CHL goaltender fined after slew-footing opposing team’s mascot (Video)
Being a hockey mascot is a thankless job. You spend all your time in a giant foam head, sweating and struggling to see clearly. You're not allowed to break character. Kids are always grabbing at you.
And sometimes, the opposing team's netminder kicks your feet out from under you, just to be a jerk.
This video is from last Friday's Central Hockey League game between the Allen Americans and the Missouri Mavericks. That's poor Mavericks mascot Mac getting slew-footed by Americans' netminder Mark Guggenberger.
You could argue that this was an accident, but I'd point out that Guggenberger has a whole lot of open ice, not to mention a much greater degree of peripheral vision than Mac. Something tells me if he wanted to avoid the opposing team's mascot, he would have.
The CHL came to the same conclusion:
Allen goaltender Mark Guggenberger is being fined an undisclosed amount of money for making on-ice contact with the Missouri Mavericks mascot that could have caused injury. The contact happened prior to face-off and was viewed to be careless, unnecessary and avoidable.
I'm disappointed in you, Guggenberger. But I'm also disappointed in Mac.
While the Sochi Olympics have the attention of most in the hockey world, other leagues are doing what they can to entice fans. In the AHL, ECHL, and SPHL, that meant going to that rarest of rarities, a goalie fight. But if Mac had gone after Guggenberger rather than sitting on the ice with his arms crossed, giving us the even rarer goalie/mascot fight, the CHL would have won the minor-league attention wars weekend in a walk.
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is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
