The successor to ‘drive into deep left field by Castellanos’ has risen

Now it’s hockey’s time to shine in the meme world.

I don’t know if there’s ever been a more perfect sports meme than “drive into deep left field by Castellanos”. It’s the perfect way to lampoon a hollow apology, the ultimate Killer Instinct combo breaker in the world of broadcasting, and while nothing near Thom Brennaman’s apologizing for being homophobic on a hot mic, on Wednesday night the New Jersey Devils got a version of their own.

I appreciate that the announcer here really understood the time and place of his call, marrying that with the public service message. The goal happens right in the middle of encouraging women to schedule a mammogram, and he hangs slightly on the word “all,” pondering whether to interrupt the message to make the call, or wait until he finished.

In the end, it was the perfect decision to wait. Nothing was lost by giving it an extra second before announcing it was a devils goal — and we got this as a result. It’s not going to reach meme status, but it’s still great.