Rene Bourque Refuses To Drop Broken Stick

Today, much of the uproar in the NHL media was over Mark Fistric’s helmet smackdown, and the subsequent lack of a suspension. Yet in the same game, Rene Bourque nearly created a much, much more dangerous situation.

The NHL (and all of hockey, everywhere) requires that a player drop a broken stick immediately, and for good reason. A broken stick becomes a potential weapon, especially with players slamming into each other all over the ice. When Rene Bourque broke his stick on along the boards as he entered the offensive zone, he decided not to follow that rule. It was almost tragic:




Bourque came within inches of spearing Karlis Skrastins in the face with his broken stick; thankfully it was a harmless play in the end. Bourque was handed a two-minute minor for playing with a broken stick, but there’s no doubt it could have been worse.