For the first time in NHL history, an emergency backup goaltender stepped into an NHL game and earned a win.
David Ayres, a 42-year-old Zamboni driver and operations manager for the AHL's Toronto Marlies' Coca-Cola Coliseum, suited up for the Hurricanes in Toronto after James Reimer and Petr Mrazek were injured with 29 minutes remaining in the game. Ayres stopped eight of 10 shots faced, including a shutout in the third period, to come away with the win.
It's one of the greatest stories in the league this season.
How does the NHL emergency backup goaltender (EBUG) system work? Let's take a look.
WHAT IS AN EMERGENCY BACKUP GOALTENDER?
An emergency backup goaltender steps in when a team does not have two healthy goaltenders by way of injury, illness, or suspension, and a replacement from the minor leagues can not reasonably report to the NHL team in time for a game. As lined out in the CBA, an emergency backup goaltender does not count toward the team's active roster:
In the event a club's goaltender becomes unavailable due to incapacitating injury, illness or league suspension such that the club may not have two goaltenders on its playing poster and the club is at the active roster limit, the club shall be permitted to exceed the active roster limit for purposes of adding a goaltender to its active roster ("replacement goaltender") to replace the unavailable goaltender.
A team can sign a goaltender to a tryout contract in this way and exceed the 23-man roster limit up to two times in a regular season. The team can exceed the roster limit with the emergency goaltender for up to 48 hours at a time.
If an emergency backup goaltender is signed, he and the two NHL goaltenders are all permitted to take warmups at the same time. If the reason for bringing in the emergency goaltender was due to illness or injury to one of the NHL goaltenders, and all three take warmups and it is determined that both NHL goaltenders are healthy enough to dress for the game, the team is still counted as using one of their two available goaltender exemptions for the season.
DO THEY GET PAID?
Emergency backup goaltenders aren't on full NHL contracts, so they're not subject to the league's minimum salary, which works out to be just over $4,000 per day.
Instead, the goaltenders sign one of two types of tryout contracts, the first of which is a professional tryout contract. Players on PTOs are permitted to be paid just $500, per the CBA:
A player signed to a PTO pursuant to this section will be paid US $500 per game and will be allowed to keep his game-worn jersey. This amount will not be included in calculating a club's Actual Club Salary and Averaged Club Salary, and the Players' Share.
Ayres signed an amateur tryout contract when he played for the Hurricanes, which do not allow a player to be paid a salary or receive any bonuses. They just get to keep their jersey.
This is the contract signed by @Canes emergency goalie David Ayres before playing in last night’s game and holding off the Maple Leafs. Although the Zamboni driver was playing in an NHL game, it was considered a tryout, so he got $0. pic.twitter.com/cGdDtaLMeE
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) February 24, 2020
Scott Foster, an accountant who played for the Blackhawks as an emergency backup goaltender in 2018, also signed an amateur tryout contract at the time and did not get paid.
WHO CAN BE EMERGENCY BACKUP GOALTENDERS?
The CBA states that in order to serve as an emergency backup goaltender, a player "must not have a current contractual obligation elsewhere. In addition, the player cannot terminate an existing contractual obligation to meet this requirement."
While it would be awesome to see a local professional women's player fill in in this role, this rules out any goaltenders currently under contract with an NWHL team.
WHO IS THE PENGUINS' EMERGENCY BACKUP GOALTENDER?
The emergency backup goaltender in Pittsburgh is Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia native Mike Chiasson, a goaltending development coach at the Lemieux Sports Complex. Usually several times a year, Chiasson will practice with the Penguins if they're short a goaltender in practice.
Chiasson, 34, played for the QMJHL's Rimouski Oceanic from 2005-07, then spent four years with Acadia University in Nova Scotia. He's been signed as an ECHL emergency backup goaltender twice -- once with the Nailers in 2012-13 and once with the Quad City Mallards in 2016-17 -- but has never had to appear in a game.
Like with Ayres in Toronto, Chiasson is just the emergency backup goaltender in the city, and could potentially suit up for a visiting team if needed.
The Penguins have somewhat of a unique circumstance, though, in that their ECHL affiliate is only an hour down the road in Wheeling. If a backup is needed the day of a game, and a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goaltender can't make it in time but an NHL-contracted goaltender in Wheeling could reasonably make it to Pittsburgh in time, the Penguins would just have to call up the Wheeling goaltender instead of dressing Chiasson as the emergency backup. The Wheeling goaltender wouldn't count as an emergency backup, he would just be a regular recall.
WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES?
When the NHL general managers meet to discuss the current system, they'll likely discuss possible alternatives. One player agent, Darryl Wolski, tweeted that in the past the NHL has considered allowing teams to carry a third, practice goaltender:
NHL has considered allowing teams to carry three goalies. I assume after last night this will become reality soon. The player would make 50 or 60k to travel and be a practice goalie. Compared to ECHL salary when a high end goalie gets 900 to 1000 a week.
— Darryl Wolski (@2112hockey) February 23, 2020
The problem with this option is that the practice goaltenders still likely wouldn't be very good. Goaltenders with any sort of real potential would still likely prefer to get actual playing time in the minors than just be a practice goaltender.
Some people have suggested that a forward or defenseman on the team put on goaltending equipment and fill in, which also would present a few problems. First, a beer league goaltender at least has an understanding on how to play the position, most likely better than an NHL skater would. Second, putting a skater in who doesn't quite know what he's doing would be high-risk injury wise, or at the very least, likely lead to the guy just embarrassing himself.
