Last night, San Jose Sharks forward Jamie McGinn tried to throw a hit on Ottawa’s Chris Phillips...and missed. Whiffing on the check was embarrassing for McGinn, but having his momentum carry him through the Zamboni door?
Yeah, additionally embarrassing.
Under normal circumstances, I’d put the onus on McGinn here. He tried to throw a big hit, failed, and will probably become a YouTube sensation once someone auto-tunes him (or dubs Yakety Sax into the background.)
But...it turns out this wasn’t an isolated event. Watch:
I get that certain quirks give arenas their charm, like the lively end boards at Joe Louis or drunken headbutts at TD Garden. But the “faulty door that flies open on contact” seems more dangerous than advantageous. Someone should probably fix that thing.
Update: Reader Alix says that’s not actually the Zamboni door and that it’s mislabeled in the video. Makes sense, ‘cause the door is rather small -- I’ve since updated the title and made all the changes because we strive for excellence here at PHT, especially in door identification.
That said, I still think they should fix it.