When the Boston Bruins announced their visit to the White House - Tim Thomas said he wasn't going. Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli tried to convince him to go but Tim Thomas said he wasn't going. Yesterday the Bruins met with President Obama and Tim Thomas wasn't there.
Some critics say if Thomas had something to say he should have said it to the President's face. Yeah - like that wouldn't have been a major distraction and the fall out would not have been spun to say Thomas ruined the day for the rest of his teammates.
Some critics of Thomas' action say he should have gone and just stood in the back. As one of only two Americans on the team - and the only big name American on the team there is no way he would have been allowed to be just wallpaper in this publicity opportunity. He would have basically been forced to be center ring of a circus he wanted no part of.
I think it would have been funny if one of the Canadian players skipped the event in protest of the President's actions regarding the Keystone XL pipeline. He could have said this President was disrespecting Canada. How the media would have had to deal with that would have been very amusing.
Speaking of Canada - when does the team visit the Canadian Prime Minister? Is it just the Americans who use these staged photo opportunities? Would Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston have gone up to stand with the team? I doubt it.
The bottom line is without Tim Thomas - the Bruins don't win the Stanley Cup. Without winning the Stanley Cup they don't get invited to the White House. Tim Thomas was interested in the first but uninterested in the second. What's wrong with that?