#FartGate explainer: Why the hockey world was talking about farts after the Canucks-Lightning game

“Was that you?”

It’s often the first question that a friend or partner — or if you’re in a really stinky situation, perhaps even a stranger — will ask when the all-too-familiar sound or smell of “passing gas” abruptly interrupts a conversation or a calming moment of silence. Guilty or not (we’re not here to judge), the deflection of blame begins.

Ah, yes, the piercing sound of a good ol’ fart. A ripple in time that can cause even the simplest of social interactions to crumble like the last move in a game of Jenga.

It was a moment between Sportsnet broadcast partners John Shorthouse and John Garrett during Wednesday night’s game between the Vancouver Canucks and Tampa Bay Lightning that had the internet investigating. During a very ordinary play, Canucks defencemen Quinn Hughes went to retrieve the puck from his defensive zone when an audible “ppppffffffttttt” radiated over the broadcast for everyone to hear.

A moment of silence, and then: “Was that you?” Shorthouse pointedly asks Garrett.

Garret chuckled, and gave an emphatic “no.” Then the two were heard giggling like schoolboys in the back of a classroom.

But was it even a fart? It definitely sounded like one. But if it wasn’t a fart, then what was it? A weak horn attempt? Someone’s failed whistle? A chair squeaking on the floor?

Of course, internet hockey sleuths across the nation put their tinfoil caps on to discuss, ponder and question and debate late into hours of the night. And thus, #fartgate was born, trending on Twitter for all to see.

Here were some other reactions online:

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