Obama congratulates NBA, NHL winners

President Obama on Wednesday called the head coaches of the Chicago Blackhawks and Golden State Warriors to congratulate them on winning the National Hockey League and National Basketball Association championships this week. 

During his conversation with Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, team captain Jonathan Toews and owner Rocky Wirtz — a major donor to Republicans — Obama “commended their leadership, and the entire team’s efforts on their third championship in six years,” according to a White House statement. 

{mosads}The Blackhawks defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 in Game 6 on Monday to clinch the title. Obama last week picked his hometown team to be the winner.

The basketball-fan-in-chief also phoned Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and told him “how exciting the series was to watch and recognized the team’s perseverance in winning its first title in forty years.” 

“The president applauded the team’s efforts, especially Stephen Curry and Andre Igoudala,” the White House said. 

On Tuesday night, the Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-97 in Game 6 to bring the first NBA championship to the Bay Area since 1975. 

A bench player during the regular season, Igoudala emerged as a key contributor during the championship series and was named most valuable player of the Finals. Curry was the NBA’s regular-season MVP.

Obama told members of each team he looked forward to hosting them for a celebration at the White House.