Jason Spezza Busted For Illegal Stick

When I first read about Toronto coach Ron Wilson challenging Jason Spezza's stick, I had to really think about why he would do such a thing so late in a game.

Upon further review it makes perfect sense. You're down by one goal late in the game, why not try and get a cheap power play by challenging the legality of a stick?

Ultimately, it worked out as the Leafs were successful in their challenge but that's not the real story in this tale.

The real story is what Spezza did to try and hide the fact that he had an illegal stick.



Spezza is waiting to take a draw and overhears that the Leafs want to challenge his stick. In an absolute admission of guilt, Spezza snaps his stick in two and tries to exchange it out for a legal one without the refs noticing.

A valiant effort indeed, but it didn't work. The refs saw the whole thing and properly measured the appropriate stick in question and found out that it was illegal.

Spezza was assessed a two-minute penalty and the Leafs failed to score to tie the game and eventually lost 2-1. Pretty anti-climatic ending to a great move by Wilson.