In case you missed it overnight, Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Dan Ellis shut down his Twitter account, saying he did not want to be a distraction to his team. That after a previous apology for offending anyone.

Ellis, whose seeming innocent comments about money issues as they pertain to the collective bargaining agreement and what some apparently believed were insensitive remarks about feeling insecure financially despite his two-year, $3 million contract, took on a life of their own in the blog, Twitter and Internet world.

See the previous post on this blog for a rundown of what transpired

Anyway, late Wednesday night Ellis wrote:

"Twitter was a great way to see inside the life of athletes outside of public media. But this is even too much for me...I feel bad for the sincere followers/fans who just wanted a glimpse of things from the inside. But with the recent explosion...I am shutting down my twitter because in no way shape or form do I want this to disrupt my team....I deeply care for my teammates and faithful followers. This has all been misconstrued to no end and ppl's feelings are getting hurt...There was never any intention in my tweets to undermine ppl who are in different income brackets. I donate 10% of my salary each year to...Help under privileged kids across the world. as long as I play in the NHL my pledge will remain the same to the Garth Brooks Foundation...I deeply care for the less fortunate and make many efforts to be of even marginal help. I wish you all a happy twitter experience and...Hope you do not allow this misunderstanding to form the basis of your opinion of me. I welcome any of you to meet me in person to chat...But no longer will I xpress things through this medium. Thx again to all the good ppl I have met on twitter. I wish you all the very best...Peace out twitter!"