Tim Thomas' image has been a conversation this year more than ever. He drew a lot of criticism when he elected to skip the Bruins' visit to the White House for his political beliefs.

In Washington D.C. they got an extra taste of the bad side of Thomas, joining the fans in Vancouver on that front. Thomas didn't make any friends among the Capitals and their fans at all when he punched Caps center Nicklas Backstrom in Game 2 and tried to trip Troy Brouwer later in that game.

In defeat on Wednesday night, Thomas had some small measure of damage control. First came the handshake line in which Thomas of course had to cross Backstrom's path. He took that chance to apologize to Backstrom. Here's what Backstrom told a Swedish newspaper courtesy of Russian Machine Never Breaks.

During the handshake, Thomas apologized for punching me with his blocker in Game 2. He also apologized for all the punches to the face I’ve gotten from his teammates. You know, I was really glad to hear it. It was pleasant. You’ve got to respect moves like that. Tim is great.

You might remember that during the series the Capitals were accusing the Bruins of targeting Backstrom's head throughout the series, an allegation that Claude Julien called ludicrous.

That wasn't all Thomas did after the game. He also had maybe one of the "cutest" moments of the season when he spotted a young Bruins fan sitting rinkside crying.

That's pretty cool to see, I must admit. Nice to see that he was in good enough spirits moments after his season ended to even take notice of the crying kid, let alone trying to cheer said child up.

Then again, maybe he was chipper because his season was over. That could have been the last time Thomas is wearing the spoked wheel on his sweater. There has been talk -- idle talk, mind you -- about the Bruins jettisoning Thomas this offseason. He didn't do much last night to quiet that talk according to CSN New England.

Some observers said they spotted him stepping on the Bruins logo in the middle of the home dressing room -- a definite no-no -- after the game was over.

Then there were the references to the rest of the Bruins team as “they” at least five times during his postgame interview. If one were a conspiracy theorist it sounds like there is a clear separation of State and Tim Thomas going on.

"What it says about our guys is that they’re battlers and they’re still champions," he said. "They gave everything they had to the bitter end. Unfortunately this is sports and they fell short this time."

I have long said I think it makes sense from a hockey standpoint to consider dealing Thomas. He still has value but he's already 38 years old and the Bruins have Tuukka Rask on the roster as well.

It was definitely an interesting night for last year's Conn Smythe winner.

S/t to Puck Daddy, SB Nation

For more hockey news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnHockey and @BrianStubitsNHL on Twitter and like us on Facebook.