Getting Out Of Their Own Way

As you may be aware the NHL general managers are getting together this week in Boca Raton, Florida to discuss the game of hockey at the NHL level. One of the major topics of discussion that happened today was about the emergency back-up goalie (EBUG) and whether the NHL should change the protocols surrounding who gets to be the EBUG as seen in games featuring Scott Foster of the Blackhawks to the left and David Ayres of the Carolina Hurricanes more recently. I argued that removing the EBUG from the game was akin to taking the lottery ticket away from all of us where, for whatever reason, we chose a different path than NHL stardom. TOday, the GMs ruled on this matter, and everyone awaited what 31 men who hold a ton of power over the game decided.

When the doors finally opened and the GMs emerged from their first day of meetings, the results were in: no changes to the best thing that happened in hockey in a long time.

"It's an interesting dynamic," Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said of the emergency goalie. "If you look at where that position evolved from even just a couple years ago where you didn't have someone in the building, it's come a long way. It served its purpose."

And that's the key: the EBUG process is doing exactly what it's supposed to do when teams find themselves in the unfortunate situation of having two netminders injured in the same game. If you recall, the first time it happened was with the Carolina Hurricanes who had equipment manager Jorge Alves take the net for 7.6 seconds on the final day of 2016 to finish their game against the Tampa Bay Lightning after Eddie Lack came down with sickness prior to their game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Florida's had a close call twice as former NHL netminder and Panthers goalie coach Robb Tallas was pressed into getting a uniform on twice, but Foster and Ayres are the two goalies who play longer than 7.6 seconds and faced live shots from NHL players.

Since those two episodes, there have been two EBUG situations in five years of NHL hockey, and both have resulted in wins for the teams that have utilized the EBUG. Two games out of five years of hockey does not warrant a major change to a rule, and it seems the GMs used some common sense in this situation.

"It's been in the news and was again here of late," Vegas Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon said. "But I think everyone's pretty comfortable with the procedures that we have in place. It's such a rare occurrence."

And that last statement about how rare this occurrence is makes changing the rules surrounding who can be an EBUG and how to properly vet EBUGs and all the other talking points moot. It's a winning lottery ticket for a guy who may get the chance to step onto NHL ice as a member of an NHL team during a live NHL game, but the odds of winning the lottery are so infinitesimally small that making a change would legitimately be a change just for change's sake.

Some have expressed that a 42 year-old Zamboni driver and occasional practice netminder shouldn't be the guy standing in the hallway or sitting in the pressbox as the next man up, but there's a key to Ayres' story here that a lot of people either didn't know or hadn't been told in all the hype surrounding Ayres' amazing night.

In Toronto, the emergency backup usually rotates between a goalie from either University of Toronto, Ryerson, or York University. York and UofT season’s are over, Ryerson had playoff game today, alas... David Ayres.

— Michael Zigomanis (@mikezigomanis) February 23, 2020

No one is here to take what Ayres did away from him, but this is more of the reality when it comes to EBUG in that university goalies or recently-graduated goalies are often the EBUGs for NHL teams ahead of 37 year-old equipment managers and 42 year-old Zamboni drivers. This is why David Ayres' story is even more incredible - he wasn't even supposed to be holding a lottery ticket that night!

"Every team now has got people that are available to perform and do well, so I don't think there's any need [to change the system]," Florida Panthers GM Dale Tallon stated, continuing shortly with, "I think we've addressed it in the last few years having goaltenders ready in the building, whereas before we had to find somebody or put your goaltending coach in. I think we did a good job fixing it and it turned out for the better."

For those thinking that there might be a spot for them after stonewalling a team in a beer league game, the NHL currently has 136 EBUGs registered, as some teams have more than others. A few teams have held EBUG tryouts before with Los Angeles advertising their tryouts in 2017 and a few other teams inviting goalies down for a shot at the spot in the pressbox.

At the end of the day, these feel-good stories for the NHL go a long way in building some good rapport between the league and fans. The dream to play in the NHL will happen for a select few who have the talent while the vast majority of us will have the door closed on us for a number of reasons. What the EBUG system does is give one person a lottery ticket to win that moment where all of us fans can live vicariously through that guy as he suits up for the biggest game of his life. It's that last bastion of hope in keeping the dream alive that makes the EBUG stories so fun - we are all EBUGs when they get called upon to save the day.

"I know there has been some coverage that we were going to take the fun out, and there was never any discussion of that," NHL executive vice-president of communications Gary Meagher said. "Everyone recognized the coverage and how positive it was. It's also happened just twice."

For once, the NHL has gotten out of their own way and allowed a system to remain intact that really got them some great exposure on a worldwide stage. While I doubt we'll see an EBUG situation again this season, the fact that the NHL GMs saw this opportunity as a great moment for the game brings me hope that there's still some common sense in the game.\

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!