Pittsburgh Penguins will visit President Trump, attend White House Stanley Cup celebration

https://www.washingtonpost.com ^ | September 24, 2017 | Jesse Dougherty

[NKP_Vet]

While the sports world focused Sunday on the NFL and its reaction to incendiary recent statements by President Trump, the Pittsburgh Penguins inserted themselves into the sporting world’s ongoing political discussion by issuing a statement that the team would visit the White House as part of their Stanley Cup celebration.

The Penguins, on the heels of their second consecutive Stanley Cup win this past June, still plan to visit President Trump, though a date has not yet been confirmed. The Penguins released the statement at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday, right as a handful of professional athletes and owners continue to denounce recent comments and tweets Trump has issued regarding the NFL, national anthem protests and Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry’s now-rescinded invitation to visit the White House with his team.

“The Pittsburgh Penguins respect the institution of the Office of the President, and the long tradition of championship teams visiting the White House,” the Penguins’ statement reads. “We attended White House ceremonies after previous championships — touring the historic building and visiting briefly with Presidents George H.W. Bush and Barack Obama — and have accepted an invitation to attend again this year.

“Any agreement or disagreement with a president’s politics, policies or agenda can be expressed in other ways. However, we very much respect the rights of other individuals and groups to express themselves as they see fit.”

[NKP_Vet]

Good for these REAL MEN who play a sport called Hockey. No pansy asses play hockey. They'll be no disrespecting the flag or the country at a Hockey match.

[raccoonradio]

I went to a hockey game and a hockey game broke out! Not a political protest

[hillarys cankles]

Wouldn’t expect anything less from the NHL. Real men.........

[surroundedbyblue]

Very proud of my Penguins. The Steelers can pound salt.

[Sarah Barracuda]

Watch the NHL..now THAT is a real sport!! They have more respect for OUR flag than douche bag NFL and NBA players. Saw a beautiful video last night, in Canada, the Oilers were playing(Not sure who they were playing) and during the Anthem the microphone stopped working so what did the fans do, they SANG THE NATIONAL ANTHEM, in Canada..even THEY respect our flag..NHL fans are awesome!

[Lopeover]

Hmmmm? Thinking I may become a hockey fan!

[FreedBird]

Rooney writes the paychecks. They are big Democrats who donate money to the party. They loved Obama.

[dfwgator]

How many Russians play for the Penguins....heh heh.

[Leep]

Thanks for not being a hockey puck.

Sincerely,
the ghost of Don Rickles.

[EdnaMode]

Hockey being played at a hockey game? Amazing.:D

[SamAdams76]

Hockey not a bad spectator sport if you can pay attention to that little puck. Used to watch hockey a lot in the 1970s when I was a growing boy. Used to go to the Boston Garden to see the Bruins play. Hockey is much better when you are at the game. But on television, it's all herky-jerky and hard to follow sometimes. I wish they wouldn't whistle offsides so much. A lot of spectacular plays get called for offsides. So what you get is a lot of slapping of that tiny puck around while the players try to stay onsides. The play is way too conservative as teams are content to sit on a two-goal lead and just spend the rest of the game slapping that puck to the other end for icing. I think icing the puck should result in a penalty shot for the other team!

I say open up the game a little, make that little puck glow bright red, and you got yourself a great game to watch on the television.

[Alberta's Child]

Real men, low-key professional athletes, and playing a game on teams with rosters filled with players from many different countries.

There are more Canadians than Americans in the NHL. Canada gets a lot of well-deserved criticism from conservatives down here in the U.S., but I can tell you from experience that they are among the most respectful people in the world when it comes to dealing with foreign countries and their traditions.

[Puppage]

Love hockey. MY my beloved Habs win The Cup

[Lopeover]

Thanks. Any info or link so that I can learn the rules of the game? I confess my hockey viewing has been primarily Walt Disney's Miracle! 😊

[Puppage]

It’s the most exciting spectator sport ever. Soccer? It’s landscaping w defense.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Huh - for a second I wondered if the Penguins were still owned by the DeBartolos, the same family that owns the 49ers. But I see Edward DeBartolo Sr. sold the team quite a while ago, and the Penguins are now owned by former Penguins great Mario Lemieux.

[DoughtyOne]

However, we very much respect the rights of other individuals and groups to express themselves as they see fit.

Seriously! They had to include that comment? Good grief.

I am glad they are attending, but there simply is NO DEFENSE WHATSOEVER for what these players, teams, owners, and the NFL management are doing.

[KarlInOhio]

Hockey is great in person. You lose something on the TV. I would like to see what it looks like with an 80" high resolution TV and the whole rink being shown rather than having the camera try to chase the action. Save the close-ups for replays.

make that little puck glow bright red

Didn't Fox try something with having the puck highlighted on TV? I remember special pucks with infrared transmitters along the edge so they could track it.

[shanover]

I agree with all of the sentiment and I love hockey. I will also say that if the league had just one a-hole who disrespected either flags and anthems,it would be scandalous.

[PittsburghAfterDark]

Given the fact that likely half or more of every NHL team is not American I am not terribly surprised.

You hear the least amount of politics from hockey players than any other professional league.

1. Only 20% of NHL roster spots, more or less, are made up of Americans.

2. About 50% of NHL roster spots are Canadian.

3 There are only about 30 black players in the NHL or AHL affiliates. Of those there are Canadians, Americans and dual citizens.

You couple all of those things and you can see that NHL teams don’t have the potential national and racial makeup to make a White House visit political.

Hell in 98 when the Czechs won the gold medal at the Olympics half the team were Penguins (Or so it seemed.) Hockey is the least American sport as far as roster spots go.