Nyjer Morgan the hockey player?  Who woulda thunk it?  It is not surprising that Morgan would have the type of fire you need to succeed on the ice.  We typically only think of insane interviews or throwing a legendary fit when thinking of the Brewers outfielder, but as you can see from the video above he played some puck in his day.  Morgan skated with the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday, and he even put one in the net in a one-on-one situation.  Of course the goalie was trying his hardest.

As Puck Daddy pointed out, Morgan played seven games with the WHL’s Regina Pats during the 1999-2000 season before he committed to playing baseball.  He said his biggest contributions when he played were coming off the bench and adding excitement to the game.  We can certainly see that.

Ottawa fans may have been thrilled to host the NHL All-Star Game last weekend, but that doesn’t mean they were about to embrace all the players in the game. The fans held true to their rivalry with Toronto by placing cutouts of Leafs all-stars Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf in the urinals. The move may not have been original, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t appreciated. The last time we saw it was when LeBron returned to Cleveland.

As long as no people or trees are being killed, I appreciate some healthy fan rivalries.

Pictures via Sens Town
Stick tap to NESN

Crosby reportedly was dissatisfied with the medical treatment he was receiving in Pittsburgh, so he traveled to Utah to see a specialist who discovered problems with his C1 and C2 vertebrae. Bob McCown of Sportsnet 590 The Fan said Crosby went to Utah to see the specialist at the advice of his friends Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen.

It’s still uncertain what exactly is wrong with Crosby, but the team says it will not bring him back until he is fully healed. Pittsburgh currently holds the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and they’ve been led by Evgeni Malkin, who leads the NHL with 58 points.

Tim Tebow may be done playing until next season, but Tebowing is still going strong. Carey Price gave up a free goal during the All-Star breakaway challenge on Saturday night, all in the name of the Tebow.  Islanders forward Rob Tavares gave the crowd a treat with a fancy goal during the event, and as you can see Price had no intention of standing in the way.  He saw it as an opportunity to get his Tebow on, and that’s exactly what he did.

Tebowing has hardly slowed down since the Broncos suffered an embarrassing loss to the Patriots in the second round of the playoffs. In the month of January alone, we have seen Tebowing from the Mayor of Pittsburgh, the CBS NFL crew, and — who could forget — a collection of Playboy Playmates.  We were also introduced to Tebowing pretzels earlier this month.  Carey Price was just trying to fit in.

H/T to NESN for the video

The NHL All-Star weekend is going down in Ottawa and the skills competition was held on Saturday evening. There was a full complement of events, and the Breakaway Competition provided the greatest entertainment.

Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane won the competition by going Superman with a cape and dive for his goal. He says he was inspired by Dwight Howard who went Superman in the dunk competition. Here is the video:

Kane also shot an “exploding puck” later in the competition. He says it was created by cutting a real puck into four pieces and gluing it back together.

Ducks winger Corey Perry had a pretty sweet trick as well. He pulled out a mini stick from his pants for his attempt:

And of course we can’t leave out the 108.8 mph slapshot from Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara that broke his own record:

NHL.com has the full results from the All-Star competition, which is generally the most entertaining aspect of the weekend.

Photo Credit: Eric Bolte-US PRESSWIRE

“My heart is not there,” Ovechkin said according to the Washington Post. “I got suspended, so why I have to go there?”

For most players, taking part in the All-Star game isn’t a chore. Many of the fans want him there because he is one of the game’s best talents, but apparently this is Alex’s way of trying to punish the NHL for their decision.  Fans and players around the league have not taken kindly to the decision.  Here is what St. Louis Blues forward Andy McDonald had to say about it on Twitter:

McDonald is right, and I like the way he included Ovechkin’s Twitter handle in the tweet so he can’t be accused of saying it “behind his back.”  In the world of social media, an @ mention qualifies as saying it to someone’s face. What a childish move by one of the game’s biggest stars.

According to WTSP in Tampa, a Lightning spokesman said the altercation with a Bruins fan played a role in the decision to let the person go but was not the only factor.  Was he late for work a few times or something?  I can’t imagine the mascot would be looking for a job right now if he had kept that can of silly string by his side.

As Off the Bench pointed out, Lightning fans have started a Facebook page in an attempt t0 save Thunderbug’s job.  Does anyone really care that much? The group was started on Monday and has racked up 253 likes, which is not that impressive considering the creator is trying to rally an entire fan base.  Maybe the page has yet to catch on.  Unfortunately for Lightning fans, this generation does not tolerate bullying and/or people being meanies.

The roof of a newly-constructed ice hockey rink in Slovakia collapsed over the weekend because of the pressure from a snow storm. Former NHL winger Richard Zednik was training with some youth players at the hockey rink, which is in the Hotel Altis in Trstena, Slovakia, when the roof started to cave.

Zednik described the scene as “full of fear and panic.” Luckily Zednik and the other adults managed to get everyone off the ice before the roof caved, which only took 33 seconds. It appears that nobody was hurt.

Police have begun investigating the reasons for the roof’s collapse.

Bad luck seems to follow Zednik, who sustained a life-threatening injury when he was cut by a teammate’s skate in the throat during a February 2008 game. He played one more season in the NHL after recovering from the injury and recorded 33 points for the Panthers, including this spectacular airborne goal against the Islanders. The 36-year-old is still playing hockey in Europe.

The video is actually very similar to what happened when the Metrodome roof collapsed in Minnesota last football season.

Stick tap to Puck Daddy

Edmonton Oilers winger Taylor Hall was cut in the face by a teammate’s skate during pregame warmups on Tuesday night and missed the game. If you weren’t sure how bad the damage was, the picture above should confirm things.

The Oilers also shared this quote from Hall, “I’m feeling better. I’d like to thank our trainers & the Columbus medical staff.”

Train tracks in the forehead, a black eye … just the typical hockey life. It might not be as bad as Darryl Boyce’s nose, but at least it’s better than Anze Kopitar’s injury. Let’s hope he returns quickly.

Picture Credit: Edmonton Oilers
H/T LBS contributor A. Liu

All Boston bias aside, I can see both sides of the argument here. Yes, the fan overreacted. I have no idea what type of smack talk was going on between this Bruins fan and the Lightning’s mascot, Thunderbug, before the exchange. That being said, trash talk is part of the experience of being at a game. Getting silly string sprayed in your face is not.

Can you really throw someone out of the game for this? What do you say to that person? “Hey man, listen — I know you weren’t expecting it and mascots don’t usually spray silly string in fans’ faces, but that’s just the way it goes around here. You were supposed to just sit there and take it and do nothing, but now that you decided to tackle Thunderbug we have to throw you out. Sorry.” When mascots get run over by a player or take a foul ball to the neck, it’s usually undeserving and they don’t see it coming. Thunderbug’s biggest mistake was turning his back after he assaulted the guy.

H/T to Puck Daddy for the video