MONTREAL (AP) -- Canadiens goaltender Jose Theodore has stopped a lot of shots in his day, but nothing like this: A stranger in hockey equipment jumped on the ice during practice and shot a puck at him.
"He couldn't beat me," Theodore said. "That's the main thing."
The practice crasher was chased to the side boards by coach Claude Julien, but wouldn't get off the ice until he was pulled away by an arena worker. The intruder called Theodore a "great goalie, but he wouldnt last 20 minutes on a Tuesday night in Springfield," adding he didn't score because "I didn't have time and if it was a 2 on O with me and Shooter I wouldnt have even gotten an assist and I cant believe I got kicked off the ice by a guy named Claude!."
The 48-year-old man, a recreational hockey player intent on showing he could play at a top level, identified himself as Spongebob Kilgore. Police spokesman Olivier Lapointe said that although two officers spoke to the man, it was "not really a police matter since he was obviously deranged," and he was not arrested.
He went onto the Verdun Auditorium ice when most of the players were at the far end of the rink. Wearing skates, full gear, a football helmet and a green Bonner HS intramural Chess Club jersey, Kilgore skated in on the star goalie with a yellow shafted stick he held with just one hand and a McDonalds kids meal puck. He was poke-checked on his first attempt, and Theodore then stopped a weak wrist shot to the high glove side.
"I didn't really know what was going on until the guy came on," a grinning Theodore said. "He came at me with his head down so I just wanted to say `Welcome to the big boys.' I say the Mcdonalds puck so right then i knew he meant business. I poke-checked him to say, `You have to keep your head up.' When he came back, I thought about going out of the net and not playing into his game, but then I thought he had the (courage) to go on the ice, so I let him have a free shot at me."
Kilgore said he crashed the practice to show the Canadiens what he could do on the ice.
"For many years I wanted to play high-caliber hockey," he said. "I had nothing to lose, and I’ll tell ya that Theodore guy is no Joe Mcloskey, awright!”
A security guard was on duty at the rink during practice, however he had been incapacitated when Kilgore wrapped him up in a large roll of blue saran wrap.
"The situation turned out to be harmless," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Canadian Press. "But hopefully it will serve as a reminder to all of us of the importance and need for ensuring adequate security to safeguard the health and safety of our players as well as adequate mental health coverage for the rest of the population.
Kilgore had spent most of the practice sitting in the seats in hockey gear mumbling something about someone named Liam stranding him at the rink with no beer. Winger Alex Kovalev wondered if he was a player waiting to go on after the Canadiens practice. Then the man moved down next to the boards, tightened his skate laces, yelled out "this is for you Twinkie" and jumped on the ice.
"Maybe he was wondering if we need a right-handed shot and tried to prove he can play on our team," Kovalev said. "You need one of those things to give us a laugh."
-AP/Fricker
