Hey Steve, BUSTED!
Well tomorrow is Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, between Boston and Vancouver, and I guessing one of the linesmen in the game will be veteran Steve Miller? I know what some will ask why that is important? Well, let go back in time about one-year ago when my favorite team the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime of Game 6 of the 2010 Final. Patrick Kane scored the biggest goal in the club’s history, but in the chaos that always followed on the ice after the Stanley Cup was awarded a small thing happen that has grown into a hockey folktale "what happen to the game winning puck?"
You would think in this day and age a puck of such significance would not just vanish into then air. I first heard about the missing puck a couple of weeks after the Cup clinching game. There were many theories; Philadelphia defensemen Chris Pronger, because of past puck incidents in the final series, was the first suspect others were former Hawk Ben Eager (who played for Chicago in Game 6) and current Hawk Patrick Sharp all were believed might to posses it. Grant DePorter, CEO of Harry Caray's Restaurants, offered a $50,000 reward and even brought in the FBI. The puck is believed to be worth in the six-figure range.
The ESPN news show Outside the Lines (OTL) even did a story on the controversy (for the whole story: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=110421/missingpuck). In that story it was revealed that the main suspect was NHL Steve Miller, yes that is the same guy I mentioned at the start of the blog. An AP photo appeared to show Miller looking down at a black disc on the ice (the puck). When approached by OTL reporter Wayne Drehs, Miller denied picking the puck up and later when a fan video showed Miller picking up the puck he again denied it, again. The linesman was pulled from the playoffs because of the controversy (but was later reinstated by the League).
Well fast forward to last week when the Chicago Tribune, after scouring its photo archive, found a series of photos of Miller conclusively picking up the puck and skating off with it (full story: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/ct-spt-0608-stanley-cup-puck-blackhaw20110607,0,6593462,full.story). Now when confronted with the new evidence Miller couldn’t remember picking up the puck and if he did what he did with it, "I pick up a thousand pucks a year," Miller told the Tribune. "You can ask me what I did with a puck 10 minutes ago. I can't remember every single thing I do with a puck." Oh and Miller added "Pucks don't mean anything to me. So why would that puck mean anything to me?"
Really Mike, really, you can’t remember what you did with a historic puck like one that clinched the Stanley Cup in overtime. Hey Mike there has only been 14 overtime game winners ever! If you don’t realize how important these pucks are you have no business being a linesman in the NHL or a pee-wee league! Once again the League has dropped the ball by not getting to the bottom of this and as always they try covering its backside. Oh, and the NHL must now think it is important because officials working the playoffs are not to go near the pucks at the end of games. Miller you have been busted, so just comes clean so the puck can find its rightful place at the Hockey Hall of Fame.
You would think in this day and age a puck of such significance would not just vanish into then air. I first heard about the missing puck a couple of weeks after the Cup clinching game. There were many theories; Philadelphia defensemen Chris Pronger, because of past puck incidents in the final series, was the first suspect others were former Hawk Ben Eager (who played for Chicago in Game 6) and current Hawk Patrick Sharp all were believed might to posses it. Grant DePorter, CEO of Harry Caray's Restaurants, offered a $50,000 reward and even brought in the FBI. The puck is believed to be worth in the six-figure range.
The ESPN news show Outside the Lines (OTL) even did a story on the controversy (for the whole story: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=110421/missingpuck). In that story it was revealed that the main suspect was NHL Steve Miller, yes that is the same guy I mentioned at the start of the blog. An AP photo appeared to show Miller looking down at a black disc on the ice (the puck). When approached by OTL reporter Wayne Drehs, Miller denied picking the puck up and later when a fan video showed Miller picking up the puck he again denied it, again. The linesman was pulled from the playoffs because of the controversy (but was later reinstated by the League).
Well fast forward to last week when the Chicago Tribune, after scouring its photo archive, found a series of photos of Miller conclusively picking up the puck and skating off with it (full story: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/ct-spt-0608-stanley-cup-puck-blackhaw20110607,0,6593462,full.story). Now when confronted with the new evidence Miller couldn’t remember picking up the puck and if he did what he did with it, "I pick up a thousand pucks a year," Miller told the Tribune. "You can ask me what I did with a puck 10 minutes ago. I can't remember every single thing I do with a puck." Oh and Miller added "Pucks don't mean anything to me. So why would that puck mean anything to me?"
Really Mike, really, you can’t remember what you did with a historic puck like one that clinched the Stanley Cup in overtime. Hey Mike there has only been 14 overtime game winners ever! If you don’t realize how important these pucks are you have no business being a linesman in the NHL or a pee-wee league! Once again the League has dropped the ball by not getting to the bottom of this and as always they try covering its backside. Oh, and the NHL must now think it is important because officials working the playoffs are not to go near the pucks at the end of games. Miller you have been busted, so just comes clean so the puck can find its rightful place at the Hockey Hall of Fame.
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