from Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post,

Q: Hockey players haven’t been as politically outspoken as players in some other professional sports, but on your team, Devante Smith-Pelly and Brett Connolly have already said they wouldn’t want to be part of a team visit to the White House. What do you make of professional athletes voicing their opinions in that way?

Leonsis: “I think the beauty and the power of hockey is that it is more team-oriented. To show you how team-oriented, when you come to Capital One Arena and you get off the elevator and you’re walking down the hallway to the locker room, the Wizards have all of these photos out of players dunking and there’s no photos going to the Caps’ room. Not one. And I said, ‘Let’s put some photos up.’ The only photo we would put up is the team photo with the Stanley Cup. So they’re considering if they should do that. …

“It’s just a different culture and outlook where team overcomes everything. You know, I admire all of these people for their individual voices, but they have to speak as a team on some of these things.”

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