The Hockey Stop

It turns out President Obama is a hockey fan after all.

On his first official visit to Russia as commander-in-chief, Obama singled out Washington Capitals star left winger and Moscow native Alex Ovechkin as "outstanding."

Washington Post blogger Dan Steinberg reports that Obama, speaking to students at Moscow's New Economic School Tuesday morning, said the following:

"As a resident of Washington, D.C., I continue to benefit from the contributions of Russians -- specifically, from Alexander Ovechkin," the President said. "We are very pleased to have him in Washington, D.C."





Hockey fans might remember the president chose Canada for his first official foreign visit, raising hopes that the Hawaii native might have picked up L.A. Kings games on the airwaves and became a closet puckhead while growing up in Oahu. These hopes were dashed when during a CBC interview he admitted he had never attended a professional hockey game.

However, he did say at the end of the CBC interview that he would like to see a game at some point. And this morning when NBC political correspondent Chuck Todd pressed the prez on having never been to a hockey game, Obama responded by saying he has watched hockey (presumably on TV) and has seen Ovechkin play, but then drew the "born in Hawaii" defense for being more of a basketball guy then a hockey guy.

But these are all encouraging signs and the fact that Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has already invited Obama to a game hopefully means that he will be paying a visit to the Verizon Center next season to see Alexander Ovechkin in person.

Whether Obama attends a Caps game probably has a lot to do with the chances of the Chicago Blackhawks visiting Washington (Obama attended a Bulls-Wizards game last season).

Memo to NHL schedule-makers: It's not too late to pencil in Hawks @ Caps next season!