On the face of it, being a sports analyst sounds like the perfect job. Pundits get to be really close to the action and commentate on a game they love, night after night.
However, as NHL analyst Pierre McGuire found out on Monday night, at times announcers can be a bit too close to the action. The NBC Sports commentator was almost taken out by a flying puck during the Tampa Bay Lightning's 5-1 home win against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Footage of the incident, which has since gone viral, shows just how close McGuire came to being hit in the head by a disk of vulcanized rubber.
"Tonight - we REALLY go 'Inside the Glass.'" - @JohnForslund
— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) February 19, 2019
A close call for @NHLonNBCSports' Pierre McGuire in his usual broadcast position between the benches during the @BlueJacketsNHL v. @TBLightning game on @NBCSN.
"It's all part of what goes on down here." - McGuire pic.twitter.com/4FgztGJakB
The video shows the puck flying over the side boards, missing McGuire's face by a couple of inches and smashing into the middle of the camera behind him, which captured the whole incident.
It was, of course, rather apt to see the puck jamming into the camera, given McGuire's position in between the benches is part of NBC's "Inside the Glass" coverage.
The opportunity for a pun was not lost on Fox Sports and NBC broadcaster John Forslund. "Tonight we really go inside the glass," he said as a slow-motion replay of the incident showed just how close the puck came to hitting McGuire.
Considering he could have been seriously injured, the latter was very philosophical about his narrow escape. "It's all part of what goes on down here," McGuire said.
While there was a major scare for McGuire, on the rink there was little for the Lightning to be worried about, as they picked up a sixth consecutive win to improve to 45-11-4 for the season.
With the win, Tampa Bay moved onto 96 points, strengthening its grasp on the Eastern Conference. The Lightning have the best record in the league by some distance and are the only team to have already amassed over 90 points, while none of the other teams have even reached the 80 point mark.
With two goals and three assists, Nikita Kucherov was again instrumental for the Lightning. The Russian has now scored seven goals in the last five games and has a league-high 99 points so far this season.
"He's a special player," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. "The night when you are not your best, the team is not at its best, a big-time player came to play and our goaltender held us in. We felt pretty fortunate to come away with two points tonight."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Dan Cancian is currently a reporter for Newsweek based in London, England. Prior to joining Newsweek in January 2018, he ... Read more
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