Two Caps players refuse to go to White House to meet Trump

Both players haven't changed their minds. 

Washington Capitals' Brett Connolly mentioned last summer after he won the Stanley Cup that he would skip the team’s White House visit if they were invited, and since the invitation is in the mail, the forward confirmed Tuesday he is sticking by that vow.

The defending Stanley Cup champions are scheduled to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday and Connolly said he will not attend the event in support of teammate Devante Smith-Pelly. 

“I respectfully decline,” Connolly told The Washington Post. “That’s all I’ll say about it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. It’s obviously a big deal, and it gains a lot of attention. I’ve been in full support of an old teammate that I’m really good friends with who I agreed with and a guy who will be back here, I’m sure, at the end of the year. That’s all I’ll say.”

DSP had always made it clear he would not want to meet Trump. Despite waived by the Capitals ahead of the trade deadline and is currently with the team's AHL affiliate in Hershey, Smith-Pelly still has a strong opinion on the American president and Connolly confirmed his decision on his support of his former teammate. 

"The things that he (Trump) spews are straight-up racist and sexist," Smith-Pelly told Postmedia days after the Capitals won the Stanley Cup. "Some of the things he’s said are pretty gross … It hasn’t come up here, but I think I already have my mind made up.”

Other star player of the Capitals' lineup have announced that they will be attending the visit. Captain Alex Ovechki and forwards Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson all confirmed they will meet Trump in the White House. 

“It will be fun. It’s exciting, I think, and every time you get an invitation from the president and being at the White House, it’s going to be a great experience,” Backstrom said. “I feel like it’s always up to whoever wants to go, but we got the invitation, and it’s been a tradition, I think, for many years. We’re not going to mix politics with sports. It’s because we won last year; that’s why we’re there. Yeah, it’ll be a cool experience, I think.”

“It’s another chance to recognize the special run that we had last year,” Wilson added. “Any time the group gets together and gets to see the Cup and be around it, it is awesome. We’ll take it in stride and see where it goes here and look forward to celebrating that one whenever we can.”