Take a shot on net after the whistle blows? You don’t do ‘dat.
Put your hands on a superstar forward? You don’t do ‘dat.
Hit a guy from behind? You stupid when you do ‘dat.
There's definitely a lot of 'em, but the fact they're unwritten leads to debates. One such argument has been going on since late Friday night, when rookie Linus Omark turned in one of the more memorable shootout goals in history in his NHL debut for the Oilers.
We could relive the goal with words, or we could just watch it:
Since Omark did his little spin-o-rama, there have been debates as to whether this little whippersnapper crossed the line and disregarded the sanctity of ice hockey. It's largely an old-fogy argument.
To think of a 23-year-old kid making the most of an opportunity and delivering a highlight-reel goal as some sort of offense is a genuinely ludicrous idea. Yet, there was Martin St. Louis asking if there was a need for such a "slap in the face." There was Ryan Malone calling it "a [expletive] joke."
"It's embarrassing for him," said goaltender Dan Ellis — the man who just happened to be the one getting embarrassed on the play. "You come into a league, a respectful league like this, and you try a little move like that. It's not a very classy thing. That's just the kind of person he is."
Ellis is right — that's exactly what kind of person Omark is. He's talented, and he's got some guts. What he did was pull off something that very few men on this planet can do, and all it did was bring 16,839 hockey-loving people to their feet. All it did was win the game.
That last point should be the most important. If the Lightning were winning 6-1 with 3:20 left to play, and Omark pulled some showy move just for the sake of pulling a showy move, the Lightning (and the rest of the Old Fogy Society) would have a case. As it was, though, Omark's move clearly affected Ellis, and it helped his team take home two points.
The only shame in the whole deal is that the Lightning were allowed to cry after they had just been beaten.
Did Linus Omark disrespect the game by showing up his opponents? Share your thoughts below.
