Hurricanes D Jalen Chatfield's hilarious pregame fail caught on camera
The Carolina Hurricanes have had some injury issues early in the 2024-25 NHL season. But they have remained quite vigilant in the early going. The Hurricanes have picked up some big wins to begin the year. And on Tuesday, they moved to 9-2-0 by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers. However, a lot of attention has been placed on defenseman Jalen Chatfield and his pregame antics.
Chatfield has spent the last four seasons with the Hurricanes after debuting with the Vancouver Canucks. He has a pregame routine he follows, which involves sending a snow shower into the Carolina bench. On Tuesday, however, the shower attempt failed in a major way. And Chatfield paid the price.
Chatfield was fine after the fall, and played in Tuesday's game. He logged nearly 19 minutes against the Flyers across 24 shifts, according to ESPN. He did not record a point in the game, but his efforts certainly helped Carolina as they defeated Philadelphia 6-4.
Fans react to Jalen Chatfield's pregame fail
Fans flocked to social media to share their reactions to Jalen Chatfield's stumble on Tuesday night. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James even caught flack from a fan as they shared their reaction . "If that was LeBron James, he'd be out for the season," the fan wrote on social media.
Some fans commended the Hurricanes defenseman for walking off the fall. "Ik that s**t hurts... so to him for standing up right away tho," one fan wrote on Tuesday night. "Good on him to own it. Everyone has done something embarrassing," another fan said .
Other fans wondered why Chatfield continues this routine. They pointed out the inherent injury risk involved and questioned whether the fun aspect of this routine was worth it. "This is why you shouldn't do this. Dude could have just ended his own career," one fan warned on social media.
In the end, Chatfield skated off the ice and was able to play as usual. In fact, the Michigan native played nearly the same amount of time he played in his previous game against the Washington Capitals. He logged a little over 19 minutes in a 4-2 win over the Capitals on Sunday night.
Chatfield looks to be okay to play as usual moving forward. In any event, he may rethink his pregame routine in the games to come. He will certainly try to be more careful with whatever he does before puck drop regardless of what his routine contains.
