Subban affirms Predators will 'stand together as a team' during anthem

The Nashville Predators will stand together, choosing not to join fellow professional athletes in kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial inequality and police brutality.

This was affirmed Wednesday by defenseman P.K. Subban following a report from Yahoo Sports quoting him as saying he would "never" take a knee during the pre-game event.

"People are allowed to voice their opinion," Subban explained, per Adam Vingan of The Tennessean. "People are allowed to do that. As far as what we're doing in this locker room, that's a consensus among our dressing room. If something changes for somebody, then that's their right. But as a team, that's what we're going to do."

"You've seen other teams do different things, and that's fine," he added. "At the end of the day, we're all going to stand together as a team."

For his part, Subban - a Canadian whose parents immigrated to Canada from the Caribbean - wants to be known as one of the top players in a game wherein black players remain a minority.

"I realize that being a black hockey player, people are going to recognize that. That's fine," Subban said. "But I want to be recognized as one of the best players in the league and the best player in the league. And that's what I work for every day."

The Predators begin the regular season on Oct. 5 in Boston.

Copyright (C) 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.