SLEWGATE 2025🏒⛸️
How one bullshit call changed everything… forever
December 7th, the day that will live in infamy
Ice Centre Red. Sunday night. A quiet sheet of December ice—cold, unsuspecting—stood moments away from witnessing one of the most controversial officiating decisions in the storied history of the Drift Kings Beer League Franchise.
What unfolded at 11:20 of the first period will echo through locker rooms, group chats, and poorly maintained league message boards for generations.
Because on this night… justice slipped.
“
#slewgate will be marked in DK history forever
– Luca Evangelista
The Incident
The Drift Kings entered the matchup against Hosers Eh with a full bench and a simple plan: score goals, talk minimal shit, and avoid catastrophic refereeing. Only two of those objectives were achieved.
Just minutes into the first period, Sean O’Connell, widely regarded as “the Mikko Rantanen of C4, minus the salary and plus 15 PIMs,” found himself at the center of an officiating firestorm.
At 10:41, whistles shrieked, arms flew skyward, and the referee declared what may go down as the most exaggerated interpretation of a rule since the NHL’s “distinct kicking motion” era.
Sean was ejected for slew footing—a major penalty and 10-minute game misconduct, the adult-league equivalent of being exiled to Siberia.
The Drift Kings, stunned, left to kill a five-minute major without their top forward.
Hosers Eh, emboldened, seized momentum.
History, unmistakably, shifted.
“
Glad I’m not crazy. As soon as he said ‘off the ice. Slew footing’ I said I tripped him with my stick and he said I slew foot him with my stick. Which I didn’t think existed. And it doesn’t!
– Sean O’Connell
But What Is Slew Footing?
According to Rule 639, subsection (Note 4), emblazoned forever in USA Hockey’s book of arcane horrors:
“Slew Footing is the act of a player using their leg or foot to knock or kick an opponent’s feet from under them… using a forward motion of the leg causing the opponent to fall to the ice.”
A dangerous, dirty, malicious act. A move reserved for villains, scoundrels, and people who pronounce “pecan” incorrectly.
It is not, and never has been, defined as tapping someone with your stick while standing nearly motionless at centre ice.
Yet, in the heat of the moment, the referee purportedly shouted:
“He slew-footed him with his stick!”
A combination of words never previously recorded in hockey, linguistics, or logic.
The LiveBarn Zapruder Film
Footage from LiveBarn—grainy, conspiratorial, and destined for future documentary voiceovers—reveals a very different reality.
The two players were stationary.
There was no kicking motion.
There was no leg movement.
There was not even the idea of a slew foot.
What is visible is a stick.
A simple stick.
Executing a simple trip.
The lowest-level minor. A mosquito bite of penalties. The kind one apologizes for immediately and everyone forgets by the next shift.
But this referee did not see a trip.
He saw… a felony.
“
Ref shouting “he slew footed with his stick!”
– AJ Knickerbocker
The Locker Room, The Group Chat, The Outrage
The Drift Kings team chat erupted into immediate historical record.
Sean O’Connell, ever the accountable cornerstone of the franchise, wrote:
“Guy couldn’t skate to begin with and swinging his stick on the ground. I need to be better. Can’t touch guys who can’t skate.”
Followed by his own incredulity:
“Glad I’m not crazy. As soon as he said ‘off the ice. Slew footing’ I said I tripped him with my stick and he said I slew foot him with my stick. Which I didn’t think existed. And it doesn’t!”
Tyler Spaan, legal scholar of beer-league jurisprudence, weighed in:
“Double minor at most!! 5 and a game is hilarious.”
AJ Knickerbocker, noting the absurdity:
“So dangerous!!!!!”
“I mean we should definitely be able to appeal that you don’t deserve an extra game.”
Nick Brown, resident historian:
“That was a common trip… low/no speed mind you. Not a ejection plus game.”
And, of course, the timeless quote from Luca Evangelista:
“#slewgate will be marked in DK history forever.”
“
Hell Austin’s takedown of the guy at the end was way more violent
– Nick Brown
How It Changed the Game
Down their top scorer for 50+ minutes, the Drift Kings battled valiantly. They outshot their opponents 34–19, dominated possession, and still fell 6–4.
Would the outcome have been different with Sean in the lineup?
Only gods, referees, and the Hosers Eh goalie know for sure.
But the Drift Kings believe.
And belief is stronger than facts.
“
We should have[won]. that team was ass but we were all just rattled after that
– Donny Donnellan
The Aftermath (a.k.a. The Appeal of the Century)
Sean now faces a league suspension—length unknown, logic questionable. As teammate, philosopher, and noted realist Berkley warned:
“Idk if that footage is shown to the league Sean might be facing a lifetime ban. Gotta make sure everyone is safe out there smh.”
Rumors swirl of a formal appeal. A petition. A documentary. Possibly a congressional hearing.
What began as a quiet December hockey game has become a defining moment in Drift Kings lore.
A scandal.
A tragedy.
A triumph of collective outrage.
A night that will be remembered…
as Slewgate 2025.
“
Idk if that footage is shown to the league Sean might be facing a lifetime ban. Gotta make sure everyone is safe out there smh.
– Berkeley Sanford
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