Hockey coach who went viral after speech about national anthem doubles down on remarks: ‘I’ve unfortunately seen it cover too many coffins’

John Krupinsky, the hockey coach who went viral after demanding his players respect the national anthem, has doubled down on his remarks and explained that his passion comes from seeing too much death and disrespect.

What's a brief history on the video?

Krupinsky's locker room speech went viral on the internet this week. In the video, the hockey coach insists that players respect both the American and Canadian national anthems, or leave.

In the viral video, Krupinsky — who is also a police sergeant — can be heard saying

If there's anybody here who is going to be disrespectful to either the American or the Canadian national anthem, grab your gear and get the f*** out now because you'll never see the ice in this arena. We don't have that problem in hockey. We're better than that, but there was no sense in wasting anybody's time if that s*** was going to happen.

( Content warning: Rough language):

What's he saying now?

The assistant coach for the Danbury Hat Tricks of the Federal Hockey League discussed the video on "Fox & Friends."

"I take pride in my country," Krupinksy said. "I've unfortunately seen it cover too many coffins. I think we can take a timeout to give two minutes' worth of respect to our soldiers, to our firemen, to your policemen. I don't think that's asking too much. I'm not going to apologize for asking players to show a little bit of respect when it's either the American or Canadian national anthem."

He added, "Some people said, 'Oh you wouldn't let your players protest.' I wanna be clear: My players would be free to protest on their day off. If they had something they wanted to do."

When the national anthem is playing, however, it's an entirely different story.

"I don't think it's too much to ask your employees to show some respect for the flag and for the country," he reasoned.