Seen Not At The All-Star Game

If you're looking at the photo and wondering who that player is, you won't be in the minority. The team represented by Jimmy Bonneau is the AHL's Worcester Sharks, and Bonneau dressed as a goaltender for the first time in his career on Wednesday. Bonneau is better known as a pugilist in the Sharks' lineup who plays wing, not goalie. However, backup goalie Troy Grosenick fell ill before the warm-up against the Portland Pirates, and Bonneau stepped up to help his teammates out - this time with the pads rather than his fists!

"I never played goalie before and the American league wouldn't be the ideal place to start, I don't think, but sometimes you just have to go with what you've got," Bonneau told Jason Galloy of The Guardian. "Someone went down, someone stepped up, fortunately, I didn't have to step up too much. That's how this team is, we have each other's back."

Bonneau saw no ice time in the 3-2 victory after Worcester rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the third period. So what did Bonneau learn while he watched from the end-boards? "I was shocked how heavy the gear is and how much it restricts your movement," he said. Spoken like a true forward!

Musicians Love Hockey

If you've been following HBIC for a while, you know that I'm building a massive list of musicians in jerseys. I've been working on it for a while, and I'm happy to report that there are some new additions to the list thanks to some sleuthing and a few contributors. If you'd like to contribute, fire me an email with the picture! Just make sure you're not sending a duplicate!

Garth Brooks is one of the planet's biggest country stars, and we don't usually see hockey and male country hockey stars go together outside of Nashville. However, when Garth Brooks stopped by in St. Louis, he and a numbers of Blues players teamed up to bring hockey to children at the Mathews-Dickey Boys and Girls Club in north St. Louis. One of the players there was longtime Blue Barrett Jackman, and Garth Brooks returned the favor by wearing Jackman's jersey at his concert that night!

Loudon Wainwright is a pretty famous folk singer, songwriter, humorist, and actor, and is the father of Rufus Wainwright amongst other titles he holds. He's released 26 albums over his illustrious music career, has won a Grammy Award, and has countless appearances on TV and film. The man certainly has conquered television and music. The one thing that he should be known for? Being a New York Islanders fan!

The San Jose Sharks recently held "Metallica Night" where they honoured the band! We already knew that James Hetfield was a Sharks fan, but we can now expand that to the full band as they all got their own personalized uniforms! Keep on rocking, Metallica!

We've seen some opera singers receive jerseys when they sing the anthem or anthems for teams. Like country, the operatic and hockey worlds rarely collide. One man who successfully made opera more popular was former member of The Three Tenors, the late Luciano Pavarotti. He's done a few songs with some mainstream pop and/or rock artists such as U2, and he may have been the most famous of The Three Tenors. However, I found extremely weird to see former Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard giving Mr. Pavarotti a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey! Maybe it's because I don't recall Ballard giving anything way except his opinion!

Finally, I want o thank reader Gerald T. for his contribution. Jeffrey Hanneman was the guitarist for heavy metal band Slayer, and he routinely wore jerseys while performing. Hanneman was a driving force behind Slayer's success, but he passed away on May 2, 2013 in southern California from liver failure due to alcohol-related cirrhosis. Hanneman was a sports fan, and he wore the LA Kings jersey proudly!

Alaskan Superheroes

The ECHL's Alaska Aces decided to steal some thunder from the NHL All-Star Game by encouraging a little fun as they dressed as superheroes and had their fans dress as superheroes! Superhero Weekend ran last night and tonight as the Aces squared off against the visiting Idaho Steelheads. Last night didn't go so well as the Alaskan heroes dropped an 8-5 result to the Pacific Division-leading Steelheads, so there was hope the Aces could rebound in tonight's match as the Aces find themselves 21 points back of the Steelheads after last night's game.

As of the moment of publication of this article, the Steelheads were up 2-1 on the Aces just before the end of the first period. They'll need to rally to help defeat the Steelheads' villainy! And in case you were wondering, the back of the superhero uniforms look like this:

That's all the updates I have for tonight. The NHL All-Star Game goes tomorrow from Columbus. I'll probably have it on as background noise as there's a fantastic book I will be reviewing tomorrow. If you're a Leafs fan or a hockey history buff, this book is one you'll want in your library!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!