President Donald Trump is honouring the Stanley Cup winning Pittsburgh Penguins, calling them “true champions and incredible patriots.”
Trump welcomed the Penguins into the Oval Office on Tuesday. He celebrated their second consecutive championship in the East Room of the White House and singled out the achievements of Conn Smythe winner Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and American Phil Kessel, among others.
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Trump has grabbed a number of sports headlines in recent weeks, including his criticism of NFL players for kneeling during the national anthem and his decision to disinvite the NBA champion Golden State Warriors to the White House.
Why is the NFL getting massive tax breaks while at the same time disrespecting our Anthem, Flag and Country? Change tax law!
He joked that Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle should help him renegotiate NAFTA but avoided any talk about other sports. The Penguins are the fourth championship team and third pro team to visit Trump at the White House after the NFL’s New England Patriots, Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs and college football’s Clemson Tigers.
Crosby, coach Mike Sullivan and other members of the Penguins said this visit had nothing to do with politics. The team said in a statement it respected the tradition of visiting the White House.
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Crosby and the team have drawn criticism for their decision to visit, including from former poet laureate of Halifax El Jones, who discussed the history of racial issues in Crosby’s hometown of Cole Harbour, N.S., with The Current’s Anna Maria Tremonti.
“So for people who are, sort of, arguing that Sidney Crosby can’t possibly know about race or that race has nothing to do with Sidney Crosby because he’s just some Canadian hockey player and these are only issues that exist in the U.S., that’s simply not the case when you look at where he’s from and where he grew up,” Jones said.
