Sports parents are among the best people in the world at freaking out about things that probably don’t matter much in the long run. That’s especially true of hockey parents. Don’t mess with hockey parents.
Unfortunately, referees in a Canadian youth hockey game decided not to heed that advice.
With the Calgary Royals and Calgary Buffalo Wranglers tied 4-4 after an overtime period in a playoff game, the game should have gone into a shootout. However, with time running out to play all of the games, the referees decided to determine the game by coin toss instead. The Buffalo Wranglers won.
The Calgary Herald has the story:
The Wranglers won after the Royals called ‘heads’ and the coin landed on ‘tails’. Bender said the coin toss decision can’t be appealed because the Wranglers went on to play in the next round of the playoffs on Sunday.
Ties after regulation minutes are normally decided by 10 minutes of overtime and a shootout if required. Bender said a scheduling error meant there was no available ice time for extra minutes and the game went straight to a shootout.
The coach said WinSport was asked for more ice time but “refused to budge” because the rink was booked for another game.
The Calgary Herlad also found the hockey parents. Predictably, they are mad.
https://twitter.com/EddyShelley/status/843301740115968000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/hockeyrocks21/status/843691355998048256
https://twitter.com/NapsAndSarcasm/status/843547796904992768
https://twitter.com/MookNicole/status/843603503733854208
https://twitter.com/bergy35/status/843616327788986368
This is a Hky Cgy issue!! Book the ice in case OT is needed No more coin toss or shoot outs! Team game!!
— D Harms (@chocolateharms) March 20, 2017
Parents tend to take youth sports too seriously, and this isn’t going to really make a difference in any of these kids’ lives. But still, a coin toss? At least pick by best nickname. In that case, the Buffalo Wranglers still would have won.
