By Zuri Berry, Boston.com Staff

Just hours after appearing in Boston to stump for Senate hopeful Ed Markey, President Barack Obama voiced his support for his hometown hockey team in the Stanley Cup Final via the White House's official Twitter account.

Good luck to the @NHLBlackhawks tonight – hope to welcome you back to the White House again as #StanleyCup champs. -bo

— The White House (@whitehouse) June 12, 2013

By Marie Torto, Boston.com Staff

Toronto Maple Leafs left winger Joffrey Lupul said a lot about last night's loss to the Bruins on Twitter this morning.

That hockey game will haunt me until the day I die...

— Joffrey Lupul (@JLupul) May 14, 2013

In less than 15 minutes, the message was retweeted just under 1,000 times and favorited over 2,900 times.

By Steve Silva, Boston.com Staff

Move over Tom Brady and Robert Kraft, there's a new sports-icon-turned-actor in town.

Bruins winger Milan Lucic "stars" in an ad for the Northern Massachusetts Telephone Workers Community Credit Union. The video, which was posted online six months ago, shows a frustrated Lucic complaining about various bank fees before he makes the switch to NMTWCCU.

In the acting skills department, Lucic makes Robert Kraft look like Sir Laurence Olivier.

But maybe it's the script in the above video that needed help.

Regardless, with the NHL currently on hiatus with the ongoing lockout, Lucic should have ample time to work on his skills... both on and off the ice.

By Lenny Neslin, Boston.com Staff

Many famous Boston sports people attended the 11th annual award ceremony ‘The Tradition’ at New England’s Sports Museum in TD Garden Wednesday, but none bigger than Pedro Martinez.

After Mayor Thomas M. Menino introduced Martinez, he said he considered himself a Bostonian, but that the Lifetime Achievement Award he received made him a “Bostonian for life.”

Other honorees included former Celtics great Robert Parish, Patriots’ two-time Super Bowl champion Rodney Harrison, Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, former Yale rower Chris Ernst, and former Revolution defender Alexi Lalas.

A poignant moment of the ceremony came when Harrison said, “The reason why I’m here is Junior Seau.” Harrison said that Seau inspired him to play the way he played all the time, including practice.

“The biggest compliment I got when I retired was when Bill Bellichick said I was the best practice player he’s ever had.”

Seau recently took his own life by shooting himself in the chest, raising awareness for concussions and health concerns in the NFL.

Harrison chose his wife, Erika, to present the Football Legacy Award to him to show people how important his wife was to his career.

“I’ve gone through multiple injuries, devastating injuries,” he said. Nobody really understands the impact it makes on the family. Who has to deal with it? The wife.”

Sportscaster and former Celtic Bill Walton introduced Parish, “The Chief,” who bowed to the crowd after accepting the Basketball Legacy Award. Walton repeatedly said, “Hail to the Chief,” and cracked jokes.

Parish, a four-time NBA champion and Hall of Famer, drew laughs from the crowd when comparing Michael Jordan and Larry Bird.

“Bird was slow, couldn’t jump,” he said, noting both had unparalleled determination.

Jacobs was introduced by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who said Jacobs, “wants to win more than anything else for Boston.”

Jacobs was honored for last year’s Stanley Cup but also for his commitment to community service and philanthropic contributions.

In light of the 40th anniversary of Title IX’s enactment, Ernst, captain of 1976 Yale women’s crew and gold medalist at the 1986 world championships, was honored.

“There’s nobody I’m more impressed with in this room than [Ernst],” said sportswriter Jackie MacMullan, who presented the Special Achievement Award to Ernst along with Mary Mazzio, who created an award-winning film about Ernst called “A Hero for Daisy.”

The Revolution’s leading career goal scorer Taylor Twellman called Lalas “a pioneer for our sport.” Lalas was a member of the 1994 US World Cup team and helped spark interest in soccer in America.

By Steve Silva, Boston.com Staff

The Washington Capitals have named former Bruins and Capitals center, and new Hockey Hall-of-Famer, Adam Oates as their new coach.

The 49-year-old Oates, who spent six seasons as a standout player in Boston, becomes the 16th coach in Capitals franchise history.

Former Capitals coach Dale Hunter resigned on May 14 after completing the 2011-12 season that Bruce Boudreau began before he was fired in late November.

"Adam was a highly intelligent player in the NHL for 19 seasons," Capitals general manager George McPhee said in a statement. "He has been an assistant coach in our conference for the past three seasons and is prepared to lead our club as head coach."

On the same day Oates was named the Caps coach, he joins Joe Sakic, Mats Sundin and Pavel Bure in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Oates, who will be formally introduced at a news conference Wednesday, has spent the last three seasons as an NHL assistant, first with the Tampa Bay Lightning before moving to the New Jersey Devils in 2010. He was part of the staff that helped lead the Devils to this year's Stanley Cup finals, which they lost to the Los Angeles Kings.

His most formidable task will be to develop a playing style that best suits a Capitals roster brimming with talent and that can also succeed in the playoffs. Led by Alex Ovechkin, Washington won four consecutive Southeast Division titles under offensive-minded coach Bruce Boudreau but couldn't advance beyond the second round of the postseason.

Boudreau was fired in November after an early-season slump and was replaced by the defense-first Hunter. Hunter eventually rallied the players enough to get them back in the playoffs but couldn't push them to the conference finals.

Oates played in the NHL from 1985-2004, appearing in 1,337 games while scoring 341 goals with 1,079 assists for Detroit, St. Louis, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Anaheim and Edmonton. Only Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux have averaged more assists-per-game than Oates in the NHL history, and only Gretzky (662) had more assists than Oates (636) during the 1990s.

In 1997, the Bruins traded the disgruntled Oates along with goaltender Bill Ranford and forward Rick Tocchet to the Capitals in a blockbuster six-player deal. In exchange for three of their best players, the Bruins received goaltender Jim Carey, centers Jason Allison and Anson Carter, and a 1997 third-round draft choice. The deal was one of the biggest in National Hockey League history at the time.

Material from The Associated Press was used in this update.

By Steve Silva, Boston.com Staff

Good job, good effort, Mayor Menuno... err Menino, but we're starting to wonder if you bungle Boston sports stars names on purpose.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino was captured on camera Wednesday giving his take on the dramatic Celtics run through the NBA playoffs, and he referred to Kevin Garnett as "K.J." and Rajon Rondo as "Hondo" when praising the players' efforts.

“There’s a lot of heart on this team, let me just tell you,” Menino said. “K.J. is a great ... but Hondo's really the inspiration. I mean Hondo drives that team.”

Maybe the mayor thinks Celtics great John "Hondo" Havlicek is driving the action from his floor seats under the basket at the Garden or former Phoenix Suns guard Kevin Johnson, a.k.a. K.J., is doing a great job as the current mayor of Sacramento. Maybe not.

Update: The mayor's office tweeted the following Thursday morning:

You know it's championship season when Iflub our athletes' names! Sorry KG & Rondo, it's kind of my thing- another Menino-ism! #GoCeltics

— Mayor Tom Menino (@mayortommenino) June 7, 2012

This is not the first time the mayor has mixed up and botched the names of local sports stars. Some of Menino's past slip-ups include:

-- At the Fenway 100 celebration at Fenway Park in April, Menino reminisced: "2004 coming in here when Davy Roberts stole second base, Mueller [supposed to be pronounced Miller] hit the double, got him in, then Ortiz won the game. There's so many ... Jim Lomberg had that great year he had."

That would be Red Sox righty Jim Lonborg in 1967.

-- During the dedication of the Bobby Orr statue on Causeway Street in 2010: "Boston, we have an amazing set of remarkable athletes whose actions have become ionic (sic) in sports. Havlicek stole the ball, Fisk waving the ball fair, Flutie launching the Hail Mary pass, Varitek splitting the uprights.”

It was old friend Adam Vinatieri (not former Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek) who sealed the deal for the Patriots first Super Bowl victory when he nailed the game-winning 48-yard field goal in 2002 to beat the heavily-favored St. Louis Rams.

-- Speaking of football, last season the mayor referred to Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker as "Wekler" and called tight end Rob Gronkowski "Grabowski."

-- At a dedication ceremony at the Tobin Community Center in 2010, the mayor referred to NBA commissioner David Stern as "Donald Sterns."

-- Menino used the term "great ball players" to describe the Stanley Cup ice hockey champion Bruins last year.

-- The mayor also referred to the band Dropkick Murphys as the "Dropkick Murphy" and called the screen on the scoreboard at the Garden a 'Jumbletron' in lieu of the term JumboTron.

Click here to see a photo and video gallery of other famous sports flubs.

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.