Drake Gets Puck'd Up In Canada, "This Is One Of The Greatest Honors I've Ever Received"

Young Money star Drake took some time away from the recording studio this past weekend by performing at the annual NHL All-Star Game in Canada.

Decked in a hockey jersey, Drizzy told fans how special it was for him to perform.

Drake wore his Canadian pride on his sleeve while attending the 2012 NHL All-Star Game at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Canada, on Sunday (Jan. 29). Sporting a custom NHL jersey with his name on it, the Toronto native took the ice to perform his hit "Headlines." "If you're proud to be Canadian tonight, I want to hear you make some noise one time. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Drake, I grew up on the sport that we are here celebrating this evening, and this is one of the greatest honors I've ever received," said the hip-hop star, who also visited the players in the locker room. "I grew up playing hockey. I used to play right wing," said a gracious Drizzy as he shook hands and took photos with the all-stars, who were equally excited to meet him. (Rap-Up)

NHL stars also gave their reaction to having Drizzy come through.

"I think I was the first one to go on the ice on our side. I'm a huge Drake fan, I love his music. I'm a big hip-hop guy. It was great to be that close and watching him," said Keith Yandle of the Phoenix Coyotes. "I actually asked him to sign a stick. He said it was the first hockey stick he has signed. It was pretty cool." For the players in attendance, Drake's performance was a welcome change of pace compared to the regular season. For players used to discussing strategy with their coaching staff between periods, it was nice to spend the intermission enjoying a performance from a platinum-selling artist. (NHL)

He later hopped on Twitter to give thanks for the celebrated occasion.

"Thanks to everybody at NHL for an amazing night! All the players that showed love and all the fans! I got Gino's game stick!!!!!," he tweeted January 29th. (Drake's Twitter)

Last fall, EA Sports producer Sean Ramjagsingh talked to SOHH about the popularity of video game NHL 12.

"First and foremost, we have some hardcore hockey fans that we have to cater to," Sean told SOHH. "They will appreciate all of the little things that we do. Those guys will appreciate every little improvement that we put into the game. But we also want to try and grow the sport of hockey as well. We want to not only cater to hockey fans but to sports fans as well. That's why we have things in the game like the Winter Classic. If there's people out there who don't watch hockey every single night, that's OK. The one game that they might watch is the Winter Classic. It's just a beautiful spectacle with players playing outside. As often as we can, we try to appeal to all the sports fans out there, especially with the non-hockey fans and trying to expose the sport to them." (SOHH)