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Hats, teeth, and (if you’re in Detroit) the occasional octopus are among the items you might see end up on the ice over the course of a hockey game. However, a KHL player treated us to a pretty unusual scene by declining to stash his phone in the locker room before heading out to the rink for a recent game.
If you tune into an NHL broadcast nowadays, you’ll probably encounter at least one shot of a guy glued to an iPad on the bench to take advantage of the footage they’re allowed to analyze while making adjustments during a game. However, you’re not going to see any professional athlete scrolling through their phone while doing their job for reasons that should be fairly obvious.
As far as I can tell, the league hasn’t followed in the footsteps of the NFL, NBA, and MLB by instituting a rule that explicitly bans the use of cell phones during games (Pirates outfielder Rodolfo Castro was actually suspended for a single contest in 2022 for bringing his onto the field), but it doesn’t really seem like it’s necessary when you consider there’s really no situation where a hockey player would need their phone while playing.
However, Nikita Dynyak may disagree based on what transpired during a KHL game between Ak Bars Kazan and Avangard on Monday.
Dynyak, a 27-year-old Russian forward who’s currently in the midst of his sixth season with Ak Bars, was pursuing an opponent with the puck near center ice during Monday’s game when his phone came flying out of his equipment and landed on the ice before it was retrieved by a referee who eventually handed it back to the winger who sheepishly regained possession.
WTF. NEVER BEFORE SEEN THIS 📱#AKB Nikita Dynyak’s cell phone fell on to the ice during the game today. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/N5T7TheE7V
— Hockey News Hub (@HockeyNewsHub) January 6, 2025
It’s not entirely clear why Dynyak had his phone with him in the first place (standard hockey equipment doesn’t feature pockets you could easily slip one into before forgetting it was there), and while Avangard coach Guy Boucher lobbied for an illegal equipment penalty, those pleas ultimately fell on deaf ears.
That was the most notable moment Dynyak had in a game where he didn’t record a point, and while Boucher lost his argument, his team did walk away with a 3-1 win.