Asked if he had any other views to share, Thomas said, "If I do, I'll do that in my personal life and not in this arena.''
When it was pointed out that Facebook was a public forum, Thomas agreed.
"It is,'' he said. "You have the right to ask the question, but I have the right to not answer the question.''
Asked if he had received any comments about his views, Thomas replied, "I think that's my personal life and it has nothing to do with hockey or the Boston Bruins. I'm not going to comment on it in this forum."
When he was pressed on the matter, and asked why he would post his political views on a public forum then refuse to talk about it in the locker room, Thomas replied, "This is my job. Facebook is my personal life. That's why. If you guys don't understand the difference between an individual and it having nothing to do with a job and an athlete and his personal life then I think there's a problem.
"I don't think that when you become an athlete that you sign away your right to be an individual,'' Thomas said, "and to have your own views and to be able to post them on Facebook, if you like,''
When he was peppered with yet another question on the matter, Thomas cut short another question, threatening to end the interview.
"Enough of this, this is my personal life and it has nothing to do with hockey or the Boston Bruins,and I'm not going to address it,'' he said. "You guys can keep asking. You can do this every day. From now on, first question I get on it every day, I'm done interviewing for that day."
When asked if he had any regrets posting his remarks, Thomas followed through on his threat and ended the interview, saying, "I'm out -- peace."
Bruins coach Claude Julien said he was not concerned that Thomas' off-ice political views would become a distraction to the team.
"I don't think I've heard anybody, starting from our owners to our coaches to our management, I don't think I've heard anybody support his opinions," Julien said. "But I've heard everybody say that we support him as a player -- and we do.
