Yesterday, San Jose forward Ryane Clowe had no idea what reporters were talking about when asked about playing the puck from the bench in a key moment during yesterday’s Kings-Sharks game (video).
Today, he confessed to what captain Joe Thornton jokingly called “the play of the year.”
“Obviously, as you can tell when I sat down on the bench, that was stupid, that was a dumb play,” Clowe said, as reported by the Mercury News. “It probably should have been a two-minute penalty and I was lucky it didn’t cost the team. It was definitely a brain cramp at the time. Don’t think it’ll ever happen again.”
Coach Todd McLellan agreed, calling it an “ill-advised move.”
If the officials had seen what Clowe did, he would’ve been assessed a two-minute minor for interference.
Considering the game was tied with less than three minutes left and the Kings were already on the power play, a penalty could’ve easily cost the Sharks a huge game, which San Jose ended up winning in the shootout.
The Sharks had two players back, with another coming fast on the back-check, after Kings forward Jarret Stoll picked up the puck and rushed down the right side of the ice. At the time Clowe reached over the boards and knocked it off Stoll’s stick, Los Angeles was far from guaranteed a scoring chance.
With more, here’s CSNBayArea.com’s story.