Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Jeff Skinner drops the gloves with teammate Dwyer at practice...wait, what?

Jeff Skinner

Carolina Hurricanes center Jeff Skinner (53) celebrates after teammate Erik Cole scored a goal during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Tampa, Fla., Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011. Skinner also scored a goal in the third period. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

AP

Don’t let the face fool you – Jeff Skinner isn’t afraid to chuck knuckles. Even, as we learned today, with a Hurricanes teammate.

According to the News & Observer, Skinner and Carolina forward Pat Dwyer dropped the gloves after a particularly intense one-on-one battle drill.

Teammates quickly separated the two (presumably while trying not to laugh), after which Skinner and Dwyer apologized to each other.

“It’s not because I don’t like him,” Skinner said. “Everything’s all right. It’s just a tough drill there at the end. It’s not something you want to do every practice but it happens every once in a while. You don’t look for it but sometimes it happens.

“I maybe could have reacted a little differently but he’s a competitive guy.”

Both Skinner and Dwyer added the obligatory “this just shows we care” comments, and that was that.