Justin Veltung can go horizontal, but that's not his best thing. (AP)

The news release from the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday, announcing the signing of undrafted free agent receiver Justin Veltung, was about as vanilla as you're going to get:

The Seattle Seahawks have signed wide receiver Justin Veltung, the team announced today.

Veltung, from nearby Puyallup, played 43 career games at the University of Idaho and collected 62 receptions for 901 yards with eight touchdowns and returned 80 kickoffs for 1,743 yards with two touchdowns in his career. He left Idaho as its all-time kickoff return leader (78) and kickoff return yardage leader (1,743), and 11th on its all-time all-purpose yardage list with 2,972 yards.

Veltung attended Seattle's rookie minicamp on a tryout basis from May 10-12.

So ... yeah. That's not why Veltung made Shutdown Corner today. He made Shutdown Corner today because he can rock a 56-inch (4-foot-8) standing box jump at 5-foot-11. To put that in perspective, NBA draft prospect DJ Stephens recently got a lot of attention for a 46-inch vertical leap while working out for the Brooklyn Nets.

You can view Veltung's super-jump below:

(@BiertempfelTrib)

Brandon Inge arrived in the Pittsburgh Pirates clubhouse on Thursday on roller blades, wearing a Mario Lemieux jersey, a hockey helmet and big, thick pads on his legs.

No, he didn't wake up with sports amnesia and think he was a hockey player. He decided to dress like one to support the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are currently playing in the NHL Playoffs and hope to, on Friday, close out a best-of-seven series with the Ottawa Senators. The Penguins — led on the ice these days by Sidney Crosby rather than Lemieux, who is the owner — are ahead of the Senators 3-1.

The Pirates beat the Cubs 4-2 on Thursday and had planned to wear Penguins jerseys when they traveled to Milwaukee after the game. Inge, apparently, wanted to take things a bit further.

He explained himself to USA Today:

In the immediate aftermath of Wednesday night's bonkers Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers, discussion has focused on the failings of Pacers head coach for not having center Roy Hibbert in the game to protect the rim on LeBron James's game-winning, buzzer-beating lay-up. Analysis has covered how LeBron was able to finish so easily, various alternate realities in which Vogel did put Hibbert on the floor, and the Pacers' own reaction to the situation. Even those who have provided some explanation of Vogel's decision-making process — or at least argued that he was choosing between a bunch of insufficient options — have discussed the issue in terms of how Indiana was to contend with the Heat in this scenario.

This approach makes a great deal of sense, because Hibbert is one of the NBA's top defenders and just recently stonewalled Carmelo Anthony on a dunk attempt. Yet, while digging into the Pacers' side of the play is eminently reasonable, it also ignores the most readily apparent fact of the game-winner, which is that LeBron James did something really incredible.

Thankfully, we have the NBA's Phantom Cam to help us focus on LeBron's exploits. The clip is bereft of context — it's entirely LeBron making his move. The lack of perspective communicates the visceral experience: James catches, turns, dribbles, explodes, and finishes. No Pacers can stop him, because he is a unique basketball force.

(Ed. Note: We're proud to welcome back two of our favorite bloggers, Chuck and Pants from What's Up, Ya Sieve?, to the Puck Daddy fold as they author our weekly NHL Playoff Beard Watch every Thursday.)

By Chuck and Pants from What's Up, Ya Sieve?

Never in considering playoff beards or writing this informative and newsworthy weekly feature did we expect to find that so many people share our affinity for ginger beards. You’re all into hockey, that’s enough to make us friends. This common captivation with facial hair takes our relationship to the next level.

Since we’ve made ginger beards a thing, it’s time to give them their due. Last week, we mentioned Daniel Alfredsson and Brian Bickell’s impressive contributions. Here are the rest of The Best 2013 Ginger Beards, from rusty to rosy and everything in between.

Dougie Hamilton, Boston Bruins - GBR (Ginger Beard Rookie)

Getty ImagesSure, Dougie is a rookie, and he looks a bit like Beaker from “The Muppet Show,” but his ginger beard is not to be

In 1989, baseball scout Epy Guerrero was profiled in People magazine. Yep, the same People magazine that does the "Sexiest Man Alive" lists and keeps the world up to date on Angelina Jolie. That should tell you that Epy Guerrero wasn't just any ol' baseball scout. People's 1,900-word feature story sums him up perfectly in the third paragraph:

They say now that Epifanio "Epy" Guerrero has "the eyes"—that he can see the future major leaguer in a young ballplayer the way the visionary poet claimed to see a world in a grain of sand.

Guerrero, whose claim to baseball immortality was opening a baseball pipeline to the Dominican Republic, died Thursday at age 71. He opened the Dominican Republic's first baseball academy in 1973 and worked as a scout for the Houston Astros, New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays. In Toronto, specifically, he was revered for bringing the Jays stars such as Tony Fernandez, Carlos Delgado and George Bell.

It is believed, according to Jose de Jesus Ortiz of Ultimate Astros, that Guerrero signed more amateur players who reached the majors than any other scout. Among them: Cesar Cedeño, Kelvim Escobar, Alcides Escobar, Alfredo Griffin, José Mesa and José Uribe.

Blue Jays blog Bluebird Banter relays just how important Guerrero was:

Can't figure out what's more jaw-dropping: Isaiah Bailey's cuff dunk or the fact he shoved his teammate off the ball to break free for the aforementioned cuff dunk (h/t L.A. Times).

Playing for the Compton Magic Elite at this past weekend's 2013 Pangos Spring Sweet Sixteen at Cabrillo (Long Beach, Calif.) High, the four-star Class of 2014 recruit tossed a teammate into the front row in order to secure a fast break. And secure it, he did.

Bailey cuffed the ball on his right wrist and threw down a ferocious one-handed dunk over a hustling defender who probably would have been wise to avoid posterization.

Regardless of how he completed the dunk, the event is a big deal, and so is Bailey. LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Paul Pierce, John Wall and the biggest name in NBA circles this week, Jason Collins, are just a handful of players who have participated in the event.

As for Bailey, the 6-foot-5, 170-pound junior small forward captured Second Team All-Area honors from Long Beach's Press-Telegram this past winter after leading Compton (Calif.) High to a berth in the CIF Division III state tournament. Ranked No. 89 in his class nationally on the Rivals 150, he already owns a handful of Division I offers.

SASKATOON, Sask. — Then there will be three. The London Knights and Saskatoon Blades face off in the first elimination game of the MasterCard Memorial Cup.

The Knights, in what could be the be the final game for long-time fixtures such as captain Scott Harrington and Seth Griffith, will start goalie Jake Patterson as they try to regroup from a 9-2 loss to Halifax earlier in the week. The host Blades are trying to take the first step as they bid to beat all three league champions to win the tournament.

Please join the Buzzing The Net crew of Cam Charron, Terry Doyle, Kelly Friesen, Steve McAllister Sunaya Sapurji, Neate Sager, Scott Sepich and a cast of many at 8 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. Saskatchewan time when the action gets underway.

Turns out Stephane Roy knew what he was talking about after all. Two days after telling the Denver Post that his brother, Patrick Roy would be the next head coach of the Colorado Avalanche -- and then back-pedaling when someone told him brothers are supposed to give noogies and share Oreos, not break major personnel decisions -- the Avalanche have officially announced the move.

Patrick Roy is the next head coach of the Colorado Avalanche.

But that's not all! He's also been named a vice president of hockey operations, just like Joe Sakic! They'll be leading the hockey team together! (Also Greg Sherman will be there, hanging around, occasionally saying things, apparently.)

From the Avalanche press release, which is 625 words long, and none of those words are "Greg" or "Sherman", which seems unusual:

“This is a very exciting day for our fans and a significant moment in our organization’s history,” said Avalanche President Josh Kroenke. “Patrick’s passion for the game of hockey both as a player and as a coach defines who he is as a person. He is a winner and is coming back to Denver where he created numerous special moments on and off the ice while helping lead us to two Stanley Cup championships.”

“All along Patrick was our top candidate and we are thrilled that he has decided to accept this offer,” said Sakic. “Patrick has a great hockey mind, is a tremendous coach and there is no one more passionate about this game. He will bring that winning attitude to our dressing room to help this young team grow.”

“This is an unbelievable day for me,” said Roy. “It’s a new and exciting challenge that I am really looking forward to. I would like to thank Stan and Josh Kroenke for this opportunity as well as Joe Sakic for the trust they are putting in me. Almost 10 years to the day that I announced my retirement as a player I am back in Denver and hope the fans are as excited as I am.”

The jury's still out on whether Sakic and Roy can do what they did for the Avalanche a decade ago from the front office. There's a nostalgia element that's very cool, but may not necessarily turn the franchise around. That said, it would be tough for the Avalanche to take a step backwards, and Roy's junior resume speaks for itself. This isn't a hire based on what he did during his days as a player. It's based on what he's done since.

Plus, if it's a personality transplant the Avalanche needed, and they did, boy oh boy, did they just get one.