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Nov
2007
NHL’s Habs Defeat Leafs in Night of The Zamboni
By Pete Andrew Sacco Ph.D.
In last nights Toronto Maples Leafs/Montreal Canadians NHL game the Zamboni operator would have made the Marx Brothers proud. Heck, for that matter he probably had them rolling in their graves in laughter!
The Zamboni antics started after the 5 minute overtime session and before the sudden death shoot out. NHL rules have the Zamboni driver clear two paths of fresh ice from center ice to the goal nets for the shooters.
Zamboni machines are intended to create fresh, smooth ice surfaces. Let the antics begin!
After the first run through of the Zamboni, Montreal Canadians coach Guy Carbonneau noticed the ice way leading to the Toronto Maple Leaf net wasn’t completely clean. There were some streaks which hadn’t been passed over. Just after the Zamboni was put away, Carbonneau called the referee over and lodged his complaint. After a few moments, the referee summoned that the Zamboni be brought out again to appease the Canadians’ coach. Fine! The surface was cleaned and the Zamboni was put away to the cheering fans at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. As the Zamboni was being parked a second time, Paul Maurice, the coach of the Leafs noticed some bare streaks leading to the Montreal net. After summoning the referee and complaining about it for a couple of minutes, the Zamboni was once again summoned to clean up the Montreal end of the ice. The Barnum and Bailey show continued to the boos of the crowd. Maurice could barely contain his laughter and had to turn away. On the Canadians’ bench, Carbonneau was so miffed by the process, he had to turn his back to the ice, face the crowd and shake his head. This time, the Zamboni driver took his time and did the job methodically and meticulously destroying whatever anticipation was left for the shootout.
In the dying seconds of the game, the Leafs on captain Matt Sundin’s goal were able to send the game into overtime to the ovation of the crowd. That ovation was nothing compared to the cheers and jeers the Zamboni driver received after making his third pass of the ice. Ironically, the Zamboni driver got more “ice time” than Maple Leaf enforcer Wade Belak!
In the end, the ice was smooth, both coaches were satisfied, but it was the Montreal bench who had reason to celebrate. The Canadians won the shootout and the hockey game 4-3. Unfortunately, the Zamboni driver was not given one of the game’s 3 star selections.
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