Posted on 02/24/2020 6:57:09 AM PST by VeniVidiVici
TORONTO — David Ayres was sitting in the stands with his wife at Scotiabank Arena when Carolina Hurricanes goalie James Reimer went down with an injury.
The on-call emergency netminder in Toronto, Ayers left his seat and got half-dressed into his gear on the off-chance something might happen to Carolina's second option, Petr Mrazek.
Midway through the second period, Ayres noticed his cellphone started to blow up. What he didn't realize was that Mrazek had been hurt in a scary collision with Maple Leafs forward Kyle Clifford and was down on the ice.
"One of the equipment guys came in to me and said, 'You got to get your stuff on. It's time to go out there,'" Ayres said Sunday. "I actually didn't believe him at first, and it was true – get your stuff on and go."
Next thing the 42-year-old Zamboni driver knew, he was walking down the tunnel and into the spotlight.
(Excerpt) Read more at wralsportsfan.com ...
“Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!” Moment, for sure! :)
I get very upset when I hear the word “Zamboni.”
Sadly, my dear friend Bronislaw Kazimierz was run over by a Zamboni, and killed, only a few years ago, whilst ice fishing.
Fantastic story! Carolina needed the points as they’re currently in the 8th playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Argh. I forgot that WRAL makes you answer questions in order to read the story.
Similar story here on ESPN - https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/28761372/zamboni-driver-42-stars-emergency-goalie-hurricanes
Feel good story of the week!
I rememeber years ago a guy being interviewed who apparently was a olympic gold medalist (I think it was gold, maybe it was silver or bronze) and he was being interviewed.... Basically he had been recruited from the crowd when a member of the 4 man bobsledding team was injured or became ill (again forget exact details).... and they needed a substitute.... he filled in and they medaled.
Obviously this was long long ago, when something like that could actually happen... He was, I want to say, in his 70s when they interviewed him and I want to say the interview was in the 1980s or 90s.
NHL teams carry two goalies on their roster. For every NHL game, the home team must have a guy in the stands who serves as the emergency third-string goalie for BOTH teams.
This dude was a local Toronto guy who drove the Zamboni for the Toronto junior team. He got a standing ovation from the Toronto crowd even though he came in and was the winning goalie for the VISITING team!
Isn’t there a teachable moment for American politicians in this story?
Yup. I didn't know about it :)
Wow i didn't catch that....that's even more impressive because living in Toronto he was very likely a Toronto fan as well as knowing all the Toronto players. The fact that he could set all of that aside is great.
And now that I think of it if he was always practicing with Toronto then he's probably saw all of their players moves multiple times and had to defend them multiple times. So kind of an advantage for him maybe in that situation.
Today, we are all Zamboni drivers ;)
I’m amazed a big 42 year old can still do the splits.
NHL teams carry two goalies on their roster. For every NHL game, the home team must have a guy in the stands who serves as the emergency third-string goalie for BOTH teams.
...
Learn something new every day, but I thought I’d never learn that.
Apparently something miraculous happens in hockey
every 40 years.
lol
There was one case a few years ago where a team playing in Vancouver called up a college student who worked in the skate shop at a nearby rink. He had the night of his life, I'm sure.
It's worth noting that most cases with emergency backup goalies involve situations where a team needs a backup before the game even begins ... due to a pregame injury to one of their two goalies, or a scenario like the Vancouver one where the team called up a goalie from the minors for that game but the guy had problems or delays traveling to the arena on time. It's very rare that you see a team go into a game without an emergency backup and then need one after losing both goalies in the game.
IIRC this happened a few years ago when the “EBUG”, who was an accountant by day, got the nod. They made him Player of the Game, IIRC.
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