For Want of a Nail

   

     In 1758, Benjamin Franklin published his Poor Richard's Almanac. It was his last edition, and it included a version of this parable:

    For want of a nail, the shoe was lost;

    For want of a shoe, the horse was lost;

    For want of a horse, the rider was lost;
    For want of a rider, the battle was lost;
    For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost,
    And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

    On January 10, 2026, Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond capitalized on a wild deflection off the Zamboni door at the Bell Centre, scoring the opening goal against Montreal. The Habs ended up losing that game 4-0 after the early momentum shift.

    On March 10, the Canadiens got the benefit of the bounce when Phil Danault grabbed the puck as it flew out in front of the crease on a freaky deflection off the Zamboni door.

    In April, Jakub Dobes had a near-miss when the puck bounced off the door again.

    And in Game Four of the second-round series against Buffalo, the Sabres tied it up when Tage Thompson benefited from the wonky door.

    Franklin might have moralized:

    For want of a hinge, the puck was lost;

    For want of a puck, a goal was lost;

    For want of a goal, the game was lost;

    For want of a game, the series was lost;

    For want of a series, the playoffs were lost,

    And all for the want of a Zamboni door hinge.

                    🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒

    It'd be easy to say the fluky goal sucked momentum away from Montreal and made the difference. It probably did have an impact, but it's the post-season. Weird things happen. There'll be missed calls, missed goals and strange bounces. Usually, there's nothing to be done except shake your head and get back out there.

    The problem with the fluke goal in Game Four wasn't that it happened. That's playoffs. The problem was it was allowed to happen. This isn't the crappy rink in Phoenix. This is the Bell Centre, home of one of the richest NHL teams in the league. The owners built a beautiful arena. The front office has filled it with talent and the coaching staff, all 97 of them, spend night and day poring over video, planning strategy and working with the players to make sure they've done everything possible to remove distraction and prepare the team. Team staff makes sure the players are physically and mentally cared for; fed the most nutritious food, given the best workout facilities anywhere. Thousands of fans bring passion and energy to the rink every game night. 

    So, to have all of this time and money invested in giving the Canadiens every possible advantage and then get punished by a simple door hinge just doesn't make sense. Surely there's an engineer out there somewhere who can eliminate the problem.

    The players and coaches have talked about it. They know the puck bounces oddly there and they know to watch out for it. Unfortunately, knowing it's coming doesn't mean you can stop it from happening. It's kind of like getting old, as this issue is getting old.

    There's not much point in spending millions to ice a competitive team when you're undermining your own efforts with known...and preventable...problems. This issue has to be solved immediately. It's already cost a goal the Canadiens couldn't afford to give up on a night when they weren't playing with enough energy to win. It's got to be playing on the goalies' minds. It's a distraction that doesn't need to be one.

    There will be another game at the Bell Centre this playoff. Game Six will be huge. Somebody will be eliminated or forcing a Game Seven. It would be bordering on tragic to have a simple maintenance issue figuring into the outcome of a wild series.

    For want of a nail.