Adam Pardy of the Winnipeg Jets took a huge hit from Chicago Blackhawks enforcer Brandon Bollig during the third period of the Hawks 4-1 victory (a game that was actually much more lopsided than it sounds). Adam Pardy was hit so hard that the force knocked a pane of the United Center glass into the stands.
The entire glass pane was displaced, it didn’t crack or shatter, and no one was hurt. However, there was a second reason this was a check, and a game Adam Pardy will never forget. Watch the video courtesy of the NHL Network:
A hockey fan, since this was in Chicago, I’m going to go out on a limb and say a Blackhawks fan, made an effort to steal Pardy’s helmet. And it succeeded; if only for a little while. The Hawks fan (who looked like he had a few drinks in him) took the helmet right off Adam Pardy ‘s head and started wearing it himself.
Here’s what Adam Pardy had to say after the game:
“It was tough enough to get put through the glass but then to get a beer thrown on my head, too, was not a good thing … I definitely smelled a little booze for about six minutes.”
So thanks “Helmet Guy,” now you’ve made Hawks fans look as bad as Vancouver Canucks fans! Helmet Man was eventually kicked out of the 100 level. Maybe we kicked out of the game, we’re still waiting to hear back on that. In a related story, helmet man’s wife/date?? threw beer on Adam Pardy. So there’s that; which is nice.
This is unprecedented; I’ve never seen the entire glass pane get displaced by a hockey player before on a fore-check. Sadly, I have seen Chicago sports fans steal opponents headgear at a game though. You might remember a Chicago Cubs game a few years ago. A fan at Wrigley Field stole a cap of the head of a Los Angeles Dodgers reliever; right from the Wrigley Field bullpen. So Adam Pardy, you’re not alone.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also an analyst for multiple news talk radio stations across the world; with regular weekly segments on NBC and Fox Sports Radio. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and RSS