EBUG Moment!

Rob Mattison, seen to the left in 2011, isn't a household name by any means. Rob's originally from Anchorage, Alaska, but he now calls Tulsa, Oklahoma home after having spent some time in the state attending the University of Oklahoma and tending a little net for the Tulsa Oilers. It's this last stop in his winding hockey career, though, that we'll focus on today because 38 year-old Rob Mattison might have recorded his most memorable win despite him recording no saves of any kind during his latest appearance.

Rob is currently the Tulsa Oilers' EBUG - Emergency Back-Up Goaltender - and his inclusion in last night's game against the Utah Grizzlies seems to be a case of random coincidences coming together at the right time. On Friday, the Anaheim Ducks re-assigned Tulsa netminder Roman Durny to the AHL's San Diego Gulls after they had a goalie suffer an injury. That left the Oilers in a bind as they needed a goalie for the weekend's games, so they went out and quickly signed Jake Ramsey to be an EBUG against Wichita on Friday. He didn't get into the game, but it appears that Mason McDonald, a Calgary Flames 2014 second-round pick, was dressed as the back-up on Friday in Wichita.

I'm not sure what happened between Friday night and Saturday night when the Utah Grizzlies came to Tulsa to play the Oilers, but Mason McDonald was not in the lineup for the Oilers. Instead, Jake Ramsey, the EBUG signed on Friday, made his first in-uniform appearance in front of the home crowd wearing #62. Daniel Mannella wouldn't need any relief on this night despite the fact that Tulsa lost 3-1 to the Grizzlies, so Ramsey watched from the bench for the whole game as he wasn't needed. Again, I don't know what happened to McDonald, but we do know that the two goalies dressed for Tulsa included an EBUG.

Again, I don't know what happened between Saturday night and Sunday night, but it appears Jake Ramsey was replaced by Rob Mattison as the Tulsa Oilers' EBUG as the ECHL transactions show Mattison signed by the club on Sunday. As we know, EBUG contracts are paid-when-played, so perhaps Jake Ramsey had other commitments where he was needed, forcing the Oilers to sign one of their former teammates from their CHL days back in 2011-12 and one of the team's EBUGs from last season.

And this is where our story veers into the category of "awesome" because Rob Mattison, wearing #37, was on the bench for the Oilers on Sunday night as the Grizzlies and Oilers resumed their battle. With Tulsa leading 5-3 late in the game, it appeared that everything was wrapping up nicely until Dylan Sadowy was whistled for a high-sticking double-minor at 17:15. Utah's Luke Martin would score at 17:43 to make it 5-4, and Utah would then tie the game with 25 seconds to play when Brandon Cutler beat Mannella for another power-play goal. Whatever happened on that final goal isn't clear, but Daniel Mannella, Tulsa's starting goalie, was hurt on the ice. When it was clear he couldn't continue, Rob Mattison grabbed his blocker and glove and headed out to the blue paint!

He played the final 25 seconds of the third period without facing any shots, but there was still an overtime period looming. No pressure or anything, right?

Before the water laid down for the new ice surface could freeze for the overtime period, this game was over. Tulsa's Eddie Matsushima roofed a backhander past Utah's Garrett Metcalf just 41 seconds into overtime, and Tulsa escaped with the 6-5 overtime victory! And since Rob Mattison was in net for the 41 seconds of overtime, Rob Mattison earned his first ECHL victory!

Check out this stats line for Mattison: 66 seconds played, zero shots faced, one win. His goals-against-average will remain at 0.00 since he officially registered time in net, but his save percentage will show as "undefined" since he faced no shots. How weird is that stats line? And how cool is it that an EBUG was able to record a win this season? That's beyond awesome, so congrats to Rob Mattison on picking up that first-ever ECHL win in his career at age 38!

What makes this a cool story as we pull back a few layers is the fact that Rob Mattison played one season in Winnipeg, Manitoba at the MJHL level with the Winnipeg Saints! He played just 11 games with the Saints in 2002-03 before the Saints sent him to the AWHL, the American West Hockey League, an American Tier III Junior ice hockey league which merged into the NA3HL back in 2014. His stats, according to EliteProspects.com, weren't all that impressive at the time, but we can add an ECHL win to his list of accomplishments now as Rob Mattison has a pro hockey win to his name!

Tulsa doesn't play again until Thursday, so we'll see where this story goes over the next few days. As Tulsa head coach Rob Murray said last night, "I have never seen an emergency backup goalie get the win without facing a shot," and I can honestly say he's likely right. I don't recall any other game where an EBUG has participated, earned a win, and not made a single save or faced a single shot in the game he played. Rob Mattison is likely the first guy to do that at the age of 38 after last playing a meaningful hockey in 2010-11 for the Troy Bruins in Ohio.

Sometimes, this game makes you smile for the right reasons, and Rob Mattison's story deserves the smiles today. Congratulations, Rob, on your first ECHL win!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

***Stick-tap to Dave W. for the heads-up on this story!***