MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2019) The St. Louis Blues NHL (National Hockey League) team met with US President Donald Trump at the White House to celebrate their victory in the 2019 Stanley Cup Championship.
"It (was) the first time the entire team went to the Hockey Hall of Fame to present a ring. They stick together. By and large, we like to keep politics and sports separate, and this is a matter of a traditional honor. We were invited to the White House by the president, and it's something you do. I'm really proud of our group for all coming together and we had a good time with it as well," St. Louis Blues chairman Tom Stillman said on Tuesday, as quoted in an NHL release.
The Blues met with Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday afternoon and then celebrated their championship in the White House Rose Garden. Stillman gave Trump a personalized St. Louis Blues jersey, while Alex Pietrangelo and the team captains presented the US president with a putter featuring the Blues' Stanley Cup champions logo.
"They had a record streak, and then all of a sudden they ran it and then they win and keep winning," Trump said at a press conference in Rose Garden, adding that "When you work hard, support each other and believe in yourself and give everything you've got, victory is always within reach."
The St. Louis Blues defeated the Boston Bruins 4 to 1 in June, winning the 2019 Stanley Cup. The Blues include two Russian hockey players, Vladimir Tarasenko and Ivan Barbashev, both of whom were present at the White House celebration on Tuesday.