Thursday, February 13, 2014

?????- Penalties I Don't Get, belated

In November Gavi and I attended the Leafs/Islanders hockey game. Gavi had been given tickets as a bar mitzvah gift, and knowing our fandom, it could be no game other than the Isles.

At first Sean, who once referred to the puck drop at center field, suggested that since I'd already accompanied the boys to a few games it was his turn. He was kidding, of course, but it didn't matter. There was no way I was letting Isles tickets out of my grasp.

Gavi and I suited up in our Islanders gear and headed down to the ACC. Surprisingly we saw other Isles fans on the subway. Toronto has so many transplants, that we weren't alone in our orange and blue.

It was an interesting evening. About 30 seconds in the Leafs scored.  This did not bode well for the night, and, yes, the Isles did lose. They played a great skating game, out-shooting the Leafs significantly, 37-24.  However, Bernier was really amazing, and the Isles defense exceptionally poor.

Three things surprised me that night. One was an amazing penalty against the Isles totally missed by the refs. An Islander player was down on the ice, and as he kneeled to get up, a Leafs player skated by and pushed him back down to the ice by placing his hand on the downed-player's back and shoving.  This was almost immediately followed by the second amazing thing. The ref called a penalty against the Islanders of "shooting a stick." I have never seen this penalty called. If a player throws his stick towards the puck to interfere with play, it is a penalty. In this case, another player's stick was actually kicked towards the puck, and looked accidental.  The call was so ridiculous that all those seated around us were equally confused by the call.

But the most surprising moment came after the game. I was waiting outside the men's room for Gavi, and ended up standing with a woman in her mid 20's. Turns out this was her first professional hockey game ever, even though she'd grown up in Toronto. We had a very nice discussion. At the end she said, "Sorry your team lost." Reasonable trash talk, even among fans, is part of the game. I'd have expected no comment or a friendly rival's jab, but this honest caring for my disappointment was a lovely way to end the evening. I hope she goes to a lot more games, and speaks to a lot more people.

Gavi and I eventually headed home, talking about the frustrating penalties and the 22-second goal, until he started falling asleep on my shoulder. A perfect night with my son.

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