President Donald Trump honored the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues at the White House on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
St. Louis has a heavy concentration of Canadians and just one American still on the roster from the group that beat the Boston Bruins in the Cup Final. Every returning player from the Cup champions took the tour, met with Trump and was present for the ceremony in the Rose Garden.
Trump went through their improbable run from last place in the league to champions with nods to Steen, owner Tom Stillman, captain Alex Pietrangelo, goaltender Jordan Binnington, forward Jaden Schwartz—who he called “Jason”—and playoff MVP Ryan O’Reilly.
“Being able to see (the Oval) Office and get a tour of the White House, it doesn’t get much better than that,” said Schwartz, who acknowledged he might have a new nickname. “This is (something) you’ll remember forever.”
Trump even mentioned the Blues adopting Laura Branigan’s 1982 hit “Gloria” as their victory song, and the U.S. Marine Band played the team into the ceremony with that tune. Young fan Laila Anderson, who was the team’s inspiration while she fought a rare auto-immune disease, got her own mention.
“You inspired the Blues all season, and today you continue to inspire all Americans,” Trump said. “We all know your story.”
“It was a very lighthearted, fun kind of celebration,” said Blues chairman Tom Stillman, who gave the president a “Trump” No. 45 Blues jersey. “You don’t expect it to be lots of laughs and comfortable—jokes. It was a lot of fun.”
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman; Pence’s wife, Karen; and Republican Sens. Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley of Missouri were among those in attendance for the half-hour ceremony.
The Blues paraded down the streets of St. Louis, raised their championship banner, donated a Cup ring to the Hockey Hall of Fame and capped it all off by going to the White House. Now, players are eager to move on to trying to do it all again.
“It’s a new year and new challenges and experiences,” Binnington said. “We kind of still have this stuff lingering around, but obviously it’s positive and it’s amazing to experience that. But at the same time, yeah, it’s back to work and simplify things a little bit. It’ll be nice.”
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
