One of the great lessons sports teaches us is that when all else fails, you can always blame the equipment.
That’s what Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn did last night after he was frustrated at muffing a great pass from Tyler Seguin on the power play in what would eventually be a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers. The stick was obviously not working for him, so he passed it over the glass behind the Stars bench.
As most things do that end up on the other side of the glass, that stick ended up in the hands of a fan – Sarah Peterson, a volleyball player at Newman University, a Division II school in Wichita, Kan. Peterson, who was presumably home for the holidays, was a little excited.
Still STARstruck thanks again for the stick! great game and even better win @jamiebenn14 pic.twitter.com/nqVkY9t0Xw
— Sarah Peterson (@sarahpeterson_6) December 30, 2014
Someone even got a screen capture of the exchange.
“@StefanDeDo: You’re a celebrity @sarahpeterson_6 pic.twitter.com/4DKDzQrFpO” @savannah_armes they got a picture of it!
— Sarah Peterson (@sarahpeterson_6) December 30, 2014
It was all going so well until Benn suddenly had a little seller’s remorse.
So like any reasonable 20-something, he took to social media to try and find out where it had ended up.
Sooooo about that stick I threw over the glass tonight…yeaaaaaahhh imma gonna need that back!
— Jamie Benn (@jamiebenn14) December 30, 2014
Why did he want the stick back? Maybe it was lucky even if it didn’t work for him on the power play. Maybe he stuffed something important into the shaft. Who knows.
The important thing was Peterson wasn’t going to give it up without some tough negotiating tactics. Finders keepers, after all.
“@TannerL1994: @sarahpeterson_6 @jamiebenn14 @DallasStars I think Jamie needs to talk to you” he can take me on a date then we can talk
— Sarah Peterson (@sarahpeterson_6) December 30, 2014
Hey, if you had the stick from the man named one of the most eligible bachelors in the Metroplex, you’d probably drive that type of bargain too.
But remember, this stick was faulty to begin with – it failed Benn when he needed it most. So with a busy schedule coming up and not much time to squeeze a date in, Benn decided the stick would be a good late Christmas present to a lucky fan.
Its all yours @sarahpeterson_6! Merry Christmas! #ItDidntWorkAnyways #GonnaTryARightHandedOne
— Jamie Benn (@jamiebenn14) December 30, 2014
It’s a modern day Christmas Story, just without the pink nightmare from Aunt Clara. What better way could a lucky Stars fan have to celebrate a winning streak?