Report: Black NHLer admits he wouldn’t accept White House invite

Veteran NHLer Ryan Reaves is the latest player to come out on record against the words of American President Donald Trump in the wake of NFL protests. While the Reaves is currently a member of the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, he wasn’t with the team when they won, having come over from the St. Louis Blues in an offseason trade. Despite being ineligible to attend the team’s White House visit, Reaves maintains he’d decline an invitation if presented to him.

“I don’t know. I just wouldn’t," he told Jason Mackey of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I don’t agree with things. I don’t agree with certain things that (President Donald Trump) stands for or (things) he says.”

Reaves, a Canadian citizen, admits that he hasn’t given much thought to the NFL’s protests over the past week, but does believe that things need to change in the country where he plies his trade.

“Obviously, a lot of people think there’s a need for change and there’s a need to show that there’s a need for change,” he said. “There’s definitely different ways of doing that. I don’t know what the best way is. I haven’t really gotten that far.”

The Penguins are a preseason favorite to win the Stanley Cup again in 2017-18. Could this make for an awkward situation for Reaves and his new teammates next season?