Two Bush hockey dads, no lipstick

President Bush hosted the 2007 NHL Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings at the White House today.

In remarks in the East Room, the president called the playoffs "thrilling." He recalled game five of the finals, when the Detroit team was "just 34 seconds from raising the Cup when the Pittsburgh Penguins scored to tie the game, then scored in triple overtime to extend the series. But you did not get discouraged. You were determined -- and you won."

Bush, who has publicly acknowledged his own past drinking problems, singled out for praise Darren McCarty, a player who came back from similar issues.

This guy got his life back together, seized the moment, and scored the opening goal in game two of the series against Nashville. That is a stout story.

Team Captain Nicklas Lidstrom, pictured here making a presentation, gave the president a "Bush 43" shirt along with one for his father, former President George H.W. Bush, that said "Bush 41." And he invited the president and his father on a field trip, saying:.

We have a dads trip every year that we have a chance to bring our dads on a trip -- out West usually. And this time around we'd like to -- when spring comes around and playoff hockey is around the corner again -- we'd like the president and his dad to watch us win the Cup again. So we don't have one, but two, jerseys to hand over to the president.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin likes to say that the only difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull is lipstick. So we imagine that this field trip could be dubbed, "Two Bush hockey dads, no lipstick."

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Alex Wong / Getty Images