Columbus newspaper scraps plan to pass out crying Sidney Crosby masks

Sidney Crosby's reputation as a whiner led to one poorly timed promotion that will never see the light of day.

The Columbus Dispatchhas canceled plans to distribute masks depicting a caricature of the Penguins captain crying with the words "Sid the Kid"writtenin crayon onhis helmet, the newspaper said, citing "inputfrom hockey fans" who pushed back onthe idea.

The insert was set to be included in Sunday's print edition of the Dispatch before Game 3 ofColumbus'first-round playoff series against Pittsburgh.

The Dispatch's Twitter handle unveiled the graphic Friday leading up to theBlue Jackets' 4-1 loss in Game 2, spawning negative reviews on social media. That the team finds itself in atwo-games-to-none hole to begin the series didn't help matters.

"You can get a #SidTheKid mask to wear to Sunday’s #PITvsCBJ game," the paper wrote in a since-deleted tweet.

"We heard the response and we are not going to print it," Dispatch editor Alan Miller said. "We appreciate the input from hockey fans."

The whole ordeal harkens back to a similar playoff promotion gone wrong whenthe Chicago Tribune passed out posters ofFlyers defenseman Chris Pronger as "Chrissy Pronger" during the 2010 Stanley Cup Final series against the Blackhawks. For what it's worth, Chicago came out on top then.