The National Hockey League’s Los Angeles Kings and Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy shared the stage at the White House on Monday, marking the second time in just three years that the sports franchises were saluted by President Obama for winning their respective championships.
“As a Chicago fan, I’m a little resentful,” Obama told the Kings and Galaxy players and coaches gathered at the White House. “You guys have an embarrassment of riches. Today feels a little like Groundhog Day. If you see Bill Murray playing the piano in the foyer, you know something weird is going on.”
The Kings cruised through the Stanley Cup Finals in 2014, besting the New York Rangers, four games to one. The Galaxy won their unprecedented fifth MLS Cup in December.
For his part, Obama praised the Kings for doing the “unthinkable,” turning the warm-weather Los Angeles into a hockey town.
“There’s not even any ice,” Obama joked.
The rise of the Kings and Galaxy has helped fill a void in the Los Angeles sports scene. The perennial championship-winning Los Angeles Lakers are struggling through another disastrous season in the National Basketball Association.
Obama also gave the Galaxy credit for the rise of soccer’s popularity in the United States.
“America is starting to realize what this beautiful game is all about,” he said, noting the success of the men’s and women’s national teams.
Obama also praised the Galaxy’s Robbie Rogers for “blazing a trail as one of professional sports’ first openly gay players.”
However, the commander in chief conceded that there was at least one problem with the Kings joining him yet again: They beat his hometown Blackhawks to make the Stanley Cup finals last year.
Obama called that development “unfortunate.”
Both the Kings and Galaxy are owned by AEG Sports’ Philip Anschutz, also the owner of the Washington Examiner.
