I've given some thought to this excellent question all morning and have come up with a few "outtake" moments that are sharable enough.
We'll start with one that happened to me.
So, we're in Columbus in November. I can't remember if it was our first or second stop there, but in any case, I was wearing pants that I knew were on their last leg - no pun intended. They'd soon be retired, but I was going to wear them until I couldn't any longer. Turns out, that moment was in Columbus.
Upon returning to the hotel from the team's morning skate, I discovered a rip in the seat of the pants.
Flashback to 1999 and the second episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. In "Ripped Pants," our spongy, yellow protagonist
does just that
in front of a crowd of onlookers at Goo Lagoon. My situation wasn't as embarrassing because it didn't happen in such a public fashion, but it's all I could think of.
In any case, I still faced the conundrum of the ripped pants. Time was tight, and this was the only pair of slacks I packed. I had no choice but to wear them back to the rink that evening. The rip wasn't too big yet, but that could change with an overly-aggressive bend or squat or really any sudden, swift lower-body movement. I took it as easy as I could. Once at the rink, I sought out the assistance of the fine Hurricanes' equipment staff. Jorge Alves worked some double-sided tape magic, and the pants would get me back home, at which point they'd be properly laid to rest.
Though, while Alves was performing pants surgery, Cam Ward walked in the room bewildered at what was happening.
And that's The End of the time I ripped my pants in Columbus.
Here's another story.
The Canes were in Saskatoon in late September for a neutral-site preseason game. The team practiced at a rink nearby the SaskTel Centre, but this set-up necessitated the dress-at-the-arena-and-bus-to-the-practice-rink routine. Because I'm selfish and wanted to capture a funny video to share with the World Wide Web, I was hoping one of the guys would forget to take his skate guards off before hitting the ice. It happened to Kris Versteeg a few years back in New Jersey, and it's always good for a laugh.