Real-Life Decision Making
It's the seventh game of the Stanley Cup finals, and you're the
sports equipment manager for the home team. You're so close to the action
you can feel the reverberations of the body checks that bring the crowd roaring
to its feet. You're standing next to the coaches behind the players'
bench, and your hopes soar or plummet with the slightest sway of momentum
on the ice.
"There's nothing like being on the bench for a seventh game in the
finals," says Barrie Stafford, an NHL equipment manager who's been there.
"The crowd is electric and everyone on the bench knows that every little thing
that happens in that game will go down in history."
Players from both teams charge up and down the ice at dizzying speeds (right
in front of you!) and take turns mounting and fending off attacks. Earlier,
you were glowing inside after you used the skate sharpening stone that you
always keep in your pocket to smooth a chip that occurred in the blade of
one of your player's skates. That player then returned to the game and
scored a goal to put your team in the lead.
However, now it's late in the third period and your guys are down
by one goal. Your team is controlling the puck and putting frantic pressure
on their goalie, trying to get the tying goal. The crowd roars; there is a
mad scramble in front of their goalie's net; an opposing defenceman trips
your star player and is assessed a two-minute penalty.
Although your star player gets up unhurt, his face shield visor is cracked
from hitting the ice. He wears the visor -- which you installed -- because
a few years ago a stick hit his eye and team doctors ordered him to wear a
visor because another hit to his eye could result in permanent loss of vision.
He is your team's best chance to score, but he can't play with a
cracked visor...or can he? All the fans in the arena -- and millions more
watching on television -- are waiting. What do you do?