Tim Thomas wants family, friends left out of “media-driven” story

Instead of being a celebration of an unorthodox style producing amazing results, Tim Thomas‘ All-Star weekend has been loaded with questions about his decision not to visit the White House with the rest of the Boston Bruins.

Thomas already seems beaten down by the situation, expecting the “media-driven” story to go away soon enough. In the mean time, he told reporters including Yahoo’s Greg Wyshynski that he wants to keep his family and teammates out of it. (Especially since they’ve given him “full and unwavering” support.)

“All it has to do is with me, but it’s separate from hockey,” Thomas said. “That’s my personal life. Those are my personal views. Those are my personal beliefs. It has nothing to do with hockey. It has nothing to do with this All-Star Game. And it has nothing to do with the Boston Bruins.”

“I would really appreciate it if people would leave my teammates and my family out of it.”

Some (Wyshynski included) are speculating that the family part of that equation is in part a reaction to a controversial Tweet by TSN’s Dave Hodge.

Thomas is totally justified in wanting his family to be out of the equation, but demanding people not to wonder how his teammates feel about the gesture is asking a bit much. Ultimately, this story will die down in good time, but it’s likely that it will feel interminable to Thomas – and perhaps to his teammates.