Tenafly high school in New Jersey has had a tough season for hockey so far. They got crushed in back-to-back losses in a home-and-home with Paramus by scores of 8-3 and 9-1 going into a matchup with St. Joseph’s … a ranked team. It was a team that they didn’t want to play:
According to head coach Andy Escala, Tenafly/Cresskill (0-5-1) had tried to opt out of the game (public and private schools within the Big North can mutually agree not to play one another), but St. Joseph (6-0) wanted to keep the contest on its schedule.
“I had expressed to them, ‘Hey, listen, this is what my team is comprised of. I have two seniors, most of my team is freshmen and sophomores. …We’re trying to build, I don’t think it’s going to be beneficial for either team,'” Escala said. “But they insisted on playing the game.”
So Escala’s idea was to try to deploy six players in an unusual manner:
https://twitter.com/HockeyAdvantage/status/678760140594651136/photo/1
It was an interesting idea, this two goalie thing. If you can play with two forwards and three defensemen, or play with no goalie, then why not play with two goalies as long as the players totaled six?
“I recalled reading it in a book about (a team that did it) in Rhode Island years ago and was like, ‘Let me try this,'” Escala said. “I did some research and was like, ‘I know what the answer’s going to be, but I’m still going to try this and let’s see what the officials say.'”
The officials said “two minutes … delay of game”, as they found a rule that said two goalies at the same time was illegal.
“At first, it started as, you know what, this may be our only way to actually try to win this game,” Escala added. “But then it (became) more of a statement, saying, ‘Why does St. Joe’s want to play a public school that’s down, working their way back up? It doesn’t really benefit either team.'”
Two goalies at once could have altered a lot of NHL careers. Michel Bergeron used to deploy the “hot goalie” system. Playing guys like John Vanbiesbrouck and Bob Froese alternate nights hoping to find a goalie in a groove. If the NHL allowed two goalies in the 80’s, Bergeron’s head would have exploded. “You mean … I can play Vanbiesbrouck AND Froese?” Though somehow, I think Wayne Gretzky would have still scored 200 points a season.
And if the two goalie set up was allowed these days, Mike Gills might still have a job, as he would have found a way to play Roberto Luongo and Corey Schneider at the same time.
P.S. Tenafly lost to St. Joseph’s 10-0.
Photo courtesy of @HockeyAdvantage
