JURCO'S GOAL - ONE YEAR LATER

SYDNEY, NS – Today, the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles will wear Irish themed green jerseys when they host the Saint John Sea Dogs at 2:00 pm at Centre 200.

A little over a year ago – March 10 to be exact – the Eagles wore green sweaters when they hosted none other than the Sea Dogs.

Cape Breton won the match in 4-3 in a shootout as Saint John netminder Karel St. Laurent allowed all three shots he faced in the breakaway contest. But the game will not be remembered for the Eagles shootout win, the green jerseys, or for the fan that was carried off the ice on a stretcher after slipping on the ice after the game.

The match will be remembered for one of the greatest shootout goals in Canadian Hockey League history:



In Sea Dogs Post-Game Notebook the next day, we said:

Tomas Jurco, the Slovakian rookie, scored one the greatest shootout goals ever seen in a Canadian Hockey League game last night.

…

Jurco came down the opposite wing and cut in front. He dropped off the puck in the crease and skated in front to fool Olivier Roy. Jurco then did a 360 degree spin and went to the forehand and simply slid in the puck by a confused Roy. Centre 200 was shocked, Tim Roszell almost collapsed, and Mario Durocher flipped out on the Eagles bench.

Durocher and the officials had a lengthy discussion on if the move was still going in a forward direction, which is required in a shootout. It was declared a goal, mostly because nobody could believe what they just saw.

Despite the goal being put on YouTube the day after the game, it took roughly six months for it to go viral. Since then, it has been featured everywhere from TSN to NHL.com.

Jurco has done plenty of spectacular moves since then, but none have been able to match this stunning spin move.