Ithaca, N.Y. — Ithaca native Dustin Brown and the Los Angeles Kings stopped by the White House — again! — on Monday to receive congratulations from President Barack Obama on their second Stanley Cup victory in three years.
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“It’s always nice to go through the president’s team,” Brown told NHL.com.
“I had a phone call with him after [winning the Cup] and I ribbed him a little about being a Hawks fan.”
Brown was born in Ithaca on Nov. 4, 1984, and attended Ithaca High School for two years.
As we previously reported, Brown was a hockey, lacrosse and baseball player growing up, but played varsity hockey for the Little Red as a freshman in 1998-99, even selecting his trademark No. 23 sweater because it was the last one available on the club. In his first year, he scored 4 goals and 13 assists in 18 games.
His sophomore year of 1999-2000, he really attracted the attention of hockey scouts, scoring 33 goals and 21 assists in just 24 games as he led Ithaca to the Class A boys’ hockey state championship.
“Him growing up here and playing for the high school team, it’s just been awesome watching him play in the playoffs,” said Brandon Shirley, a member of the Ithaca High hockey team, according to WBNG.
A video posted on the Kings’ site shows the president addressing the team.
“The Kings have done the unthinkable: They have turned a city with no snow and no ice and no winter into a hockey town,” Obama said, before specifically citing Kings’ goalie Justin Quick and Brown’s first line.
“Best of luck — when you are not playing Chicago.”
