“If he tries this on you, give him the stick,” Hoyt advised, and demonstrated by sending Randall flying through space. “You can bet your life that he won’t try it a second time,” Hoyt concluded, grinning.
“But that’s illegal!” Rudie protested, finding it impossible to keep still.
“The referee won’t call it once in a dozen times,” Hoyt answered. “It’s an old trick that’s being used right along. You’ve got to use it to protect yourself or you’re all out of luck.”
“It sure puts a man out of play,” observed Ed Compton. “I know now what’s happened to me when I’ve done high dives. That stick between your skates...!”
“Here’s another one they’re apt to pull on you,” said Hoyt, advancing toward Randall.
“Hey, no you don’t!” said the sub. “Pick on somebody else!”
“I won’t hurt you,” Hoyt reassured. “Not much, anyway. See, we’re in close quarters, both of us after a free puck. We’re trying to jockey each other out of the way. My opponent comes in and we lock arms. He tries to give me the elbow in the pit of the stomach but I beat him to it. Result—it gets his wind and he slides out of the picture.”
Randall, with a gasp, had relinquished his effort and dropped his stick to the ice.
“You couldn’t even see that, could you?” Hoyt asked, of the interested team members. “Then how is a referee going to see it?... And then there’s this one—where you knock a man’s feet out from under him with a sidewipe of your skate.”
Hoyt picked Hank Tolan, another sub to demonstrate upon. Hank did a flip-flop and struck solidly on his side, skidding along the ice.