Thank You, PK, For Not Kneeling

Dear PK,

The Predators may be one of my four back up teams behind Pittsburgh, but I know a great person and true display of sportsmanship when I see you. On and off the ice, you have inspired so many and have given so much back to countless charities, specifically the Montreal Children's Hospital.

Yes, plenty of athletes donate money, send signed apparel and shoutout sick children on social media, but not many go to the extent you did. You gave MCH one of the biggest philanthropic donations they had ever received. You gave so many families hope by donating money so state of the art research and technology could be done to help their children.

It's amazing that your gift has inspired children to keep fighting. You don't do this for the publicity and the awards that come with it, those are just an added bonus. You don't let the public take away from your motives, you stay humble.

Yes, your work for children and the benefits of their medical care has not gone unnoticed, but one thing that I want to thank you for is choosing not to kneel.

Fans asked you if you would kneel and you told them that you would never kneel, you would continue to stand and respect the United States. I thank you for that. I thank you for choosing to represent my country, even though you're Canadian. Thank you for being an athlete and not letting social justice issues determine your fan base and your ability to play.

I also would like to say thank you for not winning the Stanley Cup last year and letting my beloved Penguins be back-to-back champs. I promise I'm rooting for you guys to win this year. The Penguins are off to a terrible start so I'm defaulting to the Preds, but it's fine. Everything's fine.

Good luck with the season, P.K.!