace to our nation, those justices.

Others think they’re being politically correct, which has happened before far too often with certain members of this court, and it’s happened so often with this court — what a shame — having to do with voting in particular, when in fact they’re just being fools and lapdogs for the RINOs and the radical left Democrats and, not that this should have anything at all to do with it, they’re very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution.

It’s my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests and a political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think. It’s a small movement. I won by millions of votes, we won in a landslide. With all the cheating that went on, there was a lot of it, we still won in a landslide. Too big to rig.

But these people are obnoxious, ignorant and loud. They’re very loud. And I think certain justices are afraid of that. They don’t want to do the right thing. They’re afraid of it.

I know the people that brought the lawsuit and, you know, they’re sleazebags, major sleazebags. But I know them, and they’re foreign country-centric. They were sending things into our country, and the people representing them knew full well, but they were sending things into our country, and they were beneficial to other countries, but very, very bad for us. And I stopped it. And we’ll just keep it going.

A reporter asked the president if he regrets nominating dissenting justices Barrett and Gorsuch. The president said he didn’t want to say that, but lobbed personal insults at the justices.

“I don’t want to say whether or not I regret. I think their decision was terrible,” he said, pausing before continuing. “I think it’s an embarrassment to their families, you want to know the truth, the two of them.”

Barrett and her husband have seven children, while Gorsuch and his wife have two.

In response to Trump’s comments the WSJ Editorial Board said Trump owed SCOTUS an apology. Here are excerpts from the WSJ Editorial Board.

President Trump owes the Supreme Court an apology—to the individual Justices he smeared on Friday and the institution itself. Mr. Trump doubtless won’t offer one, but his rant in response to his tariff defeat at the Court was arguably the worst moment of his Presidency.

Granted Mr. Trump is angry that the Court voted 6-3 to overturn his signature “emergency” tariff policy. Other Presidents have criticized the Court when they didn’t like a ruling. But Mr. Trump lit into the Justices who voted against him as traitors bought by foreign interests.

This is ugly even by Mr. Trump’s standards. He’s accusing them of betraying the U.S. at the behest of nefarious interests he didn’t identify, no doubt because they don’t exist. Asked about Justices Gorsuch and Barrett, whom he appointed, Mr. Trump called them “an embarrassment to their families.”

…This is rhetoric that could cause some deranged Trump acolyte to turn to violence against a Justice. It’s as bad as Sen. Chuck Schumer’s threat in 2020 that Justices Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh had “released the whirlwind and you will pay the price!” Recall the nut who stalked Justice Kavanaugh’s home in 2022, after the leak of the Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. We hope all nine Justices appear next week at the State of the Union address as a show of self-protective solidarity.

This is the same Court that ruled Mr. Trump’s way on presidential immunity, which was more personally consequential for this President. Mr. Trump shouldn’t have been surprised by the Court. We warned from the start that this would be the result of his unlawful resort to IEEPA. The fault doesn’t lie with the Justices but with his own tariff obsessions.

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Quote of the Day: “They knocked his teeth out.” Leah after seeing Jack Hughes holding his mouth after taking a high stick to the mouth which resulted in the loss of two teeth.

Orchid of the Day: The U.S. Men’s Hockey Team for including the jersey of Johnny Gaudreau and his two young children in the team picture following their gold medal win

Second Orchid of the Day: The U.S. Men’s Hockey Team for their first gold medal since the Miracle of 1980.

Onion of the Day: No Onion of the Day when I give two Orchids of the Day

Question of the Day: Has anyone seen a better goaltending performance than that which Connor Hellebuyck put on yesterday for the U.S. men’s team?

Lyrics of the Day: People, let me tell you about a place I know
To get in it don’t take much dough
Where you can really do your thing, oh yeah
It’s got a neon sign outside that says
“Come in and take a look at your mind”
You’d be surprised what you might find, yeah.

If you know the answer, please feel free to use the comment section of the blog to respond.

Lyrics of the Day for February 18, 2026. What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye

Video of the Day:

(2077) U.S. wins men’s hockey gold in dramatic OT game vs. Canada - YouTube

I write reflective, opinionated essays on leadership, politics, sports, and life—grounded in experience rather than ideology. If this perspective resonates with you, you can subscribe here for free.