Nine days ago, the Washington Capitals took on the Philadelphia Flyers during Wednesday Rivalry Night. The nationally-televised game featured NASCAR driver Joey Logano Inside The Glass during the first period. That was strange, but then the second period happened.
During a standard dump-in, Travis Konecny’s stick exploded into the stands as the Flyers forward’s blade connected with the puck.
Video
FORE(check) pic.twitter.com/sKXDlXzTkw
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) February 1, 2018
Here are the GIFs. This is wild.
While I sat at home watching, I had several deep thoughts.
- WHOA
- Did anyone get injured in the stands? I hope no one got injured in the stands.
- Who got the stick? Was there a fight? There had to be a fight for it.
- How did the person celebrate?
A minute later NBCSN cameras found the lucky recipient of the twig. The fan, wearing a Nicklas Backstrom jersey, calmly holds the stick in his left hand while he texts on his right. This is not what I expected to see.
Minutes later, the person receiving the texts posted their conversation on Twitter. The friend, Greg Kowalski, shared a screenshot which included the fan’s photo holding Konecny’s broken stick.
A friend said he caught the stick. I said pics or it didn’t happen. And that is why he was taking a photo when they showed him on @NBCSN @russianmachine #capsflyers pic.twitter.com/PPB9dItZ50
— Greg Kowalski (@GregKowalski) February 1, 2018
PAUL HAS GOT THE STICKhttps://t.co/hqTVCufAV8
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) February 1, 2018
The fan’s name is Paul Simon. I reached out to his friend Greg for more context.
Paul and I have been friends for quite a few years after we met at work. We actually bonded over the Capitals, although we have disagreements over Wilson and Orlov.
Whenever the Caps are on, Paul and I usually text throughout the games. He attends quite a few of them, and it’s nice to get his perspective from in the building. Given the bad start to the game, we had not been texting as much as normal. When the stick flew into the stands, I reached out as it looked like the stick flew into the stands near where he normally sits. He responded that he was the one who actually caught, and I thought he was joking with me. I texted him ‘Pics or it didn’t happen,’ and the cameras just happened to pan to him while he was taking the photo for me. Paul has always been very thorough, and I appreciated him getting NBC to help prove it was him.
He also asked whose stick he was holding. I had to inform him that it was one of the bad guys. Paul also requested a report on how he looked on tv, full doof or only part doof (I told him full). Since the stick was from a bad guy, I asked if Paul planned to burn it in effigy. He said he was going to keep it.
That night, Paul’s wife Debbie was shocked when her husband returned home from Capital One Arena with this random hockey memorabilia.
“I have a few pictures that I took of the stick once he got back because I couldn’t believe what happened,” Debbie wrote. Paul put the stick on the family’s computer chair.
Photos: Debbie Simon
According to Greg, Paul’s plans with the broken stick were pure.
“He has a young son that he’s trying to turn into a hockey fan,” Greg said. “This should help.”
If you ask me, that’s the least doof-y thing in the world.
