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Earlier this month, a brawl broke out in the middle of a hockey game between two 14-and-under teams, one from Pennsylvania and the other from Maryland. It wasn’t because of a massive hit or a cheap shot on the ice, it was due to the racial slurs that were shouted by the Pennsylvania based team towards Metro Maple Leafs’ Divyne Apollon II all night long.

Apollon’s teammates had heard enough and decided to try to silence the racist comments by having their teammate’s back and fighting their opponents. Now Apollon and his entire team have the Washington Capitals watching their backs after John Carlson and Devante Smith-Pelly reached out to the team with a special invitation.



Shortly after hearing the news, Capitals John Carlson and Devante Smith-Pelly teamed up and put together a special video message for Apollon and the Metro Maple Leafs, which included an invitation to the Capitals’ game on January 18 when they host the New York Islanders, as well as a post-game meet and greet and possible in-game interviews.



So awesome to see @JohnCarlson74 & @smithpelly23 organize this incredible surprise and gesture for the kids of the Metro Maple Leafs:https://t.co/JUNBGaFQpq — Taryn Bray (@tarynbray) January 9, 2019

Smith-Pelly has been in Apollon’s shoes before and has had similar racist comments made towards him. Nearly one year ago during a game in Chicago, Smith-Pelly heard numerous racist comments while he was sitting in the penalty box and he did not stay quiet about the situation. Neither did his head coach at the time, Barry Trotz.



Smith-Pelly confirmed it was "basketball" that those fans were chanting at him last night. "I mean, it's pretty obvious what that means. It's not really a secret. It's just one word, and that's all it takes, whether it's that word or any other word. I got the idea." — Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) February 18, 2018 Smith-Pelly: "It's sad that athletes like myself 30, 40 years ago were standing in the same spot saying the same thing. You'd think there'd be some sort of change or progression." — Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) February 18, 2018 After DSP was drafted by Anaheim in 2010, played in a rookie tournament in Penticton, B.C. Heard a similar "basketball" comment. He was angry, but didn't tell anyone. But Saturday night ... "We're at a time now where we can't brush it under the rug," — Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) February 18, 2018



Racism shouldn’t be a thing in 2019 but, sadly, it is. Fortunately we have public figures like Devante Smith-Pelly, PK Subban and LeBron James, to name a few, who aren’t afraid to speak out about the disgusting gestures and comments they have to deal with and continue to do whatever they can to help make a difference for young people following in their footsteps.



(H/T NHL.com/capitals)