In the face of mounting pressure from social media, Chicago T-shirt company Cubby Tees on Friday stopped selling its "Chicago Stronger" model.

The shirt was a take-off of "Boston Strong," which became a motto for the New England city after the Boston Marathon bombings.

Boston and Chicago are competing for the Stanley Cup, but using the motto for sports angered many fans of the Blackhawks as well as the Bruins.

"Those 'Chicago Stronger' t shirts put out by @CubbyTees was an absolutely stupid & insensitive idea. Idiots" one Chicago sports fan tweeted.

" 'Chicago stronger' shirts make me sick. #bostonstrong united a city after a tragic incident. It's nothing to mock," a user identified as Laura Thayer said on Twitter.

In an earlier Stanley Cup playoff series, similar anger was directed toward a Maple Leafs fan who displayed a "Toronto Stronger" sign during a game with the Bruins.

In a statement posted on its website, Cubby Tees said it will no longer sell the T-shirts after "a good new-fashioned Twitter-lynching."

The company said its intentions in creating the T-shirts were misinterpreted.

"The design poked fun at the embarrassing self-congratulatory branding of the tragedy, and its inappropriate adoption by some Boston fans as a minimizing sports anthem, not the sad reality of that day's mayhem," the statement read.

Cubby Tees said it plans to donate the proceeds from sales of the Chicago Stronger T-shirt to "a worthwhile cause" and welcomed suggestions for Chicago area charities. A company official could not be reached for additional comment Friday night.

ehirst@tribune.com