Sutter to talk Keystone with Obama
Posted Mar 26, 2013 7:28 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Expect the talk to turn political when the Los Angeles Kings travel to the White House Tuesday morning.
Head coach and Alberta native, Darryl Sutter, plans to bring up the issue of the Keystone XL Pipeline to the American president.
“I’m gonna ask him about it – damn rights I am,” the former Calgary Flames bench boss tells the Globe and Mail.
“It’s 20 feet underground,” he says. “How can we not want to keep North America (energy self-sufficient)?”
He promises that his conversation will not distract from the rest of the team’s visit, and hopes to build on a shared Chicago connection he has with Barack Obama.
University of Toronto political scientist Nelson Wiseman says Sutter can try, but he doesn’t expect it will do much good.
“It’s not a policy get-together, it’s essentially a photo opportunity for the president and it’s an opportunity for the LA Kings and the National Hockey League to raise their profile in the United States,” he tells 660News.
“I think it’s interesting that it’s a Canadian news story; I doubt if there’s a single American news outlet that is even mentioning Sutter’s name today, although there would probably be some passing mention somewhere in a Congressional record,” he adds.
Wiseman says endorsements like this can have an impact, but that depends on who it is and he doesn’t think Sutter’s name will carry enough weight with American lawmakers.
It’s not the first time a trip to the White House has stirred up controversy for a sports team.
Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas refused to attend last year because of his political beliefs.
