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EBUG: The NHL's emergency backup goalie rule

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Re: EBUG: The NHL's emergency backup goalie rule

#31

Post by eli »

teruakohatu wrote: post #29
hirvi74 wrote: post #6

I am a diehard NHL fan and a "beer league" goalie, and it would be my dream to be called up. However, I am acquainted with some individuals that are members of my favorite team's organization. My favorite team apparently has a roster of about 20 people that are "on call" for and given home game. Whether home or away, both teams in any given game can pull from the same roster i.e. the home team keeps the roster for bo…

> Whether home or away, both teams in any given game can pull from the same roster I am in New Zealand and know nothing about ice hockey, but wouldn't it be risky to accept your opponents recommendation? Wouldn't a fan of their own team be a better bet, even if a worse player?

If people got called up all the time that might be a problem. But it'd be impossible to justify the cost of flying extra players around, so the practice would simply end if that were a concern.

I don't think many people with a once in a lifetime chance to play in a real NHL game are going to take a dive just so the home team wins.

Re: EBUG: The NHL's emergency backup goalie rule

#32

Post by Mountain_Skies »

teruakohatu wrote: post #29
hirvi74 wrote: post #6

I am a diehard NHL fan and a "beer league" goalie, and it would be my dream to be called up. However, I am acquainted with some individuals that are members of my favorite team's organization. My favorite team apparently has a roster of about 20 people that are "on call" for and given home game. Whether home or away, both teams in any given game can pull from the same roster i.e. the home team keeps the roster for bo…

> Whether home or away, both teams in any given game can pull from the same roster I am in New Zealand and know nothing about ice hockey, but wouldn't it be risky to accept your opponents recommendation? Wouldn't a fan of their own team be a better bet, even if a worse player?

The opportunity to show off your skills, even if sub-par by NHL standards, likely would outweigh the pride from helping your team get a questionable win in an 82 game season.

Re: EBUG: The NHL's emergency backup goalie rule

#33

Post by kgermino »

teruakohatu wrote: post #29
hirvi74 wrote: post #6

I am a diehard NHL fan and a "beer league" goalie, and it would be my dream to be called up. However, I am acquainted with some individuals that are members of my favorite team's organization. My favorite team apparently has a roster of about 20 people that are "on call" for and given home game. Whether home or away, both teams in any given game can pull from the same roster i.e. the home team keeps the roster for bo…

> Whether home or away, both teams in any given game can pull from the same roster I am in New Zealand and know nothing about ice hockey, but wouldn't it be risky to accept your opponents recommendation? Wouldn't a fan of their own team be a better bet, even if a worse player?

I think there’s a few reasons they don’t worry about it:

1. This very rarely comes up at all.

2. These guys aren’t usually that good (by NHL standards) and you’ve probably lost the game anyway. You’re relying on your defense to keep the puck away from them more than you’re relying on them to excel.

3. (Probably most important to your point). This is one of the best days in this guy’s life. He’s In an NHL game and will be in the highlight reels. Playing well and stopping his team’s power forward from scoring is a massive high that does way more than his preferred team winning or losing.

Re: EBUG: The NHL's emergency backup goalie rule

#34

Post by OJFord »

teruakohatu wrote: post #29
hirvi74 wrote: post #6

I am a diehard NHL fan and a "beer league" goalie, and it would be my dream to be called up. However, I am acquainted with some individuals that are members of my favorite team's organization. My favorite team apparently has a roster of about 20 people that are "on call" for and given home game. Whether home or away, both teams in any given game can pull from the same roster i.e. the home team keeps the roster for bo…

> Whether home or away, both teams in any given game can pull from the same roster I am in New Zealand and know nothing about ice hockey, but wouldn't it be risky to accept your opponents recommendation? Wouldn't a fan of their own team be a better bet, even if a worse player?

I am in the UK so have as little right to talk about it really, though I did play in university. Basically this is so rare, it's in the name 'emergency backup', teams take a backup (sometimes third even) to away games; they have to both be injured probably in the same game (because if beforehand they'd roster someone else, call them up from an associated junior team say) for this to happen. And the fan/local has never trained with the team. They're nowhere near NHL level. They're basically 'traffic in front of the net' to whichever team, so it really doesn't make a difference, I don't expect.

(And psychologically for the fan/local, they probably want to give it their all in their moment in the limelight? Why throw your one night in the NHL just because the wrong team got so unlikely injured?)

Re: EBUG: The NHL's emergency backup goalie rule

#35

Post by Mountain_Skies »

eschneider wrote: post #15

Polo also allows drafting players from the stands (If someone goes out injured, you've got 15 minutes to find another player.) and I've seen it happen.

Auburn University's football team found itself at halftime without enough healthy tailbacks and had to use the stadium's PA system to page a true freshman from the upper deck stands into the locker room to dress out and play his first collegiate game. Not quite the same thing as recruiting a fan from the stands but still a surprise for him, watching the game with his family in street clothes, and the team to have to go to that length to get a replacement player.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1990-09-12-90021306...

Re: EBUG: The NHL's emergency backup goalie rule

#36

Post by aix1 »

enos_feedler wrote: post #12

The post-game interview with Scott Foster (one of the stand-ins referenced in the article) is pretty funny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB60iaSUIu0 Best Quote: "I'm an accountant by day. So a few hours ago I was sitting at a computer typing on a 10 key. Now I'm standing before you guys after playing 14 minutes of NHL hockey". I'll never forget the shock of sitting down to catch sports highlights only to see this…

I really enjoyed that interview, thanks for sharing! The guy is a legend.

Re: EBUG: The NHL's emergency backup goalie rule

#37

Post by Delk »

teruakohatu wrote: post #29
hirvi74 wrote: post #6

I am a diehard NHL fan and a "beer league" goalie, and it would be my dream to be called up. However, I am acquainted with some individuals that are members of my favorite team's organization. My favorite team apparently has a roster of about 20 people that are "on call" for and given home game. Whether home or away, both teams in any given game can pull from the same roster i.e. the home team keeps the roster for bo…

> Whether home or away, both teams in any given game can pull from the same roster I am in New Zealand and know nothing about ice hockey, but wouldn't it be risky to accept your opponents recommendation? Wouldn't a fan of their own team be a better bet, even if a worse player?

That's not really a choice for the visiting team to make. A team can only have two goalies dressed for a game. The emergency backup goalie rule (which is unique to the NHL, AFAIK) is that the home team has to have an emergency goalie booked who's available as a stand-in for either team should both of the team's dressed goalies get injured during the game. Either team would only realistically take that option if they have no other choice.

It's a relatively rare occurrence, and I imagine that anybody who ends up playing as an emergency backup would make an honest effort out of sportsmanship, and also because it's an unique opportunity and experience, even if it's for the visiting team.

The emergency backup goalie is essentially the ultimate underdog and ends up being the fan favourite for the game. Sometimes the home crowd has started to cheer for him even though he was playing for the visiting team.

I don't know what would be going through the emergency goalie's head if they had to step in for a really high-stakes game, though. I don't think that has happened so far.

Re: EBUG: The NHL's emergency backup goalie rule

#38

Post by ascagnel_ »

kgermino wrote: post #33
teruakohatu wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Whether home or away, both teams in any given game can pull from the same roster I am in New Zealand and know nothing about ice hockey, but wouldn't it be risky to accept your opponents recommendation? Wouldn't a fan of their own team be a better bet, even if a worse player?

I think there’s a few reasons they don’t worry about it: 1. This very rarely comes up at all. 2. These guys aren’t usually that good (by NHL standards) and you’ve probably lost the game anyway. You’re relying on your defense to keep the puck away from them more than you’re relying on them to excel. 3. (Probably most important to your point). This is one of the best days in this guy’s life. He’s In an NHL game and wil…

> These guys aren’t usually that good (by NHL standards) and you’ve probably lost the game anyway.

Interestingly, EBUGs have a pretty good record -- teams using an EBUG have won 3 of 4 games they've been used in. I think #3 factors into it: the players know that a "normal" (to be clear: while EBUGs aren't NHL caliber, they're not scrubs or beer leaguers, either) guy has gotten the night of a lifetime, and they'll (based on a subjective eye test) play more tightly in their own end.

Re: EBUG: The NHL's emergency backup goalie rule

#39

Post by ascagnel_ »

antasvara wrote: post #20
rawling wrote: post #17

> In 2018, the accountant Scott Foster stopped all seven shots he faced to preserve a win for the Chicago Blackhawks. In 2020, the Zamboni driver David Ayres famously recorded the first-ever win for an EBUG as he denied his hometown Maple Leafs for half a game. If Foster won as EBUG in 2018, how can Ayres have had the first-ever EBUG win in 2020?

AFAIK, the winning goalie is the goalie that's in net when the "winning" goal was scored. So, if your team wins 4-1,the winning goalie is the goalie that was in when their team scored the second goal. The implication with Foster seems to be that he came in after this winning goal was scored. Ayres, on the other hand, must have had the winning goal scored while he was on the ice.

Pitching in baseball follows a similar rule: the pitcher that gives up the winning run is awarded the loss, the last pitcher to pitch for the winning team is awarded the win.

Re: EBUG: The NHL's emergency backup goalie rule

#40

Post by ascagnel_ »

paulcole wrote: post #28

Of the major professional sports in the US, hockey goalie feels like the only position where this could happen. You could do it for kicker/punter in the NFL, but even then there’s a player on the roster who’s serviceable and then you can alter game strategy to minimize the need for kicking/punting.

It's also a little strange in that both positions are highly consequential, highly visible, and don't map cleanly to the other players in the game (kickers, at the NFL level, aren't taking regular snaps, goalies in the NHL can't even skate past the center line).
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