As some may know by now, Montreal Canadiens defenseman Ryan O’Byrne scored in his own net the other night. How could you not? It even made it on ‘Around the Horn.’
A delayed penalty was called against the New York Islanders. With the Habs in possession of the puck goaltender Carey Price raced to the bench for an extra attacker leaving the net open in the process.
Of course, this is a standard play in the NHL and coaches figure the probabilities a player goofs and shoots at his own net are low. True as this is, sometimes shit happens.
It happened with O’Byrne.
The goal tied the game up for the Islanders who eventually went on to win it in shoot out.
In soccer, it’s called an own-goal. FYI.
O’Byrne’s spazz is rare and it’s natural it will be a topic of discussion but let’s not go overboard.
I know it’s tempting to lash out and look at him all googily and crooked. But, really, how does this help the situation? It doesn’t.
There’s only one way to deal with this. Tap O’Byrne on the shins and encourage him, you rally the troops and you forget about it. It’s the perfect time for the captain – Saku Koivu – to shout typical cliches like, “forget about it boys!” and “let’s get that one back!” and “collect your thoughts OByrne.”
O’Byrne doesn’t need to be told about what he did. No one in the universe knows this better than him. Let him intellectualize this on his own – and he had time to do so given Coach Guy Carbonneau benched him for the rest of the game.
The important thing is not beat down his confidence. In just his second season, the 23-year old O’Byrne is struggling this year.
If the Canadiens are as good as they say or think they are, they will handle this case with a little special care. What’s done is done. It’s time to make sure you put him in a position to succeed. To try and make amends.
Pissing on the guy is retarded and counter-productive. If Carbo benches him for the next game this is the worst thing he could do to that kid.
I couldn’t possibly agree more. This is an example of a human being exactly that. Watching one of the disgustingly high number of videos of the incident on Youtube, its a tough situation for the young defenseman. He was being relentlessly pressured along the boards, and he was just trying to play the puck to a safe patch of ice behind the net, or possibly into the far corner. He may have even been instinctively trying to play the puck to Price, thinking he was still on the ice. The penalty was a little questionable to begin with, so I could understand his thinking that Price was still between the pipes. All in all, its a tough situation that is going to plague him for some time to come now, and I feel for the guy. Let’s hope the Montreal coaching staff is smart enough to let this go and not immediately demote him to the AHL.
Well said.
Interesting point about the instincts. Especially hockey where everything happens in a flash. He’ll have to learn to be more alert.
Speaking as a freshman college hockey player, the pressures can be tough being the young kid on the team. I’ve been playing since I was four years old, yet I’ve been three strides offsides more than once this year! Pressure and nerves can do a lot to the mind
I plan on blogging about this very situation on my blog as well (sorry for stealing the idea, but its a story that needs to be covered…I probably won’t do as well as you did anyway lol)
http://www.puckhead.wordpress.com
I’ll check it out and thanks for the kind words.
I try to apply my own experiences in sports (I played soccer) when I write as well.
Stealing? Hardly. It’s public domain! I’m sure you have a unique perspective.
Incidentally, looks like O’Byrne is getting a regular shift tonight against the Wings. I think this is the right thing to do.