Earlier today we caught up with Dainius Zubrus. Now another former Caps pivot is making news, and this time it's not for his on-ice performance (or lack thereof). This odd little nugget comes to us from Mike Heika's blog via Kukla's Korner:Jeff Halpern is responsible for Mike Smith's injury, but the Stars said it was not a fight. Halpern and Smith were playing 'the rebound game' after practice when the two started to get very competitive. Halpern then (they say) accidentally slashed Smith while going for a puck that was in the air. That led to a verbal confrontation which was very heated. I was in the locker room, so I didn't see it.Uh huh...."You get caught up in the game and, unfortunately, it led to an injury," Halpern said. "Anytime you're part of that, you feel bad for the other guy involved and realize it was just a game. That's awful for him and bad for our team."
Of course, it serves Smith right - he should've known better than to mess with Halps. And let this serve as a lesson to all of you - we Potomac boys are both tough and crafty with various forms of weaponry. Smith is probably lucky Halpern didn't have his gaffi stick on him.