Like an offstage comedian who clams up when asked for a joke on command – “Make me laugh, funnyman!” – Dallas Stars centre Vernon Fiddler declined to give the Vancouver media his now-infamous impression of Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa on Tuesday.
In the Feb. 26 meeting between the Stars and Canucks in Dallas, Fiddler skated by the Canucks bench and cracked up opposing head coach Alain Vigneault with his grumpy-faced impression of Bieksa.
“He’s not the first guy to do it, unfortunately,” Bieksa told After Hours jokingly on Saturday. “There’s a couple of other Muppets around the league that have been trying to do it. I’m sure he’s not the last guy after this.
“He’s an ugly guy to start out with, and then he’s doing that face on top of that,” Bieksa said of Fiddler. “He’s not doing himself any favours.”
Although Fiddler made no apologies for the goofy impersonation, there was no encore performance Tuesday night during the Stars’ 5-2 defeat of the home team.
“It’s part of the game. Obviously, it hurt the caveman’s feelings a little, and he was talking about it, but it’s the game within the game,” Fiddler told the pre-game scrum, who were eager to see a repeat performance. “Yeah, most people (want to see it again). Their bench got quite a kick out of it, which says what kind of guy he is.”
