NHL Equipment Manager Assists Continue To Be One Of The Best Plays In Hockey
We've seen it with Bobby Hastings and the Toronto Maple Leafs a few different times. Last year we saw it in the Stanley Cup Final with Golden Knights assistant equipment manager JW Aiken getting a new stick for Mark Stone to stay on the ice and pick up an assist in game 2. And the other night, Nashville Predators equipment manager Pete Rogers got his chance to get on the unofficial scoresheet with an assist on this Luke Evangelista goal.
Equipment managers don't get nearly the amount of shine that they deserve. These guys show up to work every day to grind with the boys. Late nights getting everything ready for a road trip, early mornings getting everything going for morning skates. Always just making sure that all the boys have absolutely everything they need taken care of to make sure all they have to think about is playing the game. These guys are as much a part of the team as anybody out there.
And you can tell how much the boys love 'em by how hard they go on the bench once that goal is scored. Evangelista snaps his stick at the blueline, Pete Rogers has a new one ready for him at the bench about 2 seconds later, he goes down the ice and puts one in the back of the net, and the bench goes wild. Ryan McDonagh, Filip Forsberg, Ryan O'Reilly. Some guys who are a pretty big deal on that roster, and they all know that Pete Rogers just made the play of the night. Hope someone was able to get him the puck.