Report: Claude Giroux punches Crosby in Team Canada practice.

The National Hockey League features some pretty heated rivalries and perhaps none of them is as fierce as the one shared between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Despite that heated rivalry it appears that the stars of each team respectively, Claude Giroux and Sidney Crosby, have well and truly put their differences aside for this tournament and there may even be some level of comradery growing between the two normally bitter rivals. ESPN's Pierre Lebrun has in fact reported that Giroux even went so far as to throw a punch at Crosby today in jest, a gesture that was received with a smile from Crosby.

From Lebrun:

Claude Giroux playfully punched Sidney Crosby on the shoulder between drills Tuesday, producing a smile from the Team Canada captain.

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It's something that for fans of both franchises may be bordering on something near sacrilege, but for Crosby and Giroux is appears that the mutual goal of representing their country well is far more important than any individual bitterness.

"It's pretty easy," Crosby said as per Lebrun. "That's just the nature of competing and playing against one another. As soon as you put on that jersey, you're on the same team and you're all trying to accomplish the same thing. It's pretty easy. We played world championships last year and had a great experience there. He's a great player so, yeah, it's fun to play with him."

It's crazy to think that these are two guys who had some much hatred brewing between the two of them they actually dropped the gloves, a rare thing for both men, but it's great to see if you're rooting for Canada at the World Cup.