Legendary Standoff Took Place At The DIII Hockey National Championship After A Fan Refused To Give Stick Back To Player
If you ever wanted to know the difference between DI and DIII athletics, this right here is all you need to see. If this were a Division I game, that player wouldn't give a shit if his stick ended up in the crowd. Heck, the kid who scored the game winner for Penn State to send them to the Frozen Four on Sunday threw his own stick up into the crowd after delivering that dagger.
He knows that when he gets back to practice the next day, he can just head into the equipment room and grab a new twig.
But Division III doesn't always have that luxury. These guys are all lucky if they even get one or two free sticks a year. Maybe all they get is a discount code to use at the pro shop. So this kid on Hobart knows that if he doesn't get that stick back from the fella in the crowd, he's going to have to send a text to his parents asking for a quick $250 to buy a new one. The only thing he can swipe from the equipment room is some tape and maybe extra pair of socks. These guys don't get unlimited free gear the moment they walk onto campus.
He was willing to stand there as long as it took to get his stick back from that guy in the crowd. But then ol' Dickhead Danny the ref comes over and tells him to just deal with it and go back to his bench. Unbelievable that the ref wouldn't have the player's back in this scenario. The fella in the stands is clearly wearing Utica merch. All the ref had to do was threaten Utica with an unsportsmanlike penalty to get that stick back. But he didn't do a damn thing. Because refs are a bunch of cowards, I tell ya.
And listen. I have nothing against this fan. It's a great move, no doubt about it. It's the National Championship Game. You can't hold anything back now. Everybody has their role, and you need to do whatever it takes to gain an advantage out there. This dude's role was to stay strong and not give in to throwing the stick back over the glass. He played his role to the best of his ability. Sounds like he even got kicked out of the building for it.
Great move by the fan, but Hobart got the last laugh of the day. Turns out they should have taken #29's stick instead.