Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko lost his glove in a goalmouth scramble, but he never lost his focus.
Demko made a series of stops barehanded with the Rangers on a 5-on-3 power play, including one with his hand behind his back.
After he lost his stick and blocker, Demko attempted to get the referee’s attention, pointing out his lost glove in hopes of getting a whistle. Referee Tom Chmielewski, though, let ’em play — as the rulebook requires.
While the officials stop play when a goaltender loses his mask, that does not apply to other pieces of protective equipment. It also doesn’t apply when the opposing team has a scoring opportunity. Here’s the helmet rule from 9.6.:
When a goalkeeper has lost his helmet and/or face mask and his team has control of the puck, play shall be stopped immediately to allow the goalkeeper the opportunity to regain his helmet and/or face mask.
When the opposing team has control of the puck, play shall only be stopped if there is no immediate and impending scoring opportunity. This stoppage of play must be made by the Referee.
When play is stopped because the goalkeeper has lost his helmet and/or face mask, the ensuing face-off shall take place at one of the defending team’s end zone face-off spots.
There is no similar rule for a goaltender’s blocker or catching glove. The whistle sounded once the puck was cleared into the corner, allowing the netminder to recover his gear.
Demko went on to make just one more save in the game – without using his blocker – but that was all it took. Vancouver won the game 3-2 in overtime.
