Minnesota Wild apologize for skit after mascot beats rival with a baseball bat

The Minnesota Wild apologized to fans after the NHL team faced criticism over a skit where the team’s mascot beat a rival mascot with a bat during an intermission on the ice.

During a gathering of NHL mascots at Thursday night's game against the Canadiens, the Wild were throwing a “birthday party” for their mascot Nordy, when he apparently took a pie to the face from the Chicago Blackhawks mascot named Tommy Hawk. 

Then, when the blindfolded Nordy was supposed to hit a piñata held by Tommy Hawk, he instead took aim and swung the bat to beat his rival mascot like from some scene from The Sopranos — enthusiastically urged on by the arena announcer to "keep swinging."

After about 10 fake hits another mascot, the New Jersey Devil, stepped in and stopped the mayhem while other mascots worked to drag Tommy Hawk off the ice. Smile if you remember Office Space.

via GIPHY

Some fans criticized the display of violence rarely seen at any hockey game (snicker) and thought the Wild was "promoting violence in front of thousands of people and kids."

Meanwhile...this happened at intermission. @NordyWild pic.twitter.com/UVxIFrMPrC

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) January 13, 2017

One Twitter mom asked, "How exactly should I explain this to my kids?" 

So, of course the NHL contacted the Wild before the team issued a statement about the fake violence on ice:

"We apologize to anyone offended by the mascot skit Thursday night. It was certainly not our intention." 

Maybe they should have added We'll leave that to the players.

P.K. Subban sends one-month old baby to hospital after friendly puck toss during practice

An act of kindness by Montreal Canadiens star P.K. Subban backfired this weekend — big time.

After practice on Sunday, the Canadiens defenseman tossed pucks into the stands for fans at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Unfortunately, one of the hard souvenirs accidentally hit one-month-old Beatrice Meloche in the head, knocking her unconscious and sending her to Montreal Children’s Hospital with a concussion.

Before you ask what kind of boufon brings a newborn toddler to a hockey game, remember this is Canada and know that the little tyke will be OK.

The baby's mother, Valérie Meloche, wrote on Facebook, that Beatrice spent the night under observation at the hospital.

Je demande votre aide! Aujourd'hui nous étions à la pratique Provigo des Canadiens de Montréal, au Centre Bell. À la fin...
Posted by Valérie Meloche Maquilleuse on Sunday, February 21, 2016

“P.K. feels terrible, but he had no idea. He felt terrible at first, then he felt really happy to hear that all was good,” Donald Beauchamp, the club’s vice president of communications, told the Calgary Sun.

“P.K. was so grateful (to hear the child was okay) and he can’t wait to meet with the family.”

Coincidentally, the baby was taken to the same hospital that named a wing "Atrium P.K. Subban" after he and his foundation donated $10 million last year.

The team said it would look into changing the policy of players tossing pucks into the crowd, despite calling the incident a “freak accident.”

Sacre bleu. 

Drunk fan pukes on himself during Canadiens-Senators game (VIDEO)

It's been a while since Montreal Canadiens fans had anything to celebrate but, even when your team is a front-runner in the NHL, that's still no reason to overindulge in the Molson.

That's what apparently happened to this guy who did a slow puke while seated in the Belle Centre stands.

Drunk Canadiens Fan Throws Up On Himself http://t.co/1Ah7IEQyIL pic.twitter.com/Upm3XtfSsa
— Charm City Wire (@charmcitywire) February 27, 2015

It's barely even cute when an infant baby upchucks on himself. But true to their nature, the Canadian fans politely back away while the slow eruption of vomit streams down the man's bearded face.

And they even take drunkie's beer out of his hands so he doesn't hurl into the cup!



The best part? The dude gets up and acts like nothing happened.

Sidney Crosby takes a skate blade to the crotch (VIDEO)

During the Pittsburgh Penguins game in Montreal on Saturday night, Sidney Crosby was briefly shaken up after he took a accidental hit to the groin by the skate of Montreal Canadiens forward Jiri Sekac.

A boot to the boys is bad enough but when it has a sharp blade attached to it — we're talking instant vasectomy.

Crosby went down in a heap but was at least able to ice it down immediately.

"@Sportsnet: Sidney Crosby gets kicked right in the ... ouch. http://t.co/82jvDmDiIV" Same thing happened to @petedalliday during #BoroBoys
— Scott Arnold (@ScottArnold12) January 11, 2015

After groaning in soprano for a while on the bench, not only did Crosby stay in the game, he scored the winning goal to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 overtime victory.

Stepan and Prust hug it out after Rangers win series (PHOTO)

The New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 1-0, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final, advancing to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 20 years.

Meaning it was time for one of the greatest traditions in hockey – the postgame handshake line.

All eyes were on Derek Stepan of the Rangers and Brandon Prust of the Canadiens, after Prust broke the jaw of the former teammate on an illegal hit in Game 3.

Prust was suspended two games for the incident, meaning his first game back was the elimination game.

And it looked like all was forgiven.

Stepan and Prust. This is what the Stanley Cup Playoffs are all about #Respect #Brotherhood pic.twitter.com/ga4JEyjrlr
— The Canadian Game (@ItsCanadasGame) May 30, 2014

When they met, they embraced, with Prust putting his hand on the helmet of Stepan, inches from the custom-made protective mask Stepan has worn since his return to the lineup.

“I’m not going to hold that against him,” said Stepan. “He finished his check. He feels bad about it. He knows it was late. And we move on from there.”

Prust previously expressed regret over the injury to Stepan, whom he considers a friend.

"Once I found out he had a broken jaw, I reached out to him," Prust said."I told him I feel awful. I didn't want to injury anybody, especially a friend of mine."

Here's the brutal hit just to refresh your memory:



Another reason hockey has its fans.

Martin St. Louis goes top shelf for OT winner in Game 4 (VIDEO)

For the second consecutive game, the Rangers and Canadiens battled to overtime and while it was a pretty ugly goal that won Game 3 for the Madison Square Garden visitors, Martin St. Louis' sweet wrister over the glove of Dustin Tokarski won Game 4 for the Rangers Sunday night.

St. Louis found himself one-on-one to the side of the net with Tokarski and, with little angle and the defense closing in, St. Louis' only option was to roof it — and roof it he did.

Rangers 3, Habs 2.

"The goal he scored tonight is exactly what you see him practice every time he's on the ice, like a hundred pucks," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "He's trying to put it right there. Made obviously a great shot on that goal."

A beauty, eh?

Rangers' Carcillo faces lengthy suspension after contact with linesman (VIDEO)

Down 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals to Rangers, the Canadiens decided to physically take it to their New York counterparts in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden and came out on top after a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory.

Adding insult to injury from Thursday night's Rangers home loss could be a potential lengthy suspension for forward Daniel Carcillo — after he made contact with linesman Scott Driscoll.

The incident took place while Rangers winger Derek Dorsett was fighting with Montreal’s Brandon Prust at 5:51 of the first period — moments after Carcillo had been called for a charging penalty. Dorsett went after Prust for a making questionable hit to the head that left Rangers center Derek Stepan hurt on the ice minutes earlier.

As Dorsett and Prust fought, instead of skating to the penalty box, Carcillo stood a few yards away watching the fight, showing no intent on joining the melee.

Driscoll skated over and put his hands on Carcillo’s midsection to move him away from the fight. That’s when Carcillo inexplicably lost his composure, angrily trying to push and even elbow Driscoll. With that, Driscoll tossed him from the game — and now possibly longer.

Aside from the game-winning goal by Montreal’s Alex Galchenyuk 1:12 into overtime, the Carcillo incident was the ugliest moment of the night for the Blueshirts.

Carcillo, who was unavailable for comment after the game, faces possible suspension depending on how the NHL interprets his offense.

And here's Rule 40:

"40.1 Game Misconduct - Any player who deliberately applies physical force in any manner against an official, in any manner attempts to injure an official, physically demeans, or deliberately applies physical force to an official solely for the purpose of getting free of such an official during or immediately following an altercation shall receive a game misconduct penalty. In addition, the following (40.2, 40.3, 40.4) disciplinary penalties shall apply."

No matter how you look at it, things don't look good for Carcillo, who can probably expect the hammer to fall on Friday.

Martin St. Louis' funeral for mom pushed back because of playoffs, Rangers team will attend: Report

To call Martin St. Louis' past week an emotional roller-coaster would be a gross understatement.

The New York Rangers forward's mother, France, died unexpectedly the day before Game 5 of New York's playoff series with the Penguins and, afterwards, the unified team came to life by winning the final three games in an improbable push to move on to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Rangers did everything in their power to accommodate the grieving St. Louis but on Thursday, the NHL would not make changes to accommodate his funeral plans during the upcoming series against the Montreal Canadiens.

According to coach Alain Vigneault, the Rangers asked the league to move the time of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals in Montreal back from its proposed 1 p.m. start to allow St. Louis to have the funeral for his mother in the afternoon. The request was denied, presumably because the time slot for the game on NBC was locked in. The network will begin its coverage of The Preakness Stakes at 4:30 p.m.

So instead, St. Louis moved the funeral to Sunday, and the whole team plans to attend. The services will be in St. Louis’ hometown of Laval, Quebec, is just outside Montreal.

“The funeral was supposed to be Saturday,” Vigneault said after the Rangers had an optional practice Thursday at their Westdchester training center. “We couldn’t move the time of the game, so Marty being who he is was able to move the funeral to Sunday.

“So, Sunday, as a team, we’ll be able to attend his mother’s funeral, and hopefully we’ll play a good game Saturday and get ready for the next one after.”

The 38-year-old winger flew back to Montreal after his mom's death, but returned in time for the following night’s Game 5. That kicked off the Rangers' three-game win streak to beat the Penguins in the best-of-seven series.

St. Louis' emotional post-Game 6 speech might have had something to do with it.

Murray to face hearing after brutal hit on Kostka: Report

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Douglas Murray received a match penalty for the hit on his Tampa Bay Lightning counterpart Michael Kostka Tuesday night, and now he will face a hearing with the league office this week.

According to reports, the hearing will take place by phone Thursday morning at 11 EST and his punishment will be at maximum a five-game suspension. Per league rules, a player is suspended indefinitely after receiving a match penalty pending a hearing. Montreal next plays Friday against Ottawa.

On the video, it appears that Murray (not know as a cheap-shot artist) catches Kostka with an elbow to the chin before the Lightning player goes down and hits his head on the ice. A stretcher was brought out, but Kostka was able to exit the ice under his own power.

Teemu Selanne autographs tattoo of Teemu Selanne (PHOTO)

I'm not really a fan of dudes getting tattooed with images of other dudes — even if they are your sports idol or Yosemite Sam — but this tattoo of NHL star  Teemu Selanne is pretty awesome. And it just got more awesome.

One guy in Montreal decided to get Selanne tattooed onto his arm with the Anaheim Ducks logo by the side and — with the Ducks in Montreal for a game on Thursday night — he had the chance to show Selanne his permanent portrait.

Not only did the gracious  Selanne see it, but he signed the guy's arm right below the tattoo.

You can bet this fan found the nearest tattoo parlor and the signature inked in before it faded.

Really nice.

This guy in Montreal has tattoo of Selanne and he autographed it today And his fan will tattoo it also today pic.twitter.com/sVVVeJeTjB
— Zdenek Matejovsky (@zedmat) October 24, 2013

Puck shatters glass inside Bell Centre penalty box (VIDEO)

Here's something that doesn't happen every day — or ever for that matter. Fans have seen the glass in a hockey rink break behind the nets or due to a huge hit, but how many times have they seen the glass break inside the penalty box?

Well it  happened in Bell Centre Saturday night. With Philadelphia breaking into the Montreal zone, Canadiens defenseman Josh Gorges forced a turnover and looked the send the puck down the ice. However, just as he shot the puck down, Scott Hartnell was being released from the Flyers' penalty box. The door opened and —in a case of perfect timing — the puck must have flew in and hit the glass just right, because it shattered into little pieces.

The whistle blew halting play, giving the TV cameras time to survey the damage but that was it  — and the game went on with little delay.

Lucky for Hartnell and fans near the box,nobody was hurt.

It's just one of the most bizarre occurrences you'll ever see in a hockey game.

George Parros injured after falling face-first onto ice during fight (VIDEO)

Montreal Canadiens enforcer George Parros was taken off of the ice on a stretcher after falling on his face while fighting Colton Orr of the Toronto Maple Leafs. While falling, Orr held onto Parros, who had his arms wrapped up and had no way to protect himself as his face collided with the ice.

The Canadiens announced after the game that Parros suffered a concussion and that he is undergoing further tests.

The NHL added a new rule for the 2013-14 season that prohibits players from removing their own helmets during a fight in an effort to protect them from hitting their heads during a fight. Doing a face-plant onto the ice during a tussle is another thing.

The Maple Leafs and Canadiens are no strangers to fisticuffs in their games, as the Parros-Orr fight was the fourth one of the game.

Both Parros and Orr received 10-minute game misconducts as well as five-minute majors for fighting.

Canadiens' Gorges gets big turnout for Twitter hockey game

The NHL lockout didn't stop one player from getting in some ice time even if it meant going to his Twitter account to round up a few players.

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Josh Gorges did just that and — after tweeting that he was scratching together a pick-up hockey game in the Verdun section of the city — the outdoor rink filled up with players of all ages and skill levels hoping to get a chance to skate with the NHL star.

The 28-year-old Gorges' open invitation to his followers on the social network made Wednesday's Boxing Day holiday extra special to a lot of NHL-hungry fans.

If the skate reminded him of casual pond hockey games in the past, the jeans and parka clad Gorges didn't seem to mind.

"I haven't played outdoors in a long time," Gorges told reporters.  "But I figured we've got some time  and I've got nothing else to do."



Gorges had been hinting about the upcoming game in messages sent out to his 23,000 followers on Twitter.  A few hours before the impromptu game, he joked that he might be slower than usual because of a big Christmas dinner the night before.

The NHL lockout is in its 103rd day.

At least one hockey star remembered his roots. Way to go, eh.