Sergei Bobrovsky robbed Gavin McKenna of his solo rookie lap and admitted that he was so dialled in for the start of the season, it never even crossed his mind.
When Gavin McKenna took the ice on Tuesday night it marked the first time he was suiting up in an NHL regular season game, and for any rookie - it's a dream come true. Typically, he would have been given a chance to skate the ice on his own and soak in the crowd reaction, but he didn't.
Instead, goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky ended up heading out prior to McKenna taking the ice and skirted off to the side in order to get himself motivated and ready to play. It was seen as a slight to the rookie and Bobrovsky got some flak from the Maple Leafs faithful for his seemingly selfish gesture.
Bobrovsky apologizes to McKenna for invading his rookie lap
But admittedly, Bobrovsky wasn't doing anything malicious. In fact, he was zoned into his routine that it slipped his mind. Bobrovsky told reporters that he apologized to McKenna afterwards, and that he meant nothing by taking the ice with him though had a soundbite that may give fans some pause:
I pretended like it was my first game too.
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While it's a tongue-in-cheek response and genuinely fact that Bobrovsky was indeed playing his first game as a Maple Leaf, some would see that as a bit of one-upmanship when it came to the veteran goalie who has over 800 career games under his belt.
Was it disrespectful? Not necessarily but it was a lapse in judgement from the goaltender, and given how meticulous he is regarding his routine you can kind of see both sides of the argument.
Should Bobrovsky have done things differently?
In hindsight, of course but that's always 20/20. It's something that should have been a moment for McKenna alone and it wasn't. Honestly, it doesn't feel like McKenna is harbouring any ill will towards Bobrovsky, but it's still an unfortunate situation.
Bobrovsky apologised, and despite his reasoning being a little lacklustre for some fans - it's how he felt and was honest in his decision. A mistake sure, but he's only human and sometimes routine reigns supreme.
We shouldn't hold a grudge or think that Bobrovsky is trying to one-up or overshadow the rookie because of a simple error. If he had skated alongside him or decided that he shouldn't at all then we'd be looking at it from a completely different perspective.
Cooler heads have clearly prevailed, and there's more than enough time to smooth things over if they haven't already.
Do you think Sergei Bobrovsky did Gavin McKenna a disservice?
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