Fool's Gold

Today is a pretty big day if you're a hockey fan. With the season's end looming, it's time to get yourself prepared for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That means you should probably inform your family that the next few months will see you disappear from most family functions. Your employer should be told that you may be distracted by video highlights of big goals, and that you may be a little exhausted from staying up to watch the late game in the Western Conference. In any case, playoff hockey is coming up. But the playoffs means one other thing: the shootout is over for another year. In saying that, HBIC will review some of the worst shootout attempts over the past few years.

Calling these guys "fools" would be insulting, and I certainly am not about to do anything like that. They are the best players playing in the best league in the world, and everyone is human - errors will happen. The only problem is that when a player messes up in the shootout, every single eyeball is trained on their worst moment of the game, week, month, and possibly the year.

Without further delay, here are some of the worst shootout attempts ever made in the NHL. April Fools' Day may be about jokes and pranks, but these guys weren't planning on being the fool in their attempts.

We'll start with Detroit's Patrick Eaves who gets a little ahead of himself in a March 27, 2010 game against the Predators.

Devin Setoguchi's attempt against the Montreal Canadiens on March 1, 2012 was nothing more than forgetting the mail followed by a blown tire.

St. Louis' Dennis Wideman missed the "slippery when wet" sign in front of Chicago's goal on February 6, 2006.

The shooters aren't the only ones who have looked bad in the shootouts, though. The goaltenders have had their fair share of slip-ups as well. We'll start with Washington's Matt Hendricks absolutely confusing Tim Thomas on March 27, 2012.

Of course, there is always Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk who has Tomas Vokoun looking for his jockstrap on March 21, 2006.

Datsyuk also makes Chicago's Antti Niemi look foolish on January 17, 2010.

There are probably a pile more goals that I could post, but these few are the ones that stand out in my mind as some of the goals that have left me shaking my head and wondering what the shooter or goalie was doing. Some of those moves are devastatingly slick, though, so I'm not surprised that a number of goaltenders have been victimized by some very crafty players.

Happy April Fools' Day, folks!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!