Leafs' Jiri Tlusty regrets internet pics

Last Updated: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 | 10:53 PM ET

CBC Sports

Toronto Maple Leafs rookie forward Jiri Tlusty issued a statement late Tuesday regretting photographs of him that appeared on the internet.

Tlusty, 19, allegedly took nude photos of himself on his cellphone last season, when he played for the OHL's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

Jiri Tlusty (41) loses his helmet in Tuesday's 4-3 Maple Leafs loss.
(Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

"I used poor judgment in this instance last season and I have learned a valuable lesson," Tlusty said in a statement released following Toronto's 4-3 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

"It will not happen again and I have no further comment."

"It was a mistake," Maple Leafs head coach Paul Maurice said. "He will now answer for this like none of us will."

A Canadian celebrity gossip blog published nude photos last Thursday that were attributed to Tlusty, but they have since been removed from the website and replaced with a letter from a lawyer claiming to represent the player.

The lawyer's identity wasn't disclosed on the site.

"This posting is an invasion of Mr. Tlusty's privacy and places at risk Mr. Tlusty's ability to earn a livelihood with the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club …We demand that you remove these photographs and any links or comments with respect to these photographs from your website immediately," the letter stated.

"He made a naive mistake as a teenager," Maple Leafs general manager John Ferguson Jr. said. "It is a lesson in how something private can easily become very public in the internet age.

"There is a time where you are a young kid where you would like to take things back," Maple Leafs forward Darcy Tucker noted. "It happened and that's life."

Tlusty, drafted 13th overall in 2006, has two goals and three points in nine NHL games since making his debut with Toronto on Oct. 13.