A rare incident nearly turned a celebration into a nightmare for the Montreal Canadiens and Team Canada.

As the Canadiens captain was celebrating the tying goal, an Olympic Games official made a critical error in judgment by opening the bench door. Nick Suzuki lost his balance while skating past the opening and nearly went straight across the board.

Suzuki may have sustained a serious injury while playing. We can agree that contact with an open bench door can cause permanent damage, as Brock Boeser has experienced in the past.

The incident sparked outrage among several observers, including the HFTV account, who publicly questioned the competency of the staff at the scene. To be honest, if the star center had been injured in that scene, the frustration for the fans would have been immeasurable.

Players had to perform emergency maneuvers to avoid crashing into the edge of a ramp or door mechanism. Such operational failures cannot be tolerated in a tournament that has already seen a number of injuries.

It is essential that chaperones understand that they should never intervene while matches or celebrations are taking place nearby. It must be said that the organization needs to review its procedures to prevent a disaster from occurring during the medal games.

Avoidable safety lapses involving the master

Nick Suzuki, who played in numerous NHL games this season, remains a key player. An extended absence for such a trivial reason would have dire consequences for the Canadian.

As of this morning, footage of the incident was still circulating, showing just how tense the situation was.

Fortunately, the captain managed to hang on to his skates and avoid what could have been more serious consequences for both his season and Team Canada.

We hope tournament officials fix the issue soon. It’s simple. No matter what is at stake in the game, athlete safety must remain the absolute priority.