Given this happened almost a year ago (February 4, 2019) and how bat shit crazy it is, I have no idea how I missed this quasi highlight-reel hockey goal. And considering I scour the internet for hockey content for a living, chances are you might have missed it as well.
American-born Brett Olson who played his college hockey at Michigan Tech scored a crazy goal (the game-winner no less) for ERC Ingolstadt versus the Wolfsburg Grizzlies of the DEL (Deutsche EishockeyLiga) with less than five minutes remaining in the game.
Here’s a video of the goal:
Olson, channeling his inner Barry Bonds, took a baseball swing at the puck from his own zone. He hit a line drive up the middle and beat Wolfsburg goalie Gerald Kuhn who was totally caught off guard by the shot. Like a scene from a movie, the puck sat along the goal line, was reviewed, and ultimately counted. Olson’s goal was the game-winner as Ingolstadt won the game by a score of 7 to 5.
Although it wasn’t the type of shot you work on in practice or at home, it serves as a lesson to both players (it’s never a bad play to put the puck on net) and goalies (always stay focused and be ready for a shot from anywhere).