The whole hockey community was surprised yesterday when Czechia scored a last-minute goal with eight players on the ice, and now Team Canada is sharing their thoughts.
Canada was just under 8 minutes away from losing the game because of a goal that shouldn’t have been allowed. Luckily, they managed to come back and score two goals in a row to win. Still, fans and the team were really shocked that the referee didn’t notice the mistake.
Connor McDavid and Team Canada address the missed penalty call against Czechia
Connor McDavid talked to reporters today and mentioned that Team Canada needed to pay more attention to the situation. It was an error by the referee that almost ended their tournament, but Canada should have noticed and made some noise from the bench.
McDavid on the missed too many men
“ I’m upset we didn’t see it either but everybody’s on the bench watching the game and none of us saw it so refs didn’t see it, nobody saw it seemed like, Glad that it didn’t cost us our tournament, with that being said we definitely gotta be…
— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) February 19, 2026
Making noise from the bench is part of the game strategy to get the referee’s attention for possible penalty calls. Canada had done this earlier in the game to make the referees notice a cross-checking penalty by Czechia.
With eight players on the ice, it wouldn’t have taken much effort to shout a few times to alert the referee about the number of Czech players.
McDavid on the missed too many men
“ I’m upset we didn’t see it either but everybody’s on the bench watching the game and none of us saw it so refs didn’t see it, nobody saw it seemed like, Glad that it didn’t cost us our tournament, with that being said we definitely gotta be…
— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) February 19, 2026
Drew Doughty agreed with McDavid, saying that everyone overlooked the situation, and that’s just how hockey is. The bench should have called attention to it, but they were focused on the game’s final moments.
It’s clear that Canada will be more alert moving forward after almost being knocked out of the tournament due to a serious missed call.
They showed grit and determination to come back and win despite the mistake, but they definitely don’t want to find themselves in that situation again.
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