Tom Emmer Scores Huge Win in Congressional Hockey Challenge
I caught up with the Whip on everything from the various Stanley Cups, to his NHL predictions, to how the House GOP is going at the Congressional Hockey Challenge
GOP Whip Tom Emmer scored a major win this week, as his team in the annual Congressional Hockey decimated its opposition by a 4-2 margin. Following the win, I caught up with the number three House Republican on everything from the GOP’s narrow majority to his thoughts on the various types of Stanley Cup.
The game, however, was far less close than the final score would indicate. The Lawmaker team started fading against their dreaded Lobbyist foe in the home stretch, allowing a final goal in the game’s waning seconds. While the Lobbyists initially led 1-0, Illinois Democrat Mike Quigley quickly tied the game up and the Lawmakers never looked back.
In advance of the game, both teams basically didn’t practice. For some players I spoke with, the most recent time they had been on a rink was last year’s game. One astute observer in the audience, who’s spent a not insignificant amount of time on ice rinks noted that “there was one guy who could barely skate but scored an upper net goal.” Perhaps next year, you too, dear reader, could either work in Congress or join a lobbying firm and play in this game!
The winning team’s name was a slight misnomer, because hardly any lawmakers actually took to the ice. Other than Emmer (who played for much of the game) and Quigley, outgoing Indiana Congressman Larry Bucshon was the only other elected official even listed on the roster. Minnesota Congressman Pete Stauber, for example, was present, but a knee injury has kept him out of the game for years.
Unsurprisingly, every member of Congress who played was a Midwesterner–it takes a special type of person to willingly spend time on a solid block of ice. To that end, one Midwestern attendee told me that the game is a wonderful way for her region of the country to assert its dominance over other regions, namely the south. "Southerners who overrun the Hill will never understand the significance of one of America's greatest games: ice hockey."
I caught up with Emmer on the rink after the game, and asked him if he had been concerned that with an ever-diminishing GOP House majority that someone would have, in essence, Tonya Harding-ed him on the ice.
“Just remember,” Emmer told me, “when you’re on the rink, there are no Democrats, there are Republicans, there are just winners and losers and today, the lawmakers are the winners, the lobbyists are the losers.” Not wrong, obviously, and there were no serious injuries during the game.
One hockey fan in attendance scouted out the talent on the ice and had a take counter to Emmer’s: the “Lobbyists played like they had legislation they needed passed in front of the lawmakers,” he said.
Emmer, however, is convinced that the Lobbyists wanted to win–and badly. “Absolutely not, they lost out four or five years in a row,” so they fought to finally win. However, they came up short. “Winning is great,” Emmer beamed.
He was even prouder, perhaps, of having one of his sons play on his team with him. “You realize he’s only one of six and they’ve all skated, so it was great to have him here. All I can think of is it would be kind of fun to have 'em all here, although a couple of' em are just fighters, so that probably wouldn’t work.”
When I asked him how it felt to have outplayed his son, he called me, in essence, fake news. “I don’t think you have the right number, I think you were looking at the wrong guy.” The younger Emmer, Jack, was voted both MVE (Most Valuable Emmer) and the more traditional MVP by his adoring fans in the audience.
With the NHL in full swing (full slap?), I had to ask Emmer about one of the hockey trends that’s driving all the kids crazy: the Stanley Cup craze. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’re in good company–neither did Emmer, who called himself “a traditional Stanley Cup guy so I have no idea. Maybe the kids are going to have to show me that.”
While Emmer is not a Gen Z woman, and therefore doesn’t drink from Stanley Cups, I did also ask who he thinks will hoist the real one this year. “I think Florida’s got the best chance, but we’ll see,” he pontificated. “Last year, they surprised everybody. There might be somebody else out there that’s gonna surprise everybody. I’d love to see those Maple Leafs win one. What is it, first time since like 1968, that’d be fun.”
As he does in his day job, Emmer runs a tight ship. The game started promptly at 7 o’clock, and there was negligible time between periods, leaving some aspiring attendees in a tiff of sorts. One lamented to me that she “got there at exactly 8:00pm according to Lyft and it was already over by the time I got inside.” All was not lost, however, since the open bar was still open, even though the game had ended.
Looking ahead to next season, one veteran attendee told me that Emmer’s team is built for the long haul, like Patrick Mahomes’s Kansas City Chiefs the 2007 New England Patriots. “Many people are saying Team Lawmakers have solidified their place as a dynasty after 6 dominant wins over Team Lobbyists,” she boasted.
Earlier this year, Emmer came tantalizingly close to securing the Speaker’s gavel for himself. While there’s zero indication that he’s calling it quits any time soon (like Ken Buck just did, to presumably spend more time watching MSNBC), I did ask him if he’d ever consider taking his hockey skills to the NHL–and he flipped the script on me.
“The question is would the NHL ever do me?”
Time will tell!