Two equipment breakdowns in the same game: tough night for the Canadiens’ skates

Yesterday, in the Canadiens’ loss against the Canucks, two plays caught attention, but not necessarily for the hockey skill involved.

Those who watched the game saw that Nick Suzuki and Brendan Gallagher, at a certain point in the game, ended up on the ground, unable to get up. Why?

Because their skate blade went off on its own.

Even the NHL, after last night’s game, took the opportunity to publish a video of the two guys trying to get back to the Canadiens’ bench. It’s quite funny to see, in any case.

Obviously, when a player loses a blade like that, they look like ~~Jesperi Kotkaniemi in 2018~~ Bambi on the ice. There’s nothing that can help and you have to find a way to get back to the bench.

And teammates help as best they can.

It’s rare for this to happen once (it happened to David Savard during his last time on the ice, last month in Buffalo), but it’s even rarer for it to happen twice… in the same game.

Is it simply a fluke, what happened yesterday? Is it a manufacturing problem? An issue with the way the blades were installed?

The Canadiens lost blades/60 is through the roof tonight— Guillaume Lefrançois

(@glefrancoisLP) November 13, 2023

I wonder what Pierre Gervais thinks, who was the equipment manager of the Canadiens until 2022 before retiring.

Let’s hope for the Canadiens that things get sorted out in the coming days. After all, it’s funny when it happens one night, but it can’t become a habit either.

Overtime

– Yesterday was a tough day for equipment failure, let’s say.