Oh, Lupul.

I will admit, the first time I checked out San Jose Shark Mark Smith's band The Vinyl Trees it was more because I had a decided love of his cute teal hair (it matched mine!) than because I believed in his musical prowess. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they're actually rather fun - which led to clicking on an article about them playing recently at the Blue Beet Cafe in Newport Beach. Never did I expect it to be so hilarious (emphases are mine).

"In his black T-shirt and jeans, the lead singer of the Vinyl Trees was barely recognizable as a hockey player. Two of his friends — Dustin Penner of the Anaheim Ducks and Joffrey Lupul of the Philadelphia Flyers — blended with the crowd in plain clothes. The Blue Beet was populated Thursday night with superstar athletes, but the night was about camaraderie, not competition.
...

Thursday night, the Stanley Cup was on display in Canada, and Penner and his friends left their seasonal rivalries behind them. McKaig, who knows a number of hockey players through his job, invited the Vinyl Trees to play a set — along with Lupul's band, which had to bow out when the Flyers star came down with a sore throat."

I can't decide which has me rolling the worst. "Lupul's band" (Seriously are you kidding me? Someone with great myspace-fu needs to get on this RIGHT now. Finny, did you know? And if so, why was I not informed!?), "sore throat" (Elly and I have decided that since he probably currently knows one person out in Philadelphia, 'sore throat' is more likely a coverup for 'Gator has disabled most of my motor functions'.) or, and this is what I do believe is winning right now, "Flyers star." FLYERS STAR! STAR!

I hope he fills those big shoes every bit as well as he did the ones set out for him last season.