We Don't Talk Enough About How Gordon Bombay's Life Was Totally Derailed By Hitting The Post On A Penalty Shot As A 10-Year-Old
In case you missed yesterday's game 4 between the Nashville Predators and Vancouver Canucks, Colton Sissons had a premium opportunity to deliver an empty net dagger for the Preds to send the series back to Vancouver tied at 2-2. A minute 50 left on the clock, Sissons throws a little backhand sauce on net for what should have put Nashville up 4-2.
A quarter of an inch this way and it would have gone in. A quarter of an inch, Charlie.
Instead, the puck clangs off the post and the Canucks ended up tying the game with 6 seconds to go in regulation. Vancouver would go on to win the game in overtime and now they have a 3-1 chokehold on the series. All thanks to a quarter of an inch.
Now I'm not going to write a blog about how Colton Sissons needs to be "publicly executed" for missing that empty netter. A colleague has already done so himself. What I will say, however, is that it reminded me of one of the most life altering missed shots in hockey history. You know the one.
The year was 1973. The Hawks were playing for the Minnesota pee-wee state hockey championship. Young Gordon Bombay was dubbed the "Minnesota Miracle Man". The Hawks came into the game as the reigning state champs after winning in 1972. Bombay had a chance to make it 2 in a row with a penalty shot in the dying moments of regulation. Everybody in the state knew this kid had what it took to go all the way. It was only a matter of time before they saw little Gordon Bombay make his way to the NHL and be a superstar in that league just as he was in peewee. It was time for Gordon Bombay's legend to grow with a game winner off his world famous triple deke that old geezer taught him.
And then…
CLANG.
A quarter of an inch.
Now the fact that he had the opportunity to win the game with that penalty shot implies that the game would still be tied even after missing it. It's not like he lost the game for the Hawks. But clearly his good-for-nothing shit brained teammates couldn't bail him out and get the W in overtime. The Hawks lost and now they'd have to stare at that 1973 Runner-Up banner hanging in the rafters for the rest of eternity. As Coach Jack Reilly said, he didn't just let his coach down, he let the whole team down. Absolutely ludicrous thing to say to a player before taking the most pressure packed penalty shot of his life, but that's just how Coach Reilly built himself a dynasty.
Gordon Bombay was on track to go to the NHL. 16-year NHL veteran Basil McRae even mentioned that he couldn't keep up with the Minnesota Miracle Man in peewee. But his whole life fell apart after that penalty shot. His dad died, he stopped playing hockey, he turned into an alcoholic lawyer who got arrested for drunk driving, and now he was coaching a youth hockey team as a part of his court ordered community service. 10-years-old with dreams of playing in the NHL, and now he's an orphaned alcoholic all because he missed one penalty shot.
I'm not saying that Colton Sissons is about to give up hockey altogether and start up a law firm. All I'm saying is that we've seen this story play out before, and the trajectory don't look great.
P.S. -- How about that little shit head Charlie's response? "A quarter of an inch the other way and you would have missed completely". Gee thanks, Charlie! I'm sure that really makes him feel great thinking that he could have been an even bigger loser than he already was. That's the spirit!