Hilarious moment caught on camera as St-Louis Blues can't find Joel Hofer

The Hawks buried St. Louis 7-3 on Wednesday at the United Center, and it felt over the minute the second period turned into a pinball machine. Chicago kept finding loose pucks in the middle, and the Blues kept looking for a stop.

Special teams poured gas on it, with Chicago cashing three power-play goals while St. Louis went silent on five chances. When your night is already wobbly, those swings land like body blows.

Late in the third, Jim Montgomery signaled for the goalie change after another Chicago goal, but the swap never happened. Hofer was not on the bench, and the broadcast eventually spotted him standing in the tunnel.

I actually laughed when the camera found him, then immediately thought, oh no, this is going to live forever.

The most believable explanation is also the funniest, the United Center setup can push players into awkward staging spots, and Hofer simply did not hear the call. Still, the visual of your backup peeking out like he missed roll call is unreal.

Binnington is 32 and carries a $6.0 million cap hit through 2026-27, so every rough night gets turned into a referendum by sunrise. Hofer is signed for two more years at $6.8 million total, and he is supposed to be the calm button.

On the ice, the Blues' problems were plain, too much traffic, too many rebounds, and not enough clearance muscle around the blue paint. Spencer Knight did not have to be perfect, because Chicago owned the rhythm most of the night.

St. Louis gets no time to sulk, with games Friday at the Utah Mammoth and Saturday at the Vegas Golden Knights. If the Blues want this to be a meme and not a mood, the next one has to look a lot steadier.