If you follow hockey at all, take a moment and realize that is a thing that happened, in real life.
.@POTUS: "We are here to celebrate an extraordinary achievement. Phil Kessel is a Stanley Cup champion." #PensAndPOTUS
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 6, 2016
MORE: Revisit the Penguins' victory parade
The Penguins are in Washington, D.C. today where Barack Obama, leader of the free world, singled out Phil Kessel, incorrectly maligned, apocryphal hot-dog hoarder, at a White House celebration of their Stanley Cup win.
Again — a little more than a calendar year after Kessel was run out of Toronto on a rail, he is getting dap from the President. That was how Obama opened the ceremony.
President Obama made fun of Phil Kessel. https://t.co/9TlYr0x4hq
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) October 6, 2016
HBK waiting for the President pic.twitter.com/KbhjVcni3N
— Phil Kessel (@PKessel81) October 6, 2016
This is specifically amazing if you spend time talking about hockey on Twitter, where everyone is acutely aware of a) how raw a deal Kessel got in Toronto b) the cosmic justice that his 2016 postseason served and c) the hilarious nature of the universe (and Kessel himself).
In other words, Obama (meaning whoever wrote the speech) is cribbing from Hockey Twitter. Unbelievable. The full speech is below.
"Let’s give it up for the Pittsburgh Penguins!" —@POTUS with the 2016 Stanley Cup Champions https://t.co/AwD0K2fkAS
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 6, 2016