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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Because of wow. / The Miracle On Ice Part II: Emergency Backup Goalie and Zamboni Driver Dave Ayres For the Win!

The Miracle On Ice Part II: Emergency Backup Goalie and Zamboni Driver Dave Ayres For the Win!

by Adam L Silverman|  February 22, 202010:58 pm| 42 Comments

This post is in: Because of wow., Not Politics, Open Threads, Something Good Open Thread, Sports

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On 22 February 1980, the US Olympic hockey team beat the Soviet Olympic hockey team in what has been called the miracle on ice. Tonight in Toronto a second miracle on ice occurred. The Carolina Hurricanes starting goalie left the game with an injury. During the second period, the Hurricanes back up goalie also left the game with an injury. The NHL has a system in place for this called the emergency backup goalie (EBUG) – it is not played by Robert Picardo. At every arena, during every NHL game, a local goalie is kept in the arena in case one team’s starting and backup goalies are both forced to leave the game. Usually the emergency backup goalie is a local recreational league player or coach who has played the position for a while and they are prepared to suit up for either team. They usually spend the night in one of the luxury boxes, get to watch the game for free, get free food and drink, and then go home at the end of the night. Every so often one of them has to actually dress and go on the ice. Tonight that emergency backup goalie in Toronto was Dave Ayres who is 42 years old and is the Zamboni driver for the Toronto Maple Leafs. And he had to dress and go on the ice.

This is his story!

The Hurricanes lost James Reimer with a lower-body injury in the first period, Petr Mrazek with an upper-body injury in the second period, Brett Pesce with a lower-body injury in the second period, and now have a 42-year-old zamboni driver in net on Hockey Night in Canada.

— Brett Finger (@brett_finger) February 23, 2020

Jaccob Slavin gets hit into James Reimer. Reimer is ruled out for the rest of the game with a lower-body injury. Needless to say, this is a potentially huge deal for the Hurricanes.

Overhead view: pic.twitter.com/3GZELPTV1m

— Brett Finger (@brett_finger) February 23, 2020

Petr Mrazek collides with Kyle Clifford. Mrazek charged way out of the net to play the puck. Clifford gets handed a five-minute major and a game misconduct. James Reimer got hurt in the first period and was ruled out for the game… pic.twitter.com/bFtGU0lTox

— Brett Finger (@brett_finger) February 23, 2020

Legend pic.twitter.com/O684okw2kU

— ??????? Кassie ? (10%) (@sad_ex_machina) February 23, 2020

Also, a kidney donor!

Ayres stands-in as goalie for the @TorontoMarlies (whose helmet he's wearing) and Leafs. 42 and a donor kidney recipient, so this is something of a Cinderella story!

— Ross Whiteford (@redheadednomad) February 23, 2020

Quick 2nd period recap:

Canes goal
Canes goal
Canes goal
Mrazek injured
42-year-old Dave Ayres enters as EBUG
Canes goal
Leafs goal
Leafs goal
EBUG makes save

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) February 23, 2020

What a way to make a debut, Dave Ayres pic.twitter.com/1opzaBgR4t

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) February 23, 2020

"I said to the boys – even after they scored that second goal – I said, let me get these jitters out of the way. In the third period I'll be ready to go."

My god, this David Ayres is just wonderful. And for the record, he stopped all 7 shots he saw in the third period.

— Brett Finger (@brett_finger) February 23, 2020

In the hallway before the beginning of the third period:

"For us

For Wally

For Ginner

For Davey"

— Michael Smith (@MSmithCanes) February 23, 2020

Other teams in the league tweeted out their support!

We're here for this.

— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) February 23, 2020

GO DAVE!!

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) February 23, 2020

DAVE!!! ❤️?

— LA Kings (@LAKings) February 23, 2020

And the Canes, with a playoff run on the line, were ecstatic about Dave’s performance!

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?!

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) February 23, 2020

MIRACULOUS pic.twitter.com/EfPObX7V5G

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) February 23, 2020

The man, the myth, the legend pic.twitter.com/qmhWXSavYj

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) February 23, 2020

A moment he'll never forget pic.twitter.com/6tr03wNZ5N

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) February 23, 2020

 

A memory we'll all have forever pic.twitter.com/LUxqs8o3Wr

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) February 23, 2020

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper weighed in.

How about we send him the N.C. flag that flew over the governor’s mansion today as a thank you gift. Kinda like you can do with the USA flags at the Capital building in DC. I think that would be awesome.

— steel4pens (@steel4penguins) February 23, 2020

Open thread!

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Reader Interactions

42Comments

  1. 1.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    February 22, 2020 at 11:04 pm

    On 22 February 1980, the US Olympic hockey team beat the Soviet Olympic hockey team in what has been called the miracle on ice.

    Hansen Brothers!

  2. 2.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 22, 2020 at 11:11 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: There used to be a group of guys who would show up to the Lightning games on a regular basis dressed as the Hansen brothers in Chiefs jerseys with a big Chiefs banner.

  3. 3.

    Gravenstone

    February 22, 2020 at 11:18 pm

    Will always remember hearing about the “Miracle on Ice” during halftime of our HS men’s BB game against our hated rivals. Unfortunately, we were not as fortunate as the US Men’s teams that evening…

  4. 4.

    Obvious Russian Troll

    February 22, 2020 at 11:20 pm

    …and I hardly need to read the whole thing to know the Leafs lost.

  5. 5.

    Yutsano

    February 22, 2020 at 11:23 pm

    Ovechkin got his 700th goal today too. I hope he doesn’t mind taking a back seat to Ayers.

  6. 6.

    JCJ

    February 22, 2020 at 11:23 pm

    Might be the best sports story of the year. Glad he didn’t have too much from the buffet

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    February 22, 2020 at 11:25 pm

    Presumably next in line after him would be Stanley Tweedle.
    :)

    /Lexxography

  8. 8.

    TaMara (HFG)

    February 22, 2020 at 11:28 pm

    What an awesome night for these guys.

  9. 9.

    chris

    February 22, 2020 at 11:32 pm

    @NotMax: Cool reference!

  10. 10.

    Scott Alloway

    February 22, 2020 at 11:34 pm

    @Obvious Russian Troll: Reminds me of an old song by Joni Mitchell. When she was sitting in a bar.

  11. 11.

    The Thin Black Duke

    February 22, 2020 at 11:36 pm

    Ayers will never have to buy a beer in his life again.

  12. 12.

    CaseyL

    February 22, 2020 at 11:38 pm

    Wonderful story.  My heart could use some warming right now :)

    One thing, though: EBUG Ayres is the Zamboni driver for the Maple Leafs?  So he had to play goalie against his own team… well, sorta his own team?

    Gonna be a little interesting the next time he grooms the ice…

  13. 13.

    FelonyGovt

    February 22, 2020 at 11:44 pm

    What a great story. And my Kings are winning… at least so far (going to see them Wednesday night!)

  14. 14.

    debbie

    February 22, 2020 at 11:50 pm

    Great story!

  15. 15.

    guachi

    February 23, 2020 at 12:01 am

    The only way this could have been better is if the game was in North Carolina as the crowd would have been going nuts.

  16. 16.

    Thor Heyerdahl

    February 23, 2020 at 12:14 am

    From 2017 – CBC article “Have Pads-Will Play: The dream is never dead for NHL emergency goalies”

    As for the original Miracle on Ice, watch for the tangerine twittler to mess up the 40th anniversary (wouldn’t want to make Vova upset about the loss). An attempt below at what he could say.

    “Lucky goal by Mike Eurozoney – USSR would have won it big but BAD COACHING pulled Tretchyak. Lake Placid-where the hell is that? Not even big enough for one of my hotels.”

  17. 17.

    JWR

    February 23, 2020 at 12:22 am

    OT…

    Daredevil ‘Mad Mike’ Hughes killed in rocket crash outside Barstow

    Mike Hughes, the self-made engineer who billed himself as the “world’s greatest daredevil,” was killed Saturday outside Barstow during a launch of a homemade rocket gone wrong, his publicist confirmed. […]

    About him being a Flat Earther:

    “I don’t think he believed it,” Shuster said. “He did have some governmental conspiracy theories. But don’t confuse it with that flat Earth thing. That was a PR stunt we dreamed up.”

  18. 18.

    smintheus

    February 23, 2020 at 12:25 am

    It helped that the Leafs could barely get a shot on goal – even with a power play – because…well, either the Canes’ defense manned up and shut them down, or because the Leafs just s*ck. Probably a bit of both. The Leafs’ coach was so fed up with their ineptitude that he stapled 4 of the Leafs’ leading players to the bench in the final minutes of the game. It was one of the most humiliating failures for Leafs’ Nation in the last several decades – a period of many humiliating failures for Toronto.

  19. 19.

    trollhattan

    February 23, 2020 at 12:26 am

    He’s the George Blanda of David Ayres (Ayreses?). Has he ever palled around with Obama?

    That’s simply the best, and for no extra charge I learn the term EBUG. And holy shit, four goalies on one game? So glad they got him back on the ice for a curtain call. Then back on the zamboni, I guess.

  20. 20.

    trollhattan

    February 23, 2020 at 12:28 am

    @JWR:

    Couldn’t see that one coming.

  21. 21.

    My Side of Town

    February 23, 2020 at 12:34 am

    Yeah, how about those 49ers back in the day.

  22. 22.

    JWR

    February 23, 2020 at 12:39 am

    @trollhattan: Nope, not at all.

  23. 23.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    February 23, 2020 at 12:57 am

    @Gravenstone: I’ll always remember hearing the outcome of the Miracle on Ice game while watching it as NBC broadcast it tape-delayed – and with several minutes left the game (as broadcast), the local channel did a station break and their anchor Renee Poussaint came on and announced “USA wins!!! News at 11.”

    Yeah, that was great.

  24. 24.

    The Dangerman

    February 23, 2020 at 1:00 am

    @JWR:

    …killed in rocket crash outside Barstow.

    Killed in a HOMEMADE rocket crash.

    Darwin Awards can shut down for the rest of the year.

  25. 25.

    HumboldtBlue

    February 23, 2020 at 1:01 am

    This is when sports make you grin so hard your cheeks hurt.

  26. 26.

    NotMax

    February 23, 2020 at 1:03 am

    @The Dangerman

    Flat Earther, no. Splat Earther, sí .

    //

  27. 27.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 23, 2020 at 1:35 am

    @HumboldtBlue: Competitive Butt Smiling?

  28. 28.

    HumboldtBlue

    February 23, 2020 at 1:51 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    No, you’re thinking of the Brits’ “squeaky-bum-time” this is just grinning.

  29. 29.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 23, 2020 at 1:59 am

    @HumboldtBlue: Haha

  30. 30.

    Josie

    February 23, 2020 at 2:15 am

    @Scott Alloway: I was raised on robbery.

  31. 31.

    Duane

    February 23, 2020 at 2:51 am

    @Josie:  Hadn’t heard that in many years. Thanks.

  32. 32.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    February 23, 2020 at 6:17 am

    .@POTUS recognizing and invited on stage at his Las Vegas rally the 1980 “miracle on ice” hockey team, who are in Vegas this weekend celebrating 40th anniversary.

    Late coach Herb Brooks daughter on stage saying, “he would of been a Trump fan.” pic.twitter.com/iFZmFDrm6c

    — Steven Marsh (@smarsh91) February 21, 2020

    They wore MAGA hats.

    Sickening.

  33. 33.

    Booger

    February 23, 2020 at 7:24 am

    I hope someone makes and sells Ayers jerseys. I would buy that piece of sports paraphernalia.

  34. 34.

    Butter Emails

    February 23, 2020 at 7:37 am

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    So what she’s saying is that if the KGB had offered a bribe back then, her dad would have made sure the USSR team won. Good to know.

  35. 35.

    Jerry

    February 23, 2020 at 8:40 am

    @Booger:

    As of right now, you can purchase an official Hurricanes Ayres t-shirt. Not only does he get a cut of the sales, but another cut gets sent to a kidney foundation of Ayers’ choice.

  36. 36.

    Just One More Canuck

    February 23, 2020 at 9:45 am

    The Leafs are getting roasted over this by the media and their fans over this (I live in the Toronto area but am most definitely not a leafs fan)  – this should have been an easy win for them but as much skill as they have, the team just just quits sometimes. The rest of the league is laughing at them

  37. 37.

    Uncle Cosmo

    February 23, 2020 at 11:12 am

    I’m shocked! shocked! that none of yinz has seen fit to recall Game 2 of the 1928 Stanley Cup Finals, in which New York Rangers goalie Lorne Chabot was knocked out of the game with an injury & (there being no backup goalie on the squad, & the opponent** refusing to allow goalies who were in the crowd to take his place in the nets, the Rangers coach – 44-year-old Lester Patrick – suited up & played the last half of the game in the NY nets, allowing 1 goal & saving 18 of 19 shots in an overtime victory.  (The Rangers won the Cup that year – their last for the next 50.)

    (FTR I only know about this because it was one of the stories in a book on sports legends Dad got me as a kid. He & I both learned to appreciate the sport much later in life.)

    ** The Montreal Maroons. There is probably no truth to the rumour :^D that this game inspired that immortal line of Culture Icon & Hero Of The Zeitgeist Bugs Bunny, “Whadda maroon!”

  38. 38.

    Another Scott

    February 23, 2020 at 11:21 am

    Charlie Pierce makes some good points this morning.:

    (One solid indication of the depth of [St. Bernard’s] appeal is that, almost immediately after the New Hampshire primary, the culinary workers union in Nevada slammed him over Medicare For All—but, on Saturday, the actual membership of that powerful union turned out for him in droves.)

    Of course, none of that prevented a general freakout on television and online. Chris Matthews compared the most successful Jewish presidential candidate in American history to the triumphant Wehrmacht. James Carville looked very much like he might stroke out right there on live TV. Here’s what these two galoots, as well as the Sanders partisans who see Bill ’n Hill behind every tree, don’t seem to understand: the Clintonized Democratic party is dead. It died in November of 2016 and it has been replaced even in warm, pointless nostalgia by the Obama years. It’s time to move on. It’s time for the 2016 Democratic primaries to end. Come down out of your cave in the hills and turn in your weapons and greet the 21st century.

    Ignore the pundits, but recognize the lay of the land. There’s still lots of time and delegates to pick, but it is going to take work for someone to defeat him.

    The next debate is Tuesday at 8 PM ET in South Carolina (CBS). Early voting started 29 days before the primary (Saturday 2/29). It should be a lively one…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  39. 39.

    J R in WV

    February 23, 2020 at 12:43 pm

    @Jerry:

    As of right now, you can purchase an official Hurricanes Ayres t-shirt. Not only does he get a cut of the sales, but another cut gets sent to a kidney foundation of Ayers’ choice.

    Wait, now… they play hockey in tee shirts now?

    What about a uniform shirt to be real, huh????

  40. 40.

    Edmund Dantes

    February 23, 2020 at 12:47 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: yeah. Fuck that team.

    they could have avoided the hats. They chose to wear them.

  41. 41.

    Edmund Dantes

    February 23, 2020 at 12:49 pm

    Was it last year or the year before where Chicago had to use the emergency backup goalie.

    That was another pretty sweet moment.

  42. 42.

    Edmund Dantes

    February 23, 2020 at 12:55 pm

    Found it.

    https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/30/598263399/36-year-old-accountant-called-in-as-emergency-nhl-goalie-and-he-crushed-it

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