TBC: Odd Man In

Seeing Jett Alexander make his way out to the crease last night for the Toronto Maple Leafs was a special moment, but Alexander certainly wasn't the first man to make that skate from bench to net and there's a better-than-good chance he won't be the last man to make it. The emergency back-up goaltender (EBUG) is a fairly recent addition to the hockey world, and you might be wondering how it got started or who some of the players were that held the title of EBUG. These men are vitally important to the game, though, and they deserve a little bit of the spotlight beyond their original fifteen minutes of fame. In saying that, Teebz's Book Club is proud to review Odd Man In: Hockey's Emergency Goalies and the Wildest One-Day Job in Sports, written by Stephen Whyno and published by Triumph Books LLC. If you thought you could step in and face shooters in the best hockey league ined n the world, this book will be a good read because all of the men with whom Whyno spoke give you their sides of their individual stories about how they earned their spots as NHL EBUGs.

You're probably aware of Stephen Whyno from his work as a sports journalist with the Associated Press, but he's been covering the NHL "since 2010 with stops at the Washington Times and Canadian Press. He has worked seven Stanley Cup Final series and three Winter Olympics." His articles have appeared in newspapers and in digital print across North America regularly, and has been covering the Washington, DC sports scene quite extensively following a successful internship at The Baltimore Sun thanks to his Bachelor of Arts in Print Journalism from the University of Maryland. Odd Man In: Hockey's Emergency Goalies and the Wildest One-Day Job in Sports is Whyno's first book in his long and successful career in writing about hockey at the highest levels.

You're likely aware of EBUGs in the NHL thanks to David Ayres, the Zamboni driver that defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs. Scott Foster is another name that may ring a bell when he's not working in his accountant job. You may even know who Tom Hodges is when he's not selling insurance products. The fact that ties all these men is they were EBUGs who played significant time in an NHL net. Where did this EBUG thing come from? Who was the first EBUG? What are the rules surrounding EBUGs? All of those questions are answered within the covers of Odd Man In!

The Detroit Red Wings were the last team to use an EBUG prior to 1965 when it become commonplace to carry two netminders for every NHL team. Not that it helped some teams as their starting netminders would play every game in a season in the 1970s. However, the Philadelphia Flyers unofficially made Carter Hutton into a trivia answer when he was signed to backup Brian Boucher on March 28, 2010. He wasn't officially an EBUG since he was already in the Flyers' system, but Hutton's one-game contract with the Flyers was the basis for every EBUG contract that followed.

Would you believe that the Florida Panthers were the team that forced the NHL into requiring all home teams have EBUGs at games thanks to their problems on March 3, 2015? I won't give away too much of the story, but forward Derek MacKenzie nearly ended up with a second line of stats for his 2014-15 season. Knowing that they just dodged a bullet with both Luongo and Montoya being injured in the same game, the Panthers held a "Goal of a Lifetime" contest where they officially recruited the NHL's first EBUG from some 1500 applications that came in from goaltenders in 15 countries across the world. This story is also covered by Whyno in Odd Man In so I won't give away the ending, but the Panthers turned a nightmare into good marketing with their promotion.

Whyno speaks to all the memorable EBUGs in Jorge Alves, David Ayres, Scott Foster, and Tom Hodges as each gets their own chapter in the book with many people contributing information and sound bytes, but Whyno examines the things we normally don't spend much time dwelling on: the rush to get to the rink some of these goaltenders have to make when called, living life in the spotlight for one night, and some of the close calls where EBUGs were almost needed. Whyno highlights the EBUGs whose stories continued past their one night as well, and one of those names was a name mentioned last night in Toronto: Jett Alexander!

One of my favorite chapters in the book was about all the retired NHL goaltenders who were needed as EBUGs for one reason or another. Robb Tallas, Dwayne Roloson, Fred Brathwaite, and Bob Essensa have all done it, but who recalls Arturs Irbe suiting up for the Buffalo Sabres? It happened on November 18, 2014 on a day where a snowstorm kept most people from coming to the rink to see the Sabres and Sharks play, and that included Buffalo's normal EBUG candidates. After Sabres goaltender Michal Neuvirth was injured in the first period, head coach Ted Nolan needed someone to fill in as a backup netminder. Goaltending coach Arturs Irbe was his solution. Whyno writes,

"Irbe signed his one-day, professional tryout contract and was dressed and ready during the second intermission. He stood in the tunnel early in the third period psyching himself up about the possibility of playing an NHL game for the first time in a decade."

Honestly, I had completely forgotten that Irbe was one of the earlier EBUGs in the NHL, but that's why Odd Man In is such a good resource to have at your fingertips. Whyno certainly did his homework on the EBUGs whose stories are the stuff of legend in this book!

Overall, Odd Man In is a fantastic read thanks to Whyno's long career of excellent writing, but it's the number of interviews with people in and around each of the EBUGs that really hit home for me. Getting the emotions and reactions from each of the men, their families, the teams they helped, and some of the people who put goalies and teams together really brought the stories in the book to life. Whyno's research and writing on each of these netminders will keep you flipping through the 250-page book, and those reasons are why Odd Man In deserves the Teebz's Book Club Seal of Approval!

Odd Man In is available at book stores and libraries across the land, and the material contained within the covers is pretty easy to read. There are no instances of foul language nor adult situations, but the writing is a little more advanced than children's books. As a result, I recommed this book for teens and older, but I'm pretty sure that all hockey fans will enjoy Odd Man In!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!