Ohio Jones
Game on...
Weekly World News - Columbus, Ohio
By Polly Perkins
Almost 15,000 people attending a professional ice hockey game in Columbus last night witnessed an incredible event, as TIME STOOD STILL. Fans and officials were at a loss to explain the phenomena.
At 12:34 of the first period, a Columbus skater named Shawn McEachern was penalized for interfering with the opposition goaltender, Anaheim's Sean Burke. McEachern had to sit out 2 minutes, during which time Columbus had to play one man short against Anaheim's "power play".
At 14:30, with 4 seconds left in the McEachern penalty, Columbus Captain Mike Modano scored a goal short-handed (with 4 skaters against Anaheim's 5). After the goal, there was a face-off (like a tip-off in basketball) at centre ice. 8 seconds later, Anaheim's Eric Daze was sent to the penalty box for hitting Coulmbus forward Krik Maltby into the boards.
Here is where things got weird. After the penalty call, there was a face-off in the neutral zone, outside Columbus' end. Anaheim's John Madden won the faceoff, sliding the puck back to defenceman Richard Matvichuk. Then, in front of thousands of witnesses and dozens of recording devices, TIME STOOD STILL!
Matvichuk bounced the puck off the boards to where Madden was stepping past the Columbus center and breaking into the Columbus defensive zone. Madden skated forward with the puck, then fired a shot at Columbus goalie Martin Brodeur. His teammate Mike Ricci was streaking through the "slot" - the area in front of the goalie - and he deflected the puck, sending it past Brodeur and into the net. The goal light went on.
Time of the goal: 14:41, just 3 seconds after the penalty to Daze.
"I don't know what the hell happened", says Mike Babcock, head coach of Columbus. "Even if it had been a really fast play, the faceoff was outside the zone, and there were three passes. There's no way it could have happened in just three seconds. But we just saw it happen... I dunno. I need a drink."
Arena and league officials checked the game clock and determined it was operating correctly. The tapes of numerous video cameras recording the play were also checked, and everything except the clock appears to have started to move faster in the sequence of frames capturing the goal.
"It's like stepping into an episode of The Twilight Zone", Ricci said about scoring the mysterious goal. "I didn't feel weird or anything, but then I looked up and saw the clock, and thought - that's strange."
Dr. Bunsen Honeydew of the Ohio Institute of Technology, who was attending the game with his research assistant, Miles Beaker, says that as the earth moves through space (rotating, and orbiting around the sun, which itself is spinning around the galaxy - it's a wonder we don't fall off!), the arena may have passed through something called a "cosmic string", which could have momentarily distorted the fabric of space/time. Dr. Honeydew could not explain how the clock would not have been affected, though. Mr. Beaker, eyes wide with wonder, could only offer a shrug and a helpless "Meep!".
"I don't know about strings or anything", one league official commented, "but that was the damnedest thing I ever saw. Set an record, too, in all of hockey, for the fastest two shorthanded goals to be scored by opposite teams, at just 11 seconds."
The goal was counted, but it was not enough as Columbus forward Jeremy Roenick scored late to earn just their second win this season.
By Polly Perkins
Almost 15,000 people attending a professional ice hockey game in Columbus last night witnessed an incredible event, as TIME STOOD STILL. Fans and officials were at a loss to explain the phenomena.
At 12:34 of the first period, a Columbus skater named Shawn McEachern was penalized for interfering with the opposition goaltender, Anaheim's Sean Burke. McEachern had to sit out 2 minutes, during which time Columbus had to play one man short against Anaheim's "power play".
At 14:30, with 4 seconds left in the McEachern penalty, Columbus Captain Mike Modano scored a goal short-handed (with 4 skaters against Anaheim's 5). After the goal, there was a face-off (like a tip-off in basketball) at centre ice. 8 seconds later, Anaheim's Eric Daze was sent to the penalty box for hitting Coulmbus forward Krik Maltby into the boards.
Here is where things got weird. After the penalty call, there was a face-off in the neutral zone, outside Columbus' end. Anaheim's John Madden won the faceoff, sliding the puck back to defenceman Richard Matvichuk. Then, in front of thousands of witnesses and dozens of recording devices, TIME STOOD STILL!
Matvichuk bounced the puck off the boards to where Madden was stepping past the Columbus center and breaking into the Columbus defensive zone. Madden skated forward with the puck, then fired a shot at Columbus goalie Martin Brodeur. His teammate Mike Ricci was streaking through the "slot" - the area in front of the goalie - and he deflected the puck, sending it past Brodeur and into the net. The goal light went on.
Time of the goal: 14:41, just 3 seconds after the penalty to Daze.
"I don't know what the hell happened", says Mike Babcock, head coach of Columbus. "Even if it had been a really fast play, the faceoff was outside the zone, and there were three passes. There's no way it could have happened in just three seconds. But we just saw it happen... I dunno. I need a drink."
Arena and league officials checked the game clock and determined it was operating correctly. The tapes of numerous video cameras recording the play were also checked, and everything except the clock appears to have started to move faster in the sequence of frames capturing the goal.
"It's like stepping into an episode of The Twilight Zone", Ricci said about scoring the mysterious goal. "I didn't feel weird or anything, but then I looked up and saw the clock, and thought - that's strange."
Dr. Bunsen Honeydew of the Ohio Institute of Technology, who was attending the game with his research assistant, Miles Beaker, says that as the earth moves through space (rotating, and orbiting around the sun, which itself is spinning around the galaxy - it's a wonder we don't fall off!), the arena may have passed through something called a "cosmic string", which could have momentarily distorted the fabric of space/time. Dr. Honeydew could not explain how the clock would not have been affected, though. Mr. Beaker, eyes wide with wonder, could only offer a shrug and a helpless "Meep!".
"I don't know about strings or anything", one league official commented, "but that was the damnedest thing I ever saw. Set an record, too, in all of hockey, for the fastest two shorthanded goals to be scored by opposite teams, at just 11 seconds."
The goal was counted, but it was not enough as Columbus forward Jeremy Roenick scored late to earn just their second win this season.
