A Hockey Battle: Overtime

Earlier this month, the high school hockey championship game for the state of Ohio was played in Columbus. After 7 overtimes, the game was declared a tie by the officials, and both teams were named co-state-champions. That much is agreed upon. In the aftermath of the game, some supported the decision to protect the health of the young athletes, while others, including many athletes, argued that the game should have been allowed to be played out until one clear winner was declared. the discussion continued here at the Play Like a Champion Today headquarters at the University of Notre Dame. In the following blog, Play Like a Champion intern Tony Kim takes the view that the game should have been played out, while Lynn Kachmarik, Director of National Growth for Play Like a Champion writes in support of the Ohio hockey officials.

 Let’s Be Real: Winning, Hockey, and a State Championship.

Let’s face it: the desire to win is within all of us. No one likes to lose and no one likes to tie. We all like to win, be on top, and be the champion. And yes, it is true that everyone who plays their heart out for every minute of every game whenever they put on the uniform that representing their team is a winner. But, those who battle to the absolute end to win over all are the champions. And most of the time in the end, there is one and only one champion. That was unfortunately not the case, though, with two hockey teams from Ohio.

On March 8th, two Ohio high school hockey teams squared off in the state championship game. One was the unranked underdog Northview High School from Sylvania . The other, number 1 ranked St. Ignatius from Cleveland.  It was a classic David versus Goliath story.  After regulation and seven overtime periods, the game was called in a 1-1 tie for the state championship.

I know what you’re thinking, “Why would they call it a tie after seven overtimes?!” Or, “Why would they not just have gone to penalties after the first two overtimes?” And maybe even, “That’s a shame. I know I wouldn’t want to share my championship with another team.” In my opinion, the last of these possibly presumptuous statements of thought resonates the most with most competitive athletes. Those who train to win and be number one are inherently selfish. So why end a game after eight overtimes? Why not just let the play go on until a winner is declared? Especially after seven grueling overtime periods, don’t you think the players themselves would want to seek the game’s eventual end? By not allowing them to do so after all of that time almost seems cruel.  In addition, it took away the chance for the Northview underdogs to upset number one St. Ignatius and the chance for St. Ignatius to be declared an undisputed champion.

Even the players and coaches for each team spoke as if they were ready and amped-up to play and fight out another overtime period.  Such readiness was described by team Captain, Harry Smith, of the Northview team:

“We were energized for that eighth overtime.  We kept going back in the locker room and we kept telling each other, ‘The next time we come back in here, we’re going to be holding the state championship trophy.' We were tired, but we were ready and didn’t want the game to end that way.” 

As both teams skated onto the ice, ready to play another grueling and passionate overtime period to determine the Ohio State High School Hockey Champion—neither of them expected to have the game called a tie before they even met for a face-off. So why call it without even playing just one more period?

 Well, the reasoning behind it may be one of safety.   

“What happens if we go into the eighth overtime and a kid is exhausted and he doesn’t keep his head up and gets run over and is taken out on a stretcher?” Northview Coach Mike Jones said. “If a kid doesn’t skate off that ice because he’s hurt, what kind of national debate is there going to be                then?”

 Of course, the safety of the players is the most important thing to keep in mind—especially with a sport as hard-hitting, exhausting, and outright dangerous as hockey.  Without notice, a player could’ve gotten checked into the glass so hard during one of those overtimes that he may not have gotten up after.

But that’s hockey.  Those who have played hockey or know the game what-so-ever know that hockey is not a nice sport. You don’t play hockey without knowing that you’re playing one of the most dangerous games on this earth involving sticks, a puck that moves a hundred-plus miles per hour, and blades on your feet to move on a cold, hard, and unforgiving surface. There are hits; there are fights; there are enforcers wreaking havoc; there are teeth lost and dentists and oral surgeons making millions; and there are winners and most definitely losers. 

With a state championship on the line and outright glory at stake, the players were told to skate off and end this epic battle on the ice. Of course, even though the players’ safety should have and was put first and foremost by the officiating staff—they should have considered speaking with the coaches of each respective team to get their input on the eventual outcome of the game. By making such a decision without even considering the coaching staff’s input on the matter—it leaves a dry and bitter taste not only in the mouths of the coaches, but the players who sought out to hold that trophy in their hands and their hands alone in the end. And lest we forget, in sports—winning is a part of the game, but so is losing. In competitive sports, there have to be losers as well as winners. The fun of the game is in the competition. So now ask yourself this question: if you were these players, what would you have wanted? Wouldn’t you have wanted to experience the fun in competition? Would you have wanted the championship to yourself and your own team or to have shared it? We all know the answer to both of those questions and in regards to the latter—the answer is most definitely not one that would involve any other team’s fingerprints on the trophy.

 Game With No Winner Ends in Shared Title

Let’s look at the other side of this decision and discuss why I support the outcome to end this game when they did.  Let’s discuss the mission of high school sports as well as the message it sent to the players, parents and fans at a time when youth sports has become “win at all costs” and the number of youth sports injuries has exploded in our country.

How you define success as a teacher/coach, however, is critical in determining whether or not your student-athletes will experience a developmentally appropriate enriching experience through their participation in interscholastic athletics. At the high school level, the role of the teacher/coach in interscholastic athletics is to establish an environment that will facilitate success for all participants.  It was clear that the environment in the game had deteriorated to the point that those in a leadership role were concerned about potential injury to their student-athletes.  There needs to be no other reason to end the game as high school sports should not be a “win at all costs mentality” but a safe, education and learning environment for all.

I share a personal story from many years ago when I watched the championship game at the World Aquatic Championships between two National Teams representing Yugoslavia and Hungary.  Very similar to this outcome, the game went into 16 overtimes.  The competition went from sport at its highest level of conditioning, strategy and effort to one where very few players were even able to swim up and down the pool.  Starters were sitting on the bench exhausted, injured and mentally done.  When the game finally ended 2 hours longer than any game I had ever watched, there was no cheering but this overall feeling that it was over and disappointment.  I cannot even tell you who won because our discussion centered on why there was not a shoot-out when all the players were still in the game.  This was with our world’s best athletes in their sport.

Let’s go back to our discussion now about these two high school hockey teams in Ohio.  In the end, the decision was made for the health and safety of the players and I applaud this.  Nothing good happens in practice or competition when athletes are exhausted beyond normal conditions and this clearly was “beyond normal”.   We are also talking about young men who are not fully developed mentally and physically.  You add the physical and mental condition they were in and now their judgment and decision making skills are far less than normal for their age.  This is another reason why the game should have ended to make sure we as the adults are protecting each and every player on both teams from the exhausted decision that someone might make to lash out in frustration and exhaustion.

Clearly, in our society today, we want a winner and a loser.  Stories of poor coaching and abuse at the high school level are in the media daily.  If we as a society took a giant step back and openly discussed the mission and real purpose of high school sports, we would all applaud these leaders for putting their student-athletes ahead of one team winning over the other.  They fought hard and clearly were two teams who peaked at the exact same time and deserved to share in the championship title.  This was a victory for all.