National Hockey League

Report: Oilers' Brule gives Bono a ride

Published Jun. 2, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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It was a beautiful day for one NHL player when he picked up an unusual passenger: an Irish rock star.

Gilbert Brule of the Edmonton Oilers was in Vancouver Tuesday when he and his girlfriend drove by U2's Bono standing on the side of the road.

"I didn't want to stop, but they waved and (Gilbert) yelled 'that's Bono'," Brule's girlfriend Kelsey Nichols told the Edmonton Journal. "I didn’t believe him so I kept driving."

Luckily, Brule finally convinced his girlfriend to turn around and pick up the rock star and his assistant, who were caught in the rain while they were out for a walk in Vancouver.

Bono and his assistant took refuge in the couple's backseat along with their dog, according to the Journal, and the group spent the drive talking about Brule's hockey career, Bono's hometown of Dublin and his love for Vancouver.

In exchange for coming to his aid, Bono told Brule and Nichols that U2 would be playing in Edmonton and invited them to see the show.

So Brule sold their tickets for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals in Vancouver and bought plane tickets for him, his girlfriend, and his mom for Edmonton.

In addition to the concert tickets, Bono also gave the NHL player backstage passes for the show. He signed Brule's pass with the words, "My hero Gilbert," and added "Thanks for the ride," to Nichols' pass, the Journal said.

And if that wasn't enough, the Irish singer even called Brule out by name from the stage during the show.

"I like ice hockey because people who play ice hockey are the kind of people who pick up hitchhikers," Bono told the crowd.

"Kelsey, his girlfriend, she was driving, and Gilbert, they picked up this Irish hitchhiker and I'm ever so grateful, I've decided that now I want to be Gilbert Brule. I do."

He then went on to rename the rest of the band after Oilers superstars with drummer Larry Mullen Jr. as Mark Messier, bassist Adam Clayton as Grant Fuhr and guitarist The Edge as Wayne Gretzky. (Watch his speech here.)

As for Brule, he told the Edmonton Journal it was all a bit strange for him.

“We go to walk our dog and Bono ends up in our car,” Brule said.

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