Quinton Byfield Changed The Game Of Hockey Forever By Becoming The First Player To Ever Score A Goal While Wielding Multiple Sticks
Stan Mikita introduced the curved stick to the sport of hockey, and the game was never the same again. Glenn Hall is credited as being the first goalie to introduce the butterfly goaltending style to the sport of hockey, and the game was never the same again. Every so often, somebody comes around and completely flips the game on its head.
30 years from now, we won't even begin to imagine what the game was like without being able to use two sticks at the same time thanks to Quinton Byfield.
This is, without a doubt, one of the nastiest goals scored all season. It's probably one of the nastiest goals scored in the past few years. This sick bastard has to have some of the most buttery soft hands on the planet to pull this one off. One hand on his twig, the hand-eye coordination to get the initial tip, and then the strength to be able to bury the puck with one hand right on the doorstep like that. It is so preposterously gross.
However….it's also so preposterously illegal. Last time I checked, you're not allowed to hold another player's stick. But this is what happens when you score a goal that is that silly. Nobody can believe what they just saw; including the refs, and now they don't even get a chance to call a penalty. I've long been a proponent that goals should always count if they look sick enough. I don't care if the play was offside, or if there was goaltender interference, or if the player was clearly holding the stick of his defender. If a goal is that gross, it should always count. So I'm glad the refs decided to swallow the whistle on this one, even if they didn't do so on purpose.
Back-to-back 20 goal seasons for Quinton Byfield. It took him a little while to get his game going, and we can't act like the 2020 Draft class wasn't completely fucked from the beginning thanks to COVID. But it looks like we can shelf those "bust" discussions about Byfield for a while.