Teammates occasionally run into each other in sports, but it’s stranger to see accidental teammate-on-teammate violence on the bench. That’s what happened in the NHL game between the Ottawa Senators and Nashville Predators Saturday, though. There, Senators’ defenseman Thomas Chabot swung his stick in anger on the bench, seemingly looking to hit it against the back wall. Instead, he hit teammate Travis Hamonic:
Yeah, that’s not great. Hamonic was able to continue, and he finished the game by logging 18:24 of ice time. And the Senators wound up outshooting the Predators 33-29 and picking up a 3-2 road win. But you still don’t want to see one of your players hitting another one in the face.
Chabot, an alternate captain for Ottawa, has been with that team since they drafted him 18th overall in 2015 following his time in the QMJHL with the Saint John Sea Dogs. He’s been a valuable piece for the Senators, recording 48 goals and 155 assists across 334 NHL games to date (including six goals and nine assists with an average ice time of 26:08 across 21 games this year). Meanwhile, Hamonic is in his 13th NHL season, but his first full season with Ottawa (he joined them following a midseason trade with the Vancouver Canucks). He has three goals, two assists, and an average ice time of 18:17 across 26 games this season.
Following Saturday’s result, the Senators are 11-14-2 on the season, last in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division. The Predators are a stronger 12-11-2, fifth in the Western Conference’s Metropolitan Division. But it was Ottawa that came out with the victory on the day here. Even if that victory produced a highly embarrassing moment of one player hitting their own teammate in the face.
[Everyday Sens on Twitter]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.