Home / News / Trevor Zegras tried to fib his way out of a penalty for stealing another player’s stick: ‘Nobody was buying’ it

Trevor Zegras tried to fib his way out of a penalty for stealing another player’s stick: ‘Nobody was buying’ it

By Chris Cerullo

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January 5, 2023 3:27 pm

The Anaheim Ducks have quite a history of on-ice thievery when it comes to opposition sticks.

In 2010, Bobby Ryan once famously scored a goal using Mikko Koivu’s stick that he picked up off the ice after Koivu had stolen his. Then in 2013, Corey Perry skated by the Carolina Hurricanes’ bench and yoinked former Capitals winger Alex Semin’s stick straight out of his hands.

Well, now the uber-talented Trevor Zegras took his turn. It didn’t go as well for him.

In the waning moments of the second period between Ducks-Stars, Zegras’s stick broke — with some help from Stars forward Joel Kiviranta — behind the Ducks’ net. Zegras retaliated by ripping Kiviranta’s stick away from him and trying to play with it.

Unfortunately for Zegras, Kivranta reported the hockey crime to the nearest official. Zegras dropped the stick after realizing he was caught in the act. The notified referee picked it up, read the name on it, and sent Zegras to the penalty box to do some hard time. Zegras could be seen with his arms out like “Who? Me??”

The official penalty listed on the scoresheet was a two-minute minor for playing with an illegal stick. Normally, that call is reserved for players who have altered the curve of their stick blade too much or are playing with a longer stick than permitted.

“My stick broke and I pinned him up against the glass,” Zegras said postgame. “I was like, ‘Oh, I’m just going to steal his stick.’ Everyone knew it was a penalty but me I guess? The only thing I could remember was Bobby Ryan scoring with a right-handed stick. That’s the first thing that came to mind when I broke mine was, ‘I’m going to steal this guy’s stick.’ They [called a penalty on me] pretty quickly so I tried to claim that I found it on the ice, which nobody was buying.”

The video of him telling the story overlayed over the actual play is worth watching.

It must be noted that neither Ryan nor Perry were penalized for their previous acts like Zegras was. In the end, the penalty didn’t hurt the Ducks much as they killed the power play off and eventually left the game 2-0 winners.

Headline photo via @trevorzegras/Instagram

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