Three Wisconsin men's hockey players were mistakenly arrested during a taping of the NBC program ""Dateline"" when their trashy playoff mustaches attracted the attention of police officers on the lookout for pedophiles.
Ben Grotting, Brendan Smith and Blake Geoffrion were headed to practice at the Kohl Center when they passed a house that was being used to tape an episode of the show's ""To Catch a Predator"" series, in which police lure men looking to have sex with underage partners to a home and arrest them. As they passed the home, Madison police officers noticed the trio's ""playoff mustaches,"" which Badger hockey players have been growing this postseason, and assumed they were pedophiles.
Officers arrested Grotting, Smith and Geoffrion before realizing the mistake they made, and apologized in a statement today.
""We are extremely sorry for the pain we have caused these players,"" a spokesperson for the Madison Police Department said. ""But come on, anyone with that kind of mustache is more likely to drive around near playgrounds in a van than play hockey.""
The players said they just wanted to return to practice and prepare for the NCAA playoffs, while head coach Mike Eaves said he was happy to see how they handled themselves.
""Well I think young Mr. Grotting and young Mr. Smith and young Mr. Geoffrion learned a valuable lesson yesterday,"" Eaves said. ""We always talk about not being arrested for attempting a lewd act on a minor as one of our intermediate goals, and they accomplished that.""
This is the third time the team's playoff mustaches have led to confusion. Earlier this week John Mitchell was mistakenly identified as a 1970s porn star during a visit to the Outer Limits strip club, while Scott Gudmandson's Fu Manchu led to him competing in a karate death match tournament on a secret, exotic island.
[NO, UW HOCKEY PLAYERS WEREN'T ARRESTED ON PEDOPHILIA CHARGES. IT'S APRIL FOOLS DAY]
