A wild scene unfolded on Saturday night when the Steinbach Pistons and Portage Terriers faced off at Stride Place. The first meeting of the two teams saw Portage pull out a close 4-2 victory in the game, but also saw something Terriers fans haven't seen in some time.
Late in the second period, while on the powerplay, the Steinbach Piston's Captain, Noah Szabo, found himself wide open for a shot from near the offensive zone faceoff circles. Szabo wound up and fired a one-timer just over top of the net, into a pane of plexiglass behind the Terrier goal. The glass shattered on impact.
Szabo, a product of St. Thomas, Ontario, says that while it wasn't the result he wanted, it was a neat feeling.
"Honestly, the puck just slid across and I hit it, and I thought I hit it pretty well and it was just over the net. And then it shattered, and I was just like, 'Aww, crap,' because I knew that we would have to sit out for a good 30 minutes," Szabo continues. "I don't think I've ever done that in a game before, so it was kind of cool."
Terrier netminder Ryan Velan notes he didn't initially understand what happened.
"I was pretty locked in on the game, and they were on the powerplay if I remember correctly, and they screened me pretty well the whole night, so I didn't get that much of a view of the release from the point. I felt something kind of whiz by my head and saw it out of the corner of my eye and looked back. Then I just saw the puck fly into the glass. Typically, maybe it's happened once where the puck hit the glass and there's a little crack in the glass, but this time it completely shattered. So, it was pretty surprising. I think I just stood there in awe for about five seconds, maybe gave it a little laugh and then the refs told us to go back into the room and they'd fix it."
With the decision made to take the second intermission with 3:28 left in the second period, it took a crew of six to get the glass cleaned off the ice and a new sheet put in place. Donna Wettlaufer, Operations Supervisor at Stride Place, comments that she is grateful for the people who came and helped out.
"Usually, it's three or four people that need to be on that. It's just to get the glass cleaned up is the biggest part." Wettlaufer laughed as she added, "It felt like it took forever, but apparently it didn't take very long."
She also says that the plan is to get an official sheet positioned in on Wednesday, October 23 as the official plexiglass is far too heavy to be replaced by hand.
