Couture says he was punched for politics

Sharks captain Logan Couture said he was “sucker punched” Tuesday night in Toronto, after he talked about voting for the Republican party and mentioned President Trump by name.

Couture revealed the incident in a Twitter post Wednesday morning. After a skeptical tweet in response, Couture explained that he was punched after saying his father was a police officer and he would vote Republican if he could.

Couture, 31, was born and raised in Canada and is not eligible to vote in the U.S. election Nov. 3.

Tuesday night’s incident occurred amid the Republic National Convention. Couture insisted he’ll “never talk politics in public again.”

“Just crazy to me, if you speak your own opinion violence happens,” he posted in a subsequent tweet. “Even crazier, people are okay with it.”

Later, on Wednesday afternoon, Couture elaborated on the issue in another Twitter post. He claimed his earlier tweet was “taken out of context” and said bringing politics to his platform was “wrong.”

“While I did not do a good job of communicating my thoughts earlier today, I do believe that everyone is entitled to their own voice and opinions,” Couture posted in the second tweet. “But regardless of what anyone believes — and to be clear, I do not believe in supporting Donald Trump — responding with violence isn’t the answer and doesn’t solve anything.”

Couture said he regretted going public with the incident and apologized to the Sharks’ organization and his family.

Also on Wednesday afternoon, the Sharks released a statement saying they were aware of the incident “in which Logan Couture was assaulted in Toronto. We are thankful that he was not seriously hurt and unequivocally denounce physical attacks or abuse on anyone under any circumstances.”

Couture, a firstround draft choice by the Sharks in 2007, has spent his entire 11year NHL career with San Jose. Ron Kroichick is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkroichick@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ronkroichick