Gov. Deval Patrick on Bruins goalie Tim Thomas: It seems like we’re losing ‘basic courtesy and grace’

By Noah Bierman and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Governor Deval Patrick struck a disappointed tone today as he commented on Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas’s decision not to attend a White House event earlier this week honoring the Stanley Cup champions.

Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas

“He’s a phenomenal hockey player and he’s entitled to his views, but it just feels to me like we’re losing in this country basic courtesy and grace,” Patrick said.

“I didn’t think much of President Bush’s policies – two wars on a credit card, prescription drug benefit that we couldn’t afford, deficit out of control – but I always referred to him as ‘Mr. President.’ I stood when he came in the room,” Patrick said in his monthly appearance on the “Ask the Governor” segment on WTKK-FM.

“There are rules to live by so I don’t want to make more of this than is deserving. I guess I’d prefer to pay more attention and offer more commentary when there are acts of grace as opposed to the reverse,” he said, moving onto the next topic.

After skipping the Monday ceremony hosted by President Obama, Thomas posted a statement on his Facebook page, saying he was protesting a federal government that had “grown out of control, threatening the rights, liberties, and property of the people.”

Thomas was a conquering hero to the fans last spring after leading the Bruins to their first Stanley Cup in nearly four decades. But many fans denounced as selfish and ill-motivated his decision to stay away from the White House ceremony, saying that sports and politics, like church and state, should be kept separate, the Globe reported Wednesday.

Patrick also addressed a variety of other topics during the appearance:

-- He said it was merely a “happy coincidence” that he and Obama both focused on community colleges in their respective State of the State and State of the Union speeches this week. He said the two men, who are friends and Democratic political allies, have discussed ideas about community colleges in the past, but they were not planning a joint rollout.

He also said he supported Obama’s call to raise the national high school dropout age to 18 years old, but said that requiring “unengaged and bored” students to sit in class “isn’t the whole solution.”

-- He criticized the generous pay package received by former UMass President Jack Wilson, who stepped down in June, saying, “It is a very tough case to make today to the general public when we have to cut so much.”

Wilson is receiving his presidential pay of $425,000 while on sabbatical this year. Questions have also been raised about whether he will be paid too much when he returns as a professor to University of Massachusetts Lowell.

-- He offered sympathy but no new solutions to the budget gap faced by the MBTA that officials say will require fare hikes and service cuts. He said his first-term proposal to raise revenue by increasing the gas tax by 19 cents “went down in flames.” He said that would have been a long-term solution but he’s no longer sure it would be the best answer because Americans are buying more fuel-efficient cars.

“I’m frankly not sure what the permanent solution is, but we are all trying to think that through now,” he said.

Although the MBTA says it would cost the agency money, he also said he supported a campaign to remove alcohol ads from T property.

-- He said he believed Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray had answered all the questions about his November high-speed rollover crash. And he defended Murray’s decision not to release his cellphone records from that morning. But he added that the decision was ultimately up to Murray.