I wrote an essay last summer that deserved a Peabody. It was titled Jonathan Quick Tweets Pics of Rabbit Giving Birth in his Backyard. The photo post was about a humble goaltender — a few weeks removed from winning the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe– observing the circle of life through the window of his LA home, live-tweeting all the while.

On Monday, I came across an even better NHL nature story on Tumblr (thanks to elqiao) with a less gnarly ending. Nashville Predators defenseman Hal Gill saved the life of an owl. Here is part 2 in the new RMNB series, NHL Players and Nature.

“Owl” Gill

On January 10th, a few days before training camp officially opened for all NHL teams, Hal Gill was returning to his Nashville home when he came across a Great Horned Owl that had been struck by a car. It appeared to be dead in the middle of the road. At 11:11 PM, Gill (@Skillsy75) tweeted this photo to his 59,000 followers.

I’m a fan of the hashtags.

Friend and Toronto Maple Leaf James van Riemsdyk responded to Gill’s tweet with a video.

Gill loaded the injured owl into his car and drove it to Walden’s Puddle, a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center just outside of the city.

Over the course of the next two weeks, Gill tweeted the facility and got updates on the condition of the owl.

Un-Fatality! Awww.

Gill’s unselfish deed will now replace my other memory of him: getting demolished by Alex Ovechkin after he injured Sergei Fedorov.

Here’s hoping the owl has some owl babies!

Photo credit: Michael Miller

[Ed. note: In the run-up to the trade deadline, RMNB will be publishing trade stories-- including non-Caps news.]

According to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun, Hal Gill has been traded from the Montreal Canadiens to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Blake Geoffrion, Robert Slaney, and a 2012 2nd round pick.

Hal Gill has a cap hit of $2,250,000 and will be expected to provide veteran defense for a Nashville team that may be in danger of losing either one or both of their star defensive pairing of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter over the next few months. Blake Geoffrion has a cap hit of $1,062,500 and has yet to score in 22 games with the Predators this season, though he did contribute 6 goals in 20 games last season and will likely be expected to chip in some offense on a Montreal squad that often struggles with this. Slaney is a 23-year-old left wing with no pro experience thus far.

Hal Gill isn’t especially known for his speed or mobility — look for terms like “parking meter” and “pylon” on his bingo card — but he’s an excellent penalty killer and a very good defensive mentor. Nashville’s scary defense just got a little bit scarier.