By Chad Finn, Globe Staff

When Tim Thomas is asked about his decision in January not to attend the White House along with his Bruins teammates in celebration of their Stanley Cup victory, he puts a stop to questions as quickly and effectively as he does most slap shots.

But the goalie's refusal to discuss the matter or elaborate further on posts of a political bent on his Facebook page hasn't stopped him from meeting up with like-minded people while the Bruins have some down time in Washington.

Tuesday, during a day off in Boston's first-round playoff series with the Capitals, Thomas visited FreedomWorks, described by Yahoo! Sports's Puck Daddy blog as "a political group founded by former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey that advocates for lower taxes, less government and more freedom, a.k.a. things found on Tim Thomas's Facebook page."

According to the Puck Daddy blog, FreedomWorks vice president Dean Clancy tweeted that Thomas, who posed holding a Ron Paul bumper sticker, explained to the staff why he "declined to visit the Obama White House.''

Presumably, the question wasn't posed by a Bruins beat reporter.

By Lenny Neslin, Boston.com Staff

Well, not a whole lot of Boston sports history has been made on the leap day over the years. The highlight may be the birth of former Bruin Lyndon Byers, who was born on Feb. 29 48 years ago.

Here's a brief flashback.

Bruins/Celtics
The leap day doesn't coincide with the regular seasons for football or baseball, but hockey and basketball are just past their midpoints.

Here are Boston's Feb. 29 franchise records:

• Bruins: 4-4-1


• Celtics: 7-1

The Bruins are off tonight while the Celtics host the Bucks.

"Big Ed" Morris

The story of the Red Sox pitcher is pretty unusual. Maine's Lewiston Daily Sun reported March 2, 1932, that Morris was stabbed twice in the chest, barely missing his heart, at a farewell fish fry in his honor in Brewton, Ala. Morris died the day after the report at a local hospital.

Morris was 42-45 from 1928 to 1931 with a 4.12 ERA. He finished 15th in the MVP voting in 1928 (19-15, 3.53).

Lyndon Byers

Byers, a right wing from Nipawin, Saskatchewan, was drafted by the Bruins in 1982 and played with them for nine seasons. He played one season with the Sharks before joining the Hill-Man Morning Show on WAAF as a co-host.

In his nine-year Bruins career, Byers registered 24 goals and 42 assists in 261 games.

Just for the sport of it, here's a first look at a commercial promoting the Bruins-Red Wings matchup on NBC Nov. 25, also known as the day after Thanksgiving.

Seems to us the commercial, which will debut during "Sunday Night Football'' tonight, demands a lot from our willing suspension of disbelief:

As far as we know, no Bruins fan has ever married a Red Wings fan.

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

Just for the sport of it, here's a first look at a commercial promoting the Bruins-Red Wings matchup on NBC Nov. 25, also known as the day after Thanksgiving.

Seems to us the commercial, which will debut during "Sunday Night Football'' tonight, demands a lot from our willing suspension of disbelief:

As far as we know, no Bruins fan has ever married a Red Wings fan.

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

Adam Towner, left, and Brendan Palumbo pose with the Stanley Cup at a Shrewsbury fire station.(Courtesy of the Boston Bruins)

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com Staff

On Wednesday the Bruins' official Twitter account tweeted that if fans wanted to see the Stanley Cup, now would be the time to make their requests. Specificity preferred.

The Bruins made good on that promise last night, showing up at a Shrewsbury fire station with the Cup in tow.

Adam Towner (@AdamTowner), who follows the Bruins on Twitter, put in the request at home. Without getting any confirmation if the Cup would ever show up, Towner said he was on his way to dinner with his girlfriend when he got a call from his fellow firefighters.

"They said you gotta get down here," Towner said. "I didn't believe them but they said I had to get down there ... So we canceled (dinner) and hit a U-turn. She's a big B's fan too so it was good for her."

Here are a couple more pics from last night thanks to the Bruins.

We can't wait to see where else the Cup may end up. If you see the Cup, let us know here.

Courtesy of Brian Spinelli

Bruins Tim Thomas, Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, and Shawn Thornton took a trip down to the casino following Saturday's rolling rally in Boston. The players brought the Stanley Cup with them to a party at the Foxwood's club "Shrine", where they proceeded to pour some of a $100,000 bottle of champagne into to bowl of the trophy, as Thornton (left) and Chara did above.

A press release describes the action:

"[Shrine] Owners Ed Kane, Joe Kane and Randy Greenstein hand delivered a 30 liter bottle of Ace of Spades “Midas” champagne, costing more than $100,000. The bottle, which is one of six in existence, was double the size of the 15 liter Ace of Spades brut that Mavericks owner Mark Cuban purchased for his team after their NBA Championship victory just one week ago. The bottle, which was signed by every Bruins team member in attendance, will be on display at High Rollers and will be raffled off at a later date to benefit the Bruins foundation."

So there you have it. Bruins players were back in Boston in plenty of time to be honored by the Red Sox at Fenway Park Sunday afternoon.

By Lenny Neslin, Boston.com Staff

JCPenney believes. Don't you?

The department store chain prepared an advertisement to pitch commemorative gear if the Bruins win the Eastern Conference championship. While it's common practice to prepare ads such as these, they're usually withheld until the moment of truth.

Not at the Lowell Sun, which printed the ad yesterday and had it available on its web site earlier today before removing it. The Providence Journal also had the ad on its web site today.

Of course, the Bruins lost Game 6 and forced a decisive Game 7 tonight.

Is it a jinx? We'll let you decide.

Phil Esposito: Boston legend, but not a fan: MyFoxTAMPABAY.com

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com Staff

In an interview with Fox 13 Tampa last week, NHL hall of famer Phil Esposito -- a member of the Bruins' 1972 and 1970 Stanley Cup championship teams whose jersey hangs from the rafters at TD Garden -- said he "could give one damn about Boston."

"I don't care about Boston," Esposito told the local Fox affiliate. "Tampa Bay is my home. The Lightning are like my child. I gave birth to it. It took everything I had physically and probably mentally."

Esposito helped found the Lightning in 1992, serving at first as the team's president and general manager. He's now the team's radio color commentator. He played nine seasons with the Bruins in his 19-year NHL career.

"I hope we smoke 'em to tell you the truth," Esposito said.

He added: "I gotta tell 'em the truth. I'm a Tampa Bay Lightning guy."

By Chad Finn, Globe Staff

Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti have built a strong following and strong ratings in their 18 months as 98.5 The Sports Hub's afternoon drive tandem.

Today, they have one more acknowledgment of their success, agreeing to a three-year contract extension to remain with The Sports Hub.

“In the last 18 months, Mike and Tony have built a very compelling show that speaks to an enormously devoted and passionate listener-following,” said Mark Hannon, CBS Radio's senior vice president and market manager. “We are thrilled they will be part of 98.5 The Sports Hub for years to come.”

Said Felger: "This job is a blast. I don't know what I'd do without it. I think this station has been good for Boston. We needed another voice, another perspective. I consider myself lucky to be included among the group that helps provide it."

Not long after its debut in August 2009, the Sports Hub emerged as a legitimate competitor to WEEI (850), which long had a sports-radio monopoly in the market.

Felger and Massarotti have been at the forefront of the Sports Hub's ascent, challenging WEEI's long-established and recently revamped "The Big Show" in the 2-6 p.m. window and frequently winning the battle between the stations in the Arbitron ratings in the crucial men 25-54 demo.