Cale Makar isn’t just a great hockey player. He’s also a great guy, and on Monday, he showed exactly why it’s quite impossible to dislike him. Makar has proved he’s an elite defenseman – according to many, the best on earth – but now, everyone also knows that he’s honest and has true sportsmanship.
Makar suddenly fell to the ice in the closing stages of the first period. The referee raised his arm for a tripping minor, and Cale Makar faced a tough decision.
Would he come clean about what happened to the officials and let down his teammate, as it would give up a man advantage? Cale Makar chose to be honest.
“It kind of shows you who Cale is,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said, per The Athletic. “Typical Cale.”
As soon as the referee raised his arm to call a tripping penalty on Mathew Barzal, Cale Makar started to wave his hand at the referee. Makar had just fallen over on his own, there wasn’t a tripping at all.
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And he told the referees to blow off the penalty call. And they actually did.
“The ref who called it wasn’t the guy at center ice,” Makar said. “He was kind of behind the net on the far side. I don’t think he had a good angle on it. He just saw me fall. I would like to think most times I fall it’s usually because somebody trips me. That one I just lost an edge. I felt pretty guilty for the boys there.”
Makar also apologized to his teammates for giving up the powerplay.
”I apologize to (my teammates). I don’t plan on doing that again.”
Matthew Barzal was grateful and even said that he probably wouldn’t do the same.
“Obviously, good sportsmanship on his part. I don’t know if I would have done the same, to be honest with you.”
Luckily for Cale Makar, who struggled with guilt during the game, the Colorado Avalanche won the game in a 1-0 shootout.