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Toronto – Rookie Toronto Maple Leaf forward Jiri Tlusty has just been pushed in to the spotlight.

Tlusty is likely feeling an incredible amount of regret after a nude picture of the 19-year-old rookie turned up on the internet.

The nude photo, which shows the young hockey player standing in front of a mirror holding nothing but a camera phone, was taken last year after a women on Myspace dared him to take off his boxers.

Tlusty says he made a bad decision.

“I used poor judgment in this instance last season and I have learned a valuable lesson,” Tlusty said in a statement released by the Leafs following Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime loss to Montreal. “It will not happen again and I have no further comment.”

The front office for the Toronto Maple Leafs agree, it was a mistake.

“Photographs were posted recently on the Internet without Jiri’s knowledge or consent,” said Leafs general manager John Ferguson in a statement. “He made a naive mistake as a teenager. It’s a lesson in how something private can easily become very public in the Internet age. Hopefully it’s a lesson that other people will learn from as well.”