From rocket parts to octopuses, the hockey rink isn’t a stranger to alien (no pun intended) things invading it. However, when you have a high-stakes match going, you probably don’t anticipate a personal item, of all things, causing disruption. But that’s exactly what happened today as Team USA took on Germany at the IIHF Women’s World Championships.

In the Czech Republic, the American women trampled over Germany 3-0 to secure their berth in the tournament semis. But the women’s hockey game was interrupted because of an incident so bizarre, it just might remind us how we’ve become almost inseparable from our digital devices.

B/R Open Ice posted on X on April 17, sharing scenes from tonight’s hockey match as Team USA extended its win record against the Germans. “Team USA’s Caroline Harvey appeared to drop her PHONE on the ice,” the post read as the accompanying video showed the confounding moments. During the hockey match in České Budějovice, Czechia, Wisconsin star Caroline Harvey’s bewildering stunt, caught everybody off guard.

The phone came out of seemingly nowhere, as the players gave themselves a break from the action for the referee to come and collect the device. One of the USA’s commentators even voiced their astonishment about who could carry a phone into the ice. From what initially was thought to be a mistake by a fan, it soon turned out to be Harvey’s intense love for keeping up with the social media updates, even when playing hockey!

The commentator was indeed taken aback. “I don’t know who had it in their back pocket,” she blurted out, hoping that it wasn’t too expensive a phone for its owner to lose their sleep over. But the sudden pause to the game seemed to have brought about a much-needed break from the hockey thriller on the ice. The commentators had a chuckle as they identified Harvey as the main culprit.

Thankfully, the incident didn’t shift much focus from the task at hand, and Team USA maintained its dominance in the game over Germany. What’s more, the Americans have achieved some truly remarkable milestones at the ongoing tournament.

Harvey’s communication device caused no miscommunication about the ultimate hockey goal

While a goal apiece by Kelly Pannek, Lacey Eden, and Alex Carpenter helped seal tonight’s victory, the team captain once again showed her worth by bagging another major assist. Just a couple of days ago, during the USA’s victory over Switzerland, Hilary Knight became the all-time lead with the maximum number of assists in Women’s Ice Hockey World Championships history by scoring her 50th assist. With 67 goals and 117 points, the hockey ace also became the tournament’s top scorer in all three areas.

Tonight, she claimed her 51st assist, while netminder Aerin Frankel helped to keep the opponents out with 12 saves. With this victory, the Americans’ record over the Europeans extends further. But the Germans didn’t go down without a fight and goalkeeper Sandra Abstreiter did her best to hold the fort with 47 saves. “We honestly held them off pretty well. They were obviously dominating us for the whole game, but I think we held up against them pretty well. I don’t think we made it super-easy for them,” Abstreiter said later.

“Germany is a tough, physical team, and we stuck to our game and got the win,” John Wroblewski, USA hockey’s head coach, breathed a sigh of relief after the game. The USA will face the hosts on Saturday. Do you think the momentum will once again shine through? Especially considering that the country has reached the finals of the last 23 international tournaments and won 10 of those? Could this finally be the last international tournament before women’s hockey also gets its own NHL-like event that changes the sport altogether in the future? Tell us your predictions for the upcoming game blow!