Matt Dumba announces plans to continue protesting during the national anthem.

On Saturday Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba in many ways made history when he became the first player in the National Hockey League to kneel during the American national anthem, but it was a moment that was met with quite a bit of criticism from fans and for a variety of very different reasons. 

Perhaps the biggest criticisms that Dumba faced after walking out and delivering the speech that preceded his kneeling during the anthem were the ones involving his Canadian heritage. There were American fans who were understandably perturbed by the decision of a Canadian born player to kneel during their anthem on Canadian soil, and that was only amplified when Dumba made the decision to stand for his own Canadian national anthem. Both Canadian and American fans alike criticized him for that second part of his decision, albeit for different reasons, and it seems like that criticism has been taken on board by the Wild blue liner. 

On Sunday Dumba announced plans to continue protesting during the anthem throughout the playoffs, at least as long as the Wild remain a part of those playoffs, but he will be making significant changes in the way that he protests during the anthem moving forward. The biggest change will come from the fact that Dumba will no longer kneel during the anthem but will instead raise his fist in protest, the second however relates directly to the criticism he received following Saturday's event. According to Dumba his protest will now take place during both the American and Canadian national anthems, something that will no doubt appease some of his critics while also bringing in a host of new ones. 

It may have even been that the plan for Dumba was initially to kneel during both the anthems, he was after all clearly very nervous during the pre game event. Dumba appeared to forget his words while delivering his speech and although he did a good job of recovering from his fumbles it was obvious that the pressure of the moment was weighing on him, something that Dumba himself admitted after the fact.