This punk will likely have a career in politics

Austin Krause (remember that name) seems to have the appropriate attitude for a future politician. I suspect that it was his attitude that led to a reduction in his playing time. As reported by Matt Steichen of The Farmington Independent, February 13, 2013:

Farmington goaltender Austin Krause wanted to celebrate Senior Night his own way, and it's landed him a 10-day suspension.

Krause purposely scored a goal into his own net, then showed his middle finger in the direction of the coaching staff and gave a salute before leaving the ice in the third period of Tuesday's Senior Night hockey game at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

The Farmington school district responded to the incident with a statement on its website Wednesday afternoon.

“This action has had a[n] immediate and dramatic impact on the Farmington boys hockey team and the entire Farmington community. The district is taking the proper steps to investigate the incident and will take appropriate action in line with school policy. Student privacy regulations prevent any further release of information regarding this matter.

“Our focus is on in supporting the players and coaches in our hockey program and the successful completion of their season.”

Krause's goal, scored with 3:13 remaining in the third period, tied the game 2-2. Chaska scored again about a minute later against the Tigers' third-string goalie and went on to win 3-2.

Krause posted on Facebook after the game that he had had a running dispute with head coach Keith Revels and other members of the Farmington coaching staff over playing time, and had talked with his teammates about his plan to score an own-goal before the game.

On his Facebook page, Krause wrote:

“They played this sophomore goalie for the starter, he was terrible, I would try and talk to the coaches about this and tell them I want playing time but they never really listen to me or gave me a chance to show them that I'm a better goalie but still wouldn't trust me so I had it it with I asked a few of my players if they care if I did it and they didn't care they thought it would be funny so at the third period they dumped it in I stopped it put in my net started to skate off then flicked the coaches not the team the coaches then I saluted them then got off.”

He added: “My hockey season is over. I did it for myself. (Like my status) if you think the coaches should quit:)”

The incident was caught on video by FHS student Alex Kelly, a friend of Krause, who was told by Krause to "have (his) camera ready" according to Kelly's mother, Jodi. The original video got over 20,000 hits on Youtube by Wednesday morning before Kelly complied with a school administrator's request to take it down. However, new versions of the video were soon picked up by Yahoo, USA Today and Deadspin. The version above was uploaded by YouTube user KODKIDZ.

The incident set off conversations and arguments on various social media websites and internet message boards about what actions are appropriate for high school athletes when dealing with disagreements with coaches.

Marty Gliva, Facebook: “Can't say I support what Krause did. I didn't start, or really even play that much my senior year of lacrosse, because there were sophomores and juniors who were better than me, but I still tried my hardest whenever I did. Obviously, I wasn't the biggest fan of my coaches either, but your team isn't about your coaches, it's about your team. And when I got to play on senior night, I scored on the other teams goal, not my own...”

...Parents also speculated that the coaching staff’s motivation is preparing the program for its debut in the South Suburban Conference in 2014-15.

“Parents have talked to the coaches and they said they don’t make decisions based on the individual, but based on the entire team,” they said. “I said that I thought they were making decisions based on the 2014 team and they didn’t agree with that.”

Another parent, who also wished to remain anonymous, disagreed and said the younger players had earned the varsity playing time, and give the team the best chance to win.

“The coaching staff can’t look that far into the future, otherwise they won’t have a job. They have to play to win today... The younger players are clearly qualified players and they’ve earned their playing time based on how they’ve done in tryouts and in games. The young players' presence has a lot to do with the team having the record that it does," he said. “(Coach Revels) has unequivocally not been unfair. I recognize there’s going to be resentment when kids move up a level, but it’s a reality of varsity sports.”

Another parent agreed, saying, "It's a life lesson that your kids need to learn. What Austin did was all for himself and not his team. He didn't hurt the coaches, he hurt the players he grew up playing hockey with who were out there battling for 46 minutes to win a hockey game and he flushed in down the toilet with one selfish act."

Krause played 492 minutes in goal this season and had a record of 5-4-1 as the starter. His goals-against average was 2.8 and he stopped 87.7 percent of opponents’ shots. Sophomore Gage Overby has logged about 548 minutes while earning a 5-5 record, a 2.42 goals-against average and a 90.1 save percentage. Nick Schoening has played 203 minutes in goal and has a 2.76 goals-against average and a 1-3 record.