Stanley Cup champion Capitals plan to break with trend for White House visit - report
The “majority” of the NHL’s Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals plan on visiting the White House for the traditional sports champion’s visit, according to a report from The Washington Post.
This comes at a time when such visits by the Capitals’ NBA and NFL counterparts have turned the visit into some sort of a political statement.
The Golden State Warriors have long featured vocal critics of the Trump administration, including NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and head coach Steve Kerr. The team had made no secret that they did not plan on visiting the White House. In turn, the White House obviously did not extend an invitation.
The Philadelphia Eagles, meanwhile, ended up getting disinvited after a large contingency of players planned to drop out at the last moment. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that “most — if not all” of the black players on the team planned on not going.
The Capitals? The majority of the team doesn’t seem all that interested in bashing the White House or turning a photo op into a political statement.
Frankly, it’s a rather refreshing take.
“We all have our opinions on it; it’s a very sensitive issue,” defenseman Brooks Orpik told The Post.
Orpik stressed respect taking precedence over partisanship.
“It’s just kind of the way things are going these days,” he said. “If you don’t have the same belief as somebody else then automatically they think you’re wrong and they take it personally, which politics isn’t supposed to be that way. You’re allowed to have disagreement, but my opinion is that you’re supposed to respect the other person’s decision.”
Orpik is one of six Americans on the Capitals’ team. He is also the designated alternate captain, behind team captain Alex Ovechkin.
“I know from past experiences it’s a really cool experience [to visit the White House]. I mean, you go there for three or four hours. For me, it’s a really cool celebration with your team celebrating a championship,” Orpik said. He won a Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009.
Not all of the Capitals share Orpik’s mindset.
Capitals forward Devante Smith-Pelly has come out in strong opposition against Trump and has made it fairly clear that he doesn’t plan on visiting the White House.
“The things that [Trump] spews are straight-up racist and sexist,” Smith-Pelly, who is black and Canadian, told a reporter in the midst of the Stanley Cup Finals. “Some of the things he’s said are pretty gross. I’m not too into politics, so I don’t know all his other views, but his rhetoric I definitely don’t agree with. It hasn’t come up here, but I think I already have my mind made up.”
Capitals coach Barry Trotz said no official team discussions have taken place about a potential White House visit. He seemed open to both sides of the debate, but prefers his players to visit.
“I have my opinion on that which is part of the process of being a championship team, and other people have different opinions, so I respect both,” Trotz said. “I haven’t talked to the guys one way or the other. We haven’t had any official team meetings, but I respect both sides, really I do. Whatever the group decides, we will do it. I don’t know if it will be a full group, a half group, or no group, I have no idea. I think most guys have the tradition part down.”
As of this writing, Trump has yet to formally invite the Capitals.
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