Haha! I saw the headline "Ward scores game winner for Hurricanes" at TSN.ca and thought, Cam Ward scored the game winner for the Hurricanes? Then I realized it was Aaron Ward.
It made me wonder though, has any goaltender EVER scored a game winner?
It could potentially happen. In international hockey, if there's a round robin, a team may need to win and pull their goalie during a tie. Even in the NHL, if a team has a delayed penalty, they pull their goalie. Shots on goal don't stop the play, so the goalie can contact the puck. It's incredibly unlikely, but a sharp angled shot or pass from behind the net could be re-directed by the goaltender and go all the way back down the ice into the net. Haha, I know, I said incredibly unlikely. Also, goals are credited to the last player that touched the puck, so an errant pass after a rebound could go into an empty cage.
Anyway, trivia buffs do your worst!
Interesting factoid - in box lacrosse, teams pull their goalies during delayed penalties as well. However, when the GM of my junior club was a semi-pro goalie in the 70's, he would regularly go up into the play instead of going to the bench. He had (and still has) a cannon of a shot with the big goalie stick. Apparently he scored 17 goals one season.
It made me wonder though, has any goaltender EVER scored a game winner?
It could potentially happen. In international hockey, if there's a round robin, a team may need to win and pull their goalie during a tie. Even in the NHL, if a team has a delayed penalty, they pull their goalie. Shots on goal don't stop the play, so the goalie can contact the puck. It's incredibly unlikely, but a sharp angled shot or pass from behind the net could be re-directed by the goaltender and go all the way back down the ice into the net. Haha, I know, I said incredibly unlikely. Also, goals are credited to the last player that touched the puck, so an errant pass after a rebound could go into an empty cage.
Anyway, trivia buffs do your worst!
Interesting factoid - in box lacrosse, teams pull their goalies during delayed penalties as well. However, when the GM of my junior club was a semi-pro goalie in the 70's, he would regularly go up into the play instead of going to the bench. He had (and still has) a cannon of a shot with the big goalie stick. Apparently he scored 17 goals one season.