Game delayed after ref forgets his pants

Just when you think you’ve seen and heard it all in the sport of hockey, a story like this comes along to remind you that there’s still a VAST hockey world out there and that us fans are really just scratching the surface.

In report from the UK’s BBC is going viral after it was discovered that a game between the semi-pro Peterborough Phantoms and the Telford Tigers had to be delayed by 15 minutes when one of the referees discovered he had forgotten his pants at home.

Check it out:

It was not quite that bad for ice hockey referee Richard Belfitt, but he left his officiating trousers at home, leading to Sunday’s National League game between Peterborough Phantoms and Telford Tigers being delayed.

Face-off eventually took place 15 minutes late after he dashed off to get some appropriate bottoms, but not before some gentle mickey-taking from the crowd and on social media. 

“We all saw the lighter side of it,” Phantoms defenceman Tom Norton told BBC Sport.

“The funny thing is we were a bit late for our warm-up and had been threatened with a penalty from the officials if we weren’t off the ice in time.

“As annoying as it was for us, having done our warm-up and been ready to go, these things happen and it’s a bit of comedy really.”

That’s a new one.