Following the Washington Capitals’ overtime loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning Wednesday night, goaltender Braden Holtby spoke to the media and was asked about whether or not he would be visiting the White House on Monday.
Holtby’s answer suggested that he had come to a decision on if he would be going to the White House, but is planning to address that decision after the game.
“We’ve decided that I’m going to leave that to after this game,” Holtby said. “I think today we only wanted to be focused on our team, on hockey.”
With the Capitals heading into a day off on Thursday, that decision should be expected to come on Friday. The Capitals will hold a morning skate at MedStar Capitals Iceplex ahead of their matchup again the Minnesota Wild, so any statement will likely come following that practice.
When the subject of a potential visit to the White House was first broached a short time after the Capitals’ history Stanley Cup win, Holtby said, “We’re gonna try and make that a group decision and weigh the positives and negatives of everything. In any situation like that, you want to make sure you’re doing what’s right for what you believe in and that should take thought.”
Several players addressed the upcoming White House visit on Tuesday, following their win over the New Jersey Devils.
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin reiterated that he was “excited” to go to the White House, while forward Brett Connolly respectfully declined the invitation.
Tom Wilson also addressed the visit, saying, “I haven’t really thought about it much right now; we just finished a game. It’s another chance to recognize the special run we had last year. Anytime the group gets together and gets to see the Cup, and gets to be around it, it’s awesome. We’ll take it in stride and see where it goes from here and looking forward to celebrating that when we can.”
Over the next few days, leading up to the visit, further statements on the players’ attendance should be expected as they continue to meet with the media around their games on Friday and Sunday.
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Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong
