Jeff Skinner Does What Wayne Gretzky Has Never Done Before
It seems like every time someone in the NHL reaches a milestone, they become one of the first ones to reach said milestone since Gretzky did it back in '85. It doesn't matter how obscure the milestone is, it seems like Wayne Gretzky has already done it before.
But last night against the New York Rangers, Jeff Skinner sprung himself on a breakaway with nobody to beat besides Igor Shesterkin. The only issue is that he forgot to bring his stick along with him. And by all accounts, that makes Jeff Skinner one of the only players in NHL history to go on the elusive stickless breakaway. The only other player I could find who has also achieved this milestone was Dominic Moore.
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But as far as I can tell, Gretzky has never done it before. So Jeff Skinner has had more stickless breakaways in his career than the Great One. And what made Skinner's even more spectacular is that because the refs missed a blatant slashing penalty on the Rangers, New York was able to rush back down the ice and tie the game at 1 just a few moments later. They say you should never go full Sabre, but this was as Sabres as they come.
Now here's the thing--considering this has happened before, it's safe to think that there's the possibility that it could happen again. So I think it's time for the NHL to prepare for that scenario and write a new rule. If a player is on a breakaway without a stick, he should be allowed to kick the puck into the net. The breakaway needs to begin before the blueline and he has to still have at least a full stride on the nearest defender. But then, and only then, do I think a player should be able to Messi that shit to splash the twine. Just something for Uncle Gary to think about.
Sabres lost in OT.