Ice Literally Tilted In Capitals Win Over Atlanta
November 28, 2008 by Kevin Brockman
How many times have you heard a coach or player use the expression “the ice was tilted in their favor?” If you have been watching hockey at all for the past 50 years, chances are you have heard this cliche so many times in between periods that the expression has lost all meaning.
However, for the Atlanta Thrashers on Wednesday night that expression meant a whole lot more. During the first period intermission, Thrashers forward Ilya Kovalchuk complained to local reporter Jeff Knobson that the ice was literally tilted in the Capitals favour. “The ice actually has a gentle slope towards the away teams goal,” Kovalchuk fumed, “whatever they did, they made sure that the Capitals would have an advantage for two periods of play. I know you don’t believe me. I’m getting a level and will prove it to you!”
To the fans present at the game the tilt of the ice was indistinguishable to the naked eye. But for the first time ever, not only was Kovalchuk right about something, the ice actually did have a slope of three degrees towards the away teams goal.
When questioned after the game team management refused to comment and only issued this notice: “The Washington Capitals do not respond to rumour or speculation.” At the time of writing this article however, it was brought to the attention of the Daily Seagull that the Zamboni team was running them over the ice in strange patterns that included spending far more time on the away teams side of the ice.
News of the potential ice tilting quickly spread around the NHL and was the hottest topic on Thursday morning. Sidney Crosby was not impressed. “I knew Ovechkin couldn’t be that good. Nobody scores more than 60 goals without either the mafia or a better sheet of ice on their side,” Crosby told a packed locker room in Pittsburgh.
Despite the rumours, not everyone agrees with Kovalchuk’s belief that a “tilted rink” led to his teams defeat. “You know what,” a yawning Joe Thornton offered as he stepped into his jock strap, “Atlanta just sucks. Frankly, if they were spotted two goals at the start of every game they’d still be below .500. Blaming the ice doesn’t change the fact that the Thrashers should probably be in the AHL.”
While the reports of cheating remain unsubstantiated at this time, the consensus amongst general managers and players is simply that Atlanta doesn’t deserve to be in the league. When asked for comment on the situation NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman responded: “What was that about the Atlanta Falcons?”
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