11/05/24
January 05, 2007
I'll just ice this one and... oooaugh!: Patrik Stefan of the Dallas Stars was on a breakaway towards an open net in the absolute dying moments of a game with his team up by one... only the puck took a bad hop... and he missed the net... and the puck went back up the ice... and the Oilers tied the game with only two seconds left in one of the craziest endings* to a hockey game you will ever see. *of course, the game didn't end there but went into OT and a shootout wherein Stefan's teammates bailed him out and got the win.
"And Stefan must score" The NHL's youtube clip of the game is sure to not get pulled but you'd have to go to the 3:20 mark to see the play. In footie terms, that would have been called a sitter.
posted by gspm at 11:57 AM on January 05, 2007
Well, to be fair, it wasn't entirtely his fault. Even if he'd been all intently paying attention, the puck would have still hopped his stick. But it'll be a while before he lives this down. At least they still got two points out of it, even if they gave Edmonton one back.
posted by chicobangs at 11:58 AM on January 05, 2007
It was bad luck... though he could have scored without taking the puck all the way in... but he did say he took it all the way in because he was worried about the bad ice. But.... I don't think he helped matters by poking the puck back up ice after he went behind the goal line. Highly amusing.
posted by gspm at 12:01 PM on January 05, 2007
Top marks to Oiler #16 (Stoll?) for being there to follow up on Stefan's whiff. Many players wouldn't have bothered to chase that down.
posted by Amateur at 12:04 PM on January 05, 2007
I guess that quells any disputes about who's got "the best" ice in the NHL, hey? Oiler home ice, baby!!!
posted by Spitztengle at 12:26 PM on January 05, 2007
In all my hockey-loving years, I've never seen anything like that. Ri-goddamn-diculous. Is Patrick Stefan actually trying to usurp the title of "worst 1st overall pick" from Alexandre Daigle? Don't talk to me about bad luck and bad ice - that was simply a blown play by a guy who regularly blows plays. Other question: What the hell was he doing on the ice? He's not the guy I'd send out there with less than a minute to go on the road in a one-goal game. Still - I have to thank him for the laughs.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 01:10 PM on January 05, 2007
Ray Ferraro is a huge ass, and I'm sure he never had a puck hop off his stick. Stefan is simply skating in to tuck it away when I assume the puck hit one of the small piles of ice shavings in the crease and took a funny bounce. It would have been much stupider (and more of a showboating move) to wind up and shoot from 40 feet out and then fire it wide of or over the net. An unfortunate break, but Ferraro needs to grab a Ritalin and calm the fuck down.
posted by wfrazerjr at 01:17 PM on January 05, 2007
In all my hockey-loving years, I've never seen anything like that. Ri-goddamn-diculous. This happened to my best friend when he was 16 years old. I fed him the puck and he blew by the last defenceman. He skated right to the edge of the crease and shot the puck. It bounced just before he made contact, and his shot cleared the net. Thankfully, the opposition didn't come back and score, but he NEVER lived it down. In fact, I sent him an email this morning asking him if he'd seen it. His response was quite profane.
posted by grum@work at 01:21 PM on January 05, 2007
Ironically, Stefan was supposedly having his best game yet for Dallas.
posted by garfield at 01:30 PM on January 05, 2007
Patrik Stefan may not be the greatest #1 pick ever, but you can pencil him in for 15-20 goals and 40 or so points a year, which is fine. Cut him some slack. The Stars are a decent team, and he'll be able to laugh about this eventually.
posted by chicobangs at 01:31 PM on January 05, 2007
Patrik Stefan is no good, but it's mostly dumb luck here. Ferraro is indeed an ass. But the whole thing makes for great TV. Hemsky can score, when he wants to.
posted by qbert72 at 02:14 PM on January 05, 2007
Those YouTube highlights are great. What a game. I love the little dance Roloson does after the Hagman goal.
posted by BullpenPro at 02:20 PM on January 05, 2007
I'm with Chico.I heard the game on radio last night and the Stars commentator admitted it was unbelievable.The Oilers announcer was just slightly over the top. Of course Dallas won the game in a shootout.
posted by sickleguy at 02:28 PM on January 05, 2007
I was watching that game on Centre Ice and saw the play live. This guy should have shot the dang puck into the net instead of trying to nurse it in. Hey, No excuse but the rest of the Stars were hanging by the bench waiting to celebrate a come from behind victory instead of playing until the Horn Blows, No excuse for that either. It was a great game to watch and seeing this play live was icing on the cake. Zubov and Jokinen are MONEY in a shoot-out. Unbelievable........... Stefan well like I said No Excuse is good enough to explain that miss.
posted by skydivedad at 03:12 PM on January 05, 2007
Cut him some slack. The Stars are a decent team, and he'll be able to laugh about this eventually. Nope, Weedy called for his head. Too late. The vox and the populi demand blood.
posted by yerfatma at 03:40 PM on January 05, 2007
Saw part of a post-game interview afterwards, and Stefan expressed thanks that his teammates bailed him out in overtime and shootout so that he could "laugh about it now." I hope he can continue to laugh about it because I imagine he is going to get razzed for a long time for this play.
posted by graymatters at 03:59 PM on January 05, 2007
The most amazing part of the whole thing is that Stefan's miscue with the puck was not the worst foible by the Stars. The fact that NONE of the other Dallas players had a chance to stop Hemsky on the break-away is more of a disgrace. Stoll sent the puck back up ice after Stefan slipped and the only Dallas defenseman aware that the game was still going on followed the puck into the corner. When the Edmonton player centered it to Hemsky, he was alone with only the goalie to beat. At worst, Stefan's foible should have led to Dallas slowing down the puck as it crossed center ice, forcing Edmonton to resort to a last-second shot from beyond the blue line. Ray Ferraro is a little ball of hate, but on that call, he was just all wrong. Stefan was a victim of bad ice. The rest of the Stars players share as much if not more blame for that goal.
posted by Cameron Frye at 05:18 PM on January 05, 2007
Wow that announcing was way too critical of the poor guy. I'm all for calling out a player when he messes up (something announcers generally do too little of, I think -- even worse for referees), but this was just embarrassing for his so many years at the professional level. And though I agree that ideally you should never let your guard down until it's over, it's safe to say that what happened was a very rare occurrence and it doesn't surprise me that they were so unaware. Though when the boos very quickly change to cheers, I'd think it wise to wake up.
posted by PublicUrinal at 05:46 PM on January 05, 2007
No matter how you slice it the Oilers are the better team, so it's actually fitting that they won. Dallas might be an ok team, but all in all the Oilers are much better.
posted by DuxxGirl at 05:55 PM on January 05, 2007
No matter how you slice it the Oilers are the better team, so it's actually fitting that they won. I hate it when the scoreboard lies. All along I thought Dallas won it in shootout.
posted by PublicUrinal at 06:23 PM on January 05, 2007
Hi DuxxGirl. Welcome to SportsFilter. You might be interested in glancing over the site guidelines, especially the fifth bullet point.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 08:15 PM on January 05, 2007
This was a bizarre game. I was watching it off and on while switching to other things and I tuned out after it was 4-1 EDM in the third -- only to check back a few minutes later to see that it was 5-4 DAL. Unfortunately, I missed this play, but no doubt it was all over the TV the next day. Crazy. Craziest finish since that OTT BUF game in last year's playoffs. (EDM had another crazy finish game last season against PHX, when they scored right off a face-off taken with 3 seconds left... just after a timeout was taken... by the other team... after the goalie smothered a puck shot in from beyond the red line (if he left it, the time would have ran out). That goal tied the game and EDM later won it in OT. Gretzky called it "the worst loss of his career". It was hilarious.)
posted by mkn at 10:51 PM on January 05, 2007
Is Patrick Stefan actually trying to usurp the title of "worst 1st overall pick" from Alexandre Daigle? Don't talk to me about bad luck and bad ice - that was simply a blown play by a guy who regularly blows plays. Part of the problem is he's been plagued by injuries. Seemingly his entire carrear, he had some kind of injury sidelining him for at least part of the season- especially concussions. Ray Ferraro is a huge ass They also played on the same team down in Atlanta. May have had something to do with his assness? Other question: What the hell was he doing on the ice? He's not the guy I'd send out there with less than a minute to go on the road in a one-goal game. While his scoring prowess for center is not that of a #1 pick, his D is.
posted by jmd82 at 11:11 AM on January 06, 2007
I was watching this game. I had just started celebrating in front of the TV when Stefan screwed up the easiest goal of his life. When Hemsky scored I was thinking about going to the local Naval Air Station to borrow an F-18 so I could send Stefan down, with prejudice. Luckily what followed was the 5 minute OT that went the full 5 at full speed without any stoppage. That gave me time to rethink the act while waiting for Zubov to redeem himself from Wednesday Night in Vancouver.
posted by wljranch at 03:44 PM on January 06, 2007
When Hemsky scored I was thinking about going to the local Naval Air Station to borrow an F-18 so I could send Stefan down, with prejudice. In the early lead for the SportsFilter 2007 "Someone Needs To Relax A Bit" award ...
posted by wfrazerjr at 04:42 PM on January 06, 2007
I don't know. If I were a die hard Stars fan and saw Stefan miss an empty net goal, coupled with a game tying goal by Hemsky with two seconds left it might drive me off the deep end.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 07:21 PM on January 06, 2007
Cue Nelson Muntz.