NFL

Slapshots

By TOM JONES
Published January 15, 2006

WILD THINGS: Wild forwards Marian Gaborik and Wes Walz are two of the most mild-mannered and nicest fellows in the game, but last week they got into a fight . . . with each other.

During a practice, Walz said Gaborik elbowed him in the head. Walz dropped his gloves and started pounding on the team star. Assistant Mario Tremblay broke it up, but the two kept yapping at one another for several minutes.

"I was surprised," Gaborik told the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. "He snapped right away. He's an impulsive guy. Obviously, I wasn't trying to hurt him. He took it too serious I guess. He always takes everything too seriously."

Walz said, "You take an elbow in the head like that it gets intense real quick."

ROUGHING IT: Hands down, no doubt about it, the visiting locker room at Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena is the worst in the NHL. It's cramped with four concrete walls, benches and no lockers. Players hang their clothes and gear on hooks. A few light bulbs hang from the ceiling.

"I've never been in prison," Oilers defenseman Steve Staios told the Edmonton Journal, "but this is what it's like."

But Oilers goalie Jussi Markkanen had nothing bad to say.

"You won't catch me complaining," he said. "I've played in Russia. The rinks run from nice, new ones of about 10,000 seats in places like St. Petersburg to some with 2,000 seats. In those rinks, you hope it's not cold outside because if it is, it's the same temperature inside."

NEW WHEELS: For the first half of the season, Penguins owner and star Mario Lemieux drove rookie sensation Sidney Crosby to practice every day. But with Crosby, who also lives with Lemieux and his family, hounded by so many interview and autograph requests, Lemieux grew tired of waiting around after practice. So Crosby finally bought his first car: a new Range Rover.

"Times have changed," former NHL star Ray Ferraro, now an Oilers broadcaster, told the Edmonton Journal. "My first vehicle when I signed was a Toyota Corolla, and I had to ask my dad to help me out with the insurance."

[Last modified January 15, 2006, 01:48:18]