Thursday's PM Hot Clicks: Elle Macpherson; Calgary's ugly sweaters

Stick to Hockey, Markus Granlund

It’s probably unfair to expect professional hockey players to be professional-level actors, so we’ll cut Flames center Markus Granlund a little slack. Let’s still laugh at him, though.

Canada's Most Wanted

The BBC has a wild story about a couple of grandparents in Canada who regularly commit crimes that could lock them in jail or force them to pay $500,000 in fines. Their offense? Smuggling maple syrup across provincial lines. AngeleGrenier produce syrup on their farm in Quebec, but they have to hand most of it over to a governmental agency. What little bit they do sell on their own is taxed heavily. The solution is to load barrels of syrup onto a truck bound for New Brunswick and hope they don’t get caught.

A Silver Lining After Floods Ravage Northwest England

Severe flooding in northwestern England has caused upwards of £500 million in damage, ruining thousands of homes. The floods also covered the field at the home stadium of fourth-tier soccer club Carlisle United, where a groundskeeper draining the pitch found three koi fish swimming around near one of the goals.

Unbelievable - found by Dave Mitchell yesterday afternoon - three Koi Carp in the Waterworks End goal mouth #cufc pic.twitter.com/YO5TshUGrX
— Carlisle United FC (@officialcufc) December 10, 2015

The good news is they were returned to their owner after he saw the picture online.

More unbelievable news: Mark Chandler from Warwick Road spotted his fish on social media & has been to rescue them! pic.twitter.com/UUr4SRdFyo
— Carlisle United FC (@officialcufc) December 10, 2015

Throwback Lovely Lady of the Day

Did you know Elle Macpherson’s real name is Eleanor Nancy Gow? (Click here for the full-size gallery.)

Le Meilleur Naguer du Monde

Tim Layden’s excellent cover story on Michael Phelps from last month has now been translated into French and featured in L’Équipe.

Hey! A byline in L'Equipe. (Translation of @SInow cover story on Michael Phelps, also their current cover) pic.twitter.com/MMjDgyj67s
— Tim Layden (@ByTimLayden) December 10, 2015

A Bad Take

NCAA's Oliver Luck on why there's an open market for coaches pay and not athletes: Coaches are adults.
— Michael Casagrande (@ByCasagrande) December 10, 2015

Odds & Ends

Cardinals-Vikings is actually a good matchup, but we have a drinking game just to be safe. ... Neymar has a really big tattoo now. ... Amy Poehler shared a fun story on Fallon about her two sons. ... If you’re not following the sex tape blackmail scandal currently rocking the French national soccer team, you’re really missing out. ... The bad guy in the new Star Wars has a hard time going out in public. ... An under-rated aspect of DeAndre Jordan’s violent dunk Wednesday night was how horrified the Bucks’ mascot was. ... The SEC got caught using Photoshop to scrub out Derrick Henry’s tattoos.

A Silly Dog

Now That's How You Warm Up For a Game

Click here for previous versions of Hot Clicks, and visit our Extra Mustard Page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories, the latest Cheerleader of the Week gallery and the 2015 Cheerleader of the Week Archives. Also check out the SwimDaily Page for the latest updates and Instagram pictures of models who have appeared in our issues.