This 'Mistake' Changed NHL Hockey Forever.

#nhl #hockey #edmontonoilers #torontomapleleafs

On January 4th, 2007, former first overall pick Patrick Stefan missed a wide open net against the Edmonton Oilers sparking, one of the craziest moments in NHL hockey history. In this video we break down the butterfly effect of this one mistake…

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[lessthanthreemetal]

Stefan was unfairly vilified for this, the puck clearly hit a piece of debris and hopped over his stick. It just lead to the most improbable sequence of on-ice events in league history.

[RaccoonWithRabbis]

So many crazy trade trees yet a bouncing puck in a meaningless game has more impact than half of them.

[iskate]

As you said, this was a midseason game. The team had countless other opportunities to change their fate. The ensuing timeline was based on the sum of every play in the season, not a single missed goal.

[djiuetr]

It’s sad because, as a hockey player, you can see that it wasn’t really his fault. There was a “bad hop” due to the ice being chopped up towards the end of the game.

Could he have shot it earlier? Yes. But he was trying to guarantee that the puck would end up in the back of the bet instead of risking and sort of “flubbed shot.”

He got smite by the hockey gods for a brief moment.

[JACKAL]

Just to think, that if Stefan scored that goal, Connor McDavid would most likely not be an Edmonton Oiler, Neither would Draisaitl be too most likely, which is absolutely crazy.

[onjah]

I remember being at this game as a kid and even though we lost in a shootout the crowd was still so electric and crazy after the game you never would've known it. Best memory at the old stadium too

[modernwarfaremaniac]

Man that is actually wild. A ‘bust’ first overall pick probably had more of an impact on the NHL than if he actually just panned out as expected. Love these vids

[andrewkaiser]

I think Stefan knew that he had all day, 100% in the clear, and he was being super extra careful not to leave any chance of missing. The EXACT timing of a hop, THAT big, when the puck wasn't moving fast... SO UNLUCKY. If that hop didn't happen, just like it did, nobody would question how he played it. It wasn't his fault imo.

[roundtable]

The problem is, we’re assuming everything else is constant the rest of the season. We don’t know if the oilers would’ve finished with one less point given a whole other hypothetical scenario is created. The oilers could be used this loss in regulation to motivate them to play a little better and finish with more or they could’ve used it to fall into even more despair and finish even worse.

[Sandman]

I've always had a problem with people saying Stefan made a mistake, or that he messed up. Anyone who's played hockey has had the puck jump like that due to ice conditions, 99.99% of the time we luck out and it's no big deal.

[ResistTheGreatReset]

A few weeks ago, I left a comment on a Secret Base video. I mentioned this moment for their Rewind series. Someone replied to the comment, stating that the missed goal had a greater impact than the play itself.

[jwilder]

There are thousands of random events that impact every game (and thus the “course of history”), this one just happens to be interesting. Bad bounce, bad call, injuries, shift changes, they all count the same

[cmdRUID]

Not the biggest hockey fan but I love your deep dive content. It gives casual fans like me a better understanding of the sport and all of it's intricacies.

[xTheFly]

I was at the Stefan missed goal game. Little did I know the impact it really had. Thank you for this video, great work.

[danielfrome]

This is a bit of a ridiculous thesis considering that neither team was in fact the worst team and either one winning #1 overall would have been a fluke of the lottery at best.

[joewardpr]

Awesome. Beautiful butterfly effect content, constructed masterfully.

[luvslogistics]

I was in Long Beach when Stefan arrived. We had recently such goalies as Legace and before him Khabibulin and a few good players. I was a struggling goalie, just needed more time and experience to develop consistency which you don’t get…time that is. Only way to write your ticket is to be 10x better on the off chance that 3x as good doesn’t get noticed. Anyways, Patrick arrived young and naive and an older than him, American woman got her hands on him…I remember the parents calling from Czechia asking us the players to look after him. That ruined his rookie year in the IHL and he underachieved. Next he had a few underwhelming seasons and then he was done.
It’s like winning the lottery, to play. But Stefan’s career was just like the empty netter he missed…he had everything except the will, brain and maturity to deal with fame. After a few seasons, I got tired of bus travel, living in hotels, and knowing I’d never make it, got a real career going. There’s few spots and a million players…that’s why it doesn’t matter.

[intentionaloffside]

It’s kind of a stretch to assume that the Oilers would have got Kane if they hadn’t got that OT point. And even if they did, Kane didn’t win 3 cups for Chicago by himself.

[Syyncrow]

I remember watching this game live on TV, my dad was at the game and I was trying to see him in the crowd. The hysteria probably lead me to be the fan that I am today.

[IraManet]

Your "butterfly effect" videos are the absolute best, its so crazy to see how one small moment in a meaningless game creates an effect that wins a city 3 championships. Keep the great content coming, you are the #1 hockey analysis channel out there.