By Steve Silva, Globe Staff

Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas wanted no part of any White House talk today after the team practiced in preparation for their playoff opener against the Washington Capitals at the Garden Thursday night.

During his locker room media session at Ristuccia Memorial Arena in Wilmington today, Thomas was asked if he was concerned about playing in Washington due to any fallout from his infamous snub of the defending Stanley Cup Champions White House appearance with President Obama last January and subsequent statement he released on the federal government:

Reporter: "Given the setting, that's it's in D.C., is there any concern on your part about the White House stuff getting kicked up and all that stuff '"

Thomas: "Thanks guys, we finally got somebody to get me out early."

Thomas did speak about taking advantage of some time off last week and said he had been preparing to face the Ottawa Senators before the Capitals clinched the seventh seed in the Eastern conference.

"It seemed like the chances were so great for a while that it was going to be Ottawa," Thomas said regarding the team the Bruins put up a 5-1 record against in the regular season. "In my mind I did start to... game plan [for] Ottawa over that past week but then when it got tighter and it didn't look like it may not be Ottawa, I stopped thinking about Ottawa and just kept my mind open."

Thomas spoke about the concerns that the Capitals, a team that went 2-1-1 against Boston this season, bring in this series.

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