Video: Marshawn Lynch Jokes Around During Hockey Training with Akim Aliu

Former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch spent time Wednesday working on his hockey skills with NHL free-agent forward Akim Aliu.  

Lynch, who donned a Colorado Avalanche practice jersey, didn't look quite as comfortable on skates as he did while rushing for over 10,400 years during his 12-year football career:

The five-time Pro Bowler has struck up a friendship with Aliu, a Nigeria native who co-founded the Hockey Diversity Alliance to address systemic racism within hockey.

"Dreamer X [and] Beastmode kickin' it and watchin' some football," Aliu wrote Sunday on Instagram amid the NFL playoffs. "Hope y'all have a safe MLK weekend.!"

The HDA and the NHL are both working to create grassroots programs in cities with the hope of making the sport of hockey more accessible to underrepresented communities.

"Being realistic, there's things that we can't do without the NHL, and there's things the NHL can't do without us," Aliu told Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated on Tuesday about the efforts. "Us being in a quarrel is not positive for either side."

Lynch may not be an NHL star in the making, but maybe some more on-ice work with Aliu will put him on track to make some beer-league appearances in the future.