During the second period of the St. Olaf – St. Mary’s Men’s hockey game in February, the Oles had the puck in St. Mary’s zone when the game abruptly stopped. A lengthy pause ensued, in which confused spectators who tried to figure out what had occurred. It wasn’t until the goalie, with the assistance of his teammate, skated off the ice that we realized what had happened: his blade had fallen off.
Having working skates is the first prerequisite for playing hockey. That being said, if someone’s faulty skate breaks during the action, what right do they have to demand the game be stopped to fix it? In my opinion, the answer is simple: they have no right — it’s their fault the skate is broken in the first place. This brings me to the newest edition of Gear Corner: if a hockey player’s skate breaks, referees should not stop the game.
If you’ve ever watched a basketball game where a player’s shoe comes off, you know that the game continues. I understand how much more consequential a blade falling off in hockey is compared to a basketball player losing a shoe, but that doesn’t quell my frustration about this lack of uniformity across sports. Equipment malfunctions are natural sporting occurrences, and we should treat them as such. Hitters aren’t out when their bats break; the Tour de France doesn’t stop when a cyclist has a faulty chain; most Formula One crashes don’t even result in races being stopped.
Hockey itself doesn’t even stop when a player’s stick breaks — they just get a new one or change lines. A stick is almost as important as skates for playing hockey, and yet it gets no special treatment when it malfunctions. But we should stop playing hockey because the blade on one skate fell off? Give me a break.
There are certainly safety risks with a faulty blade, but that doesn’t really change my opinion. If there’s one group of athletes who seem so undeterred by physical hardship, it’s probably hockey players. Sure, a loose blade makes the physical demands of skating far more challenging, but do you really think the athletes who punch each other for fun and line up hits five seconds prior care that much about faulty skates? I doubt it. Keep on playing, refs; hockey players can handle it.