Crashing The Net?

Last night, my wife and I attended the WCHA Final Five Semifinal contest between Colorado College and Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The Gophers fell 3-0 to the Tigers, but, contrary to the opinion of the drunken idiots seated around us (no Atomizer was not there), the Gophers didn't play that bad of a game. It's one of the oldest clichés in the hockey book yet it's very true: one team took advantage of their opportunities and one did not.

A major momentum swing in the second period didn't help Minnesota's chances either. It appeared that the Gophers had taken a 1-0 when Mike Howe ripped a wrist shot into the top corner. But upon further review, the goal was disallowed because of a man (or in this case a skate) in the crease. Mere seconds later, Brett Sterling made a great one on one move and then beat Gopher netminder Justin Johnson to give the Tigers the lead. Sterling was very impressive last night and is a worthy Hobey Baker finalist.

Perhaps the most interesting moment of the evening took place after the game. As my wife and I waited for the crowd to dissipate a bit, I noticed that Gopher forward Tyler Hirsch was still on the ice even though everyone else had already hit the dressing room. He was standing at center ice asking for a puck. After receiving one from one of the off ice officials, he motioned for the doors behind one the nets to be closed. Then he rushed towards the net, blasted a shot into it, and dove into it, knocking it off its moorings and crashing on top of it into the end boards.

He then got up and skated off the ice.

Some of the crowd applauded Hirsch's strange little display, but most of us were left scratching our heads and asking, WTF?

Here's how US College Hockey Online described it:

After the game, Tyler Hirsch was apparently enacting some ritual to exorcise the lack of scoring that plagued his Gopher teammates after Friday's 3-0 loss to the Tigers. It was the first shutout against Minnesota in 82 games, dating back to a 4-0 loss to Maine on Oct 10, 2003.

Standing at center ice, Hirsch motioned the maintenance crew to shut the Zamboni doors. He proceeded to skate in on the empty net, taking a slapshot from 10 feet and then driving the net into the boards.

He then skated to center ice, laid his stick down and went to the locker room.

My wife ascribed his unusual behavior to frustration at the result of the game. Frustration is understandable, but usually more spontaneous. You might see a player break a stick on his way off the ice or kick the boards. But Hirsch's actions were very deliberate, and as the USCHO reporter noted, appeared to be part of some sort of ritual. My guess is that is somehow related to the fact that Gophers had been shut out, but I have never witnessed anything like it before. Today, before my own hockey game, we discussed Hirsch's antics and, although none of my teammates were absolutely certain, they agreed that it must have been some sort of ritual designed to chase the evil shutout spirits away.

Hirsch's actions were clearly not endorsed by the team as evidenced by the head coach's reaction:

"It was bizarre -- let's leave it at that," said puzzled Minnesota coach Don Lucia.

Not surprisingly Hirsch was not in the lineup for the Gophers in today's third place game against North Dakota (a 4-2 loss). The explanation for his absence was given as "personal reasons."