Bradem Holtby sparks controversy with comments over potential White House visit.

 It looks like we have another controversy involving a sports team's visit to the White House.

According to a report from Washington Capitals insider Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post, veteran goaltender Braden Holtby has made it clear that he does not intend to visit the White House with the other members of his team. Holtby and the Capitals have of course been invited to the White House by President of the United States Donald Trump following their 2018 Stanley Cup Championship.

It has become something of a tradition to have the President of the United States, regardless of who is sitting in office, invite Championship teams to spend a day at the White House, meeting the President and posing for pictures in front of the cameras. However during the tenure of the lats two Presidents, the aforementioned Donald Trump and his predecessor President Barrack Obama, the invites have become somewhat more controversial as players have seen them as an opportunity to make a political statement. 

There is no doubt that this is indeed the case as well for Holtby who told Khurshudyan that he felt like this is one of those things that forces guys into a decision, so it was important for him to stick to his values. Additionally when asked if this had been a difficult decision for him Holtby reportedly informed Khurshudyan that he could never really see himself going because of his personal beliefs. Obviously this is going to endear support from those who agree with Holtby's stance while drawing criticism from those who disagree and it is very similar to an incident we saw not all that long ago in the National Hockey League.

Several years ago when the Boston Bruins were the reigning Stanley Cup Champions there was another controversy sparked by a player refusing to attend the White House. This time around the President of the United States was the aforementioned Barrack Obama and it was yet another goaltender who caused the controversy to come to life. Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas made it clear that he would not accept the invitation to the Obama White House and was heavily criticized for doing so at the time. 

To his credit Hotlby has made it clear that he stands by all his teammates ,regardless of what they personally choose to do.

"For me, it's just a personal thing. I believe in what I believe in and I respect those values and think I have to do what I feel is right...[But] I'll stick by every single teammate that we have and their decision."

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