T.J. Oshie congratulated by President Obama for shootout win over Russia

SOCHI, Russia – It’s not often that a hockey player becomes the talk of the Olympics. But with a sensational shootout performance in a victory over the Russians on Saturday, T.J. Oshie has reached celebrity status.

How do we know this? Because the St. Louis Blues forward's four goals in six attempts won the shootout in a 3-2 victory at the Sochi Games on Saturday and actually got President Barack Obama to acknowledge hockey. This is something usually reserved for one day a year, when the reigning Stanley Cup champions visit the White House. (Except for you, Timmy.)

From the official White House Twitter feed:

Well, it wasn’t exactly another “Miracle On Ice,” as the 2014 Team USA is a collection of millionaire NHL stars rather than Herb Brooks’ collection of broke college kids.

But the President captured the spirit of the thing: Oshie, a fourth-liner, outdueled Russian offensive dynamos Ilya Kovalchuk and Pavel Datsyuk in the eight-round shootout. In doing so, he led the U.S. to victory against Russia in their Sochi Olympics … in front of Vladimir Putin, who was in the arena to watch the game.

Which, we imagine, the President found delightful.

But if we’re looking for a real miracle? How about Obama attending an NHL game?

He’s been President since 2009 has never taken the arduous 20-minute walk from the White House to the Verizon Center to catch a Washington Capitals’ game.

Eh ... maybe he’s so pro-Team USA that he doesn’t want to give Ovechkin the attention.

Meanwhile, Ohio Gov. John Kasich congratulated Columbus Blue Jackets and Team Russia goalie Sergei Bobrovsky on his effort against the U.S..

This is either the most sportsmanlike or insubordinate thing we've ever seen.