Eric Nystrom (QC Flames) goes all Ned Braden

[Lippa]

[Greenmachine]

why is this guy important???

[210]

why is this guy important???

It was a "jerseys off their back" promotion and he decided to have some extra fun with it.

[210]

Nystrom striptease scores for charity

Everyone has seen the footage. Or, at least, that's how it feels for Eric Nystrom.

Thanks to the power of the Internet Nystrom's charity (on-ice) striptease has been watched by hundreds and hundreds of folks.

Including his mom, his dad, his friends.

Including his Calgary Flames teammates.

"Some of the players came in and said, 'Did you see what Nystrom did down in Quad Cities?' '' said Robyn Regehr. "We happened to be on a computer, so we pulled it up.

"Man, that was a show. Guys were just laughing when they saw it. They couldn't believe that he'd do something like that. Guys are in awe of him because they didn't have the guts to pull something like that out in the Saddledome.''

So Friday, when Nystrom showed up at the rink for the game against the Anaheim Ducks, he heard about it.

"It's good to get razzed,'' said Nystrom, a rookie left-winger recently promoted from the Quad City Flames of the American Hockey League. "I watched it once -- just to see how dumb I looked. But it turned out pretty good. The performance was pretty good, so I was proud of it.''

The setting was the AHL club's jersey auction a week ago, with donations going to the Genesis Compassion Fund, which provides flu shots for area schools.

"So we were happy to do it,'' said Nystrom. "A fun night. The jerseys raised a lot of money -- 30 grand.''

If you haven't seen it, the video shows Nystrom shucking his gear in a near-perfect imitation of Ned Braden, whose infamous equipment toss served as the mocking finale of the flick Slap Shot.

"I don't know how many times you had to watch the movie to get that whole thing down pat,'' said Regehr. "Probably quite a few times.''

Well?

"I've seen the movie a lot of times,'' said Nystrom. "I was scared that people wouldn't know what it was from. But even if they've never seen Slap Shot, it was still pretty funny.''

The kid had the whole boom-chukka-boom stride going as he did the garter-belt snap, the shinpad-kick, the undershirt-rip, not to mention the dainty leap onto the top of the net.

"The crowd got a rise out of it,'' said Nystrom. "I improvised on a lot of it. When you get out in the moment, you kind of forget. But I thought it was pretty on, pretty accurate.''

Nystrom's good humour was understandable.

His jaw is now better -- a fight against Hamilton Bulldogs forward Kyle Chipchura proved that. And after a barren stretch with the Flames -- one goal in 23 games before taking a puck in the face on Jan. 8 -- he'd regained his scoring touch.

His mood improved even more when he learned that he'd miss a 10-hour bus ride to Winnipeg in favour of joining the Flames in southern California.

"When I went down, I got a lot of confidence with the puck,'' said Nystrom. "That's obviously huge in this game. I'm excited to bring that confidence back up here.''

And having achieved minor celebrity for his charity stunt, Nystrom now is somewhat of a hero.

"That's not only good for the sport of hockey, but it's good for the team,'' said Regehr. "It's also great for the fans. I think they really enjoyed it. I'm sure they were cheering him on.''

Pointing out that the Flames' annual jersey-giveaway night is upcoming, Regehr, cackling, doubted anyone else would try to channel Ned Braden in public.

"He's really set the bar high.''

[ElviswasaBluesFan]

Pretty funny.

he looks like he's had some experience at that.

[Jeffro]

I'm glad Mrs Carr isn't here tonight, because this is a lascivious display!

I love that damn movie.

[Donuts_For_Koharski]

why is this guy important???

Bobby Nystrom's kid and a former top-10 pick, I guess.

[BringBackZezel]

That's awesome. He had to practice it. It's pretty close to the real thing.

[drobny23]

"Some of the players came in and said, 'Did you see what Nystrom did down in Quad Cities?' '' said Robyn Regehr. "We happened to be on a computer, so we pulled it up."

Hmm.

[drobny23]

The crowd is screaming "kill! Kill! Kill! This is hockey!"