Lightning’s Jake Guentzel
It Wasn’t Right Time For White House
… ‘Dream Come True To Go’
Published
While a good amount of the U.S. men’s hockey team visited the White House following their gold medal win over Canada in the Winter Olympics, a handful of players like Jake Guentzel opted to pass on the opportunity … and the Tampa Bay Lightning winger said he was absent due to a “timing thing for me and my family.”
Guentzel — along with Brock Nelson, Kyle Connor and Jake Oettinger — was not spotted when President Donald Trump welcomed the team to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to celebrate their huge win. But the Stanley Cup champion made it clear there was no political message behind it.
#GoBolts Jake Guentzel addresses his decision to come back to @TBLightning and not go with @usahockey to the White House last night. pic.twitter.com/NJF1blMuA3
@JSB_TV
“I was definitely not denying the request to go,” Guentzel said. “It was a dream come true to go, I was fortunate to go in 2017 when Trump was in office.”
“We’ve got a lot of games coming up the rest of the year, gonna be a tough schedule,” he continued. “So, two weeks of Olympic break, thought it good to come home, rest and recover and try to spend some time with my family before we get going.”
Despite the members of Team USA partying their tails off since their win over Canada … it’s easy to forget there’s still an NHL season to finish — and games are set to resume on Wednesday.
None of the other players who skipped the White House visit have commented on why they chose not to go, but it’s fair to assume the quick turnaround played a role.
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For the players who did go, Trump made sure their experience was memorable. The White House played “Free Bird” as they walked along the West Colonnade … and brought them along to the State of the Union — where they received a massive ovation.