Hockey Guy: Emergency Backup Goalie For The Ottawa Senators Literally Had To Run To The Arena With All Of His Gear
You'd think at some point the NHL would come up with some sort of protocol for EBUGs (Emergency Back Up Goalies) that doesn't seem so thrown together at the last minute. At some point you'd think they'd have every team have an EBUG at the arena for every game just in case. You pay them a stipend for their time. Doesn't have to be anything crazy. But they're at every game, dressed and ready to go just in case they are needed.
That's still not the NHL we live with today. Instead, we have guys like Zach Dietz who literally have to run to the rink just to get there in time to suit up for the Senators after Anton Forsberg got hurt in the gym getting ready for the game.
Dietz didn't find out until around 5:50 that he'd be needed for the game. So by the time he got on the road to head to the arena, traffic was already a cluster fuck. Anyone who has ever been to a Senators game can tell you that parking at that building is a nightmare. The place is in the middle of nowhere and there's only like one way in or out. It's ridiculous.
So Dietz is on his way to the game, warmups are going on and he's still stuck in traffic trying to get to the arena. Again, you'd think the NHL would try to have guys already in the building a couple hours earlier just to make sure something like this doesn't happen. But that would make too much sense.
So eventually the young man figures out that he's probably better off just getting to the arena on foot than waiting for traffic to open up. So he hops out of the car, grabs his gear, and starts to haul ass.
Eventually he got to the rink, signed his pro-tryout contract, and received his Sens jersey.
I guess there's some new dipshit rule in the NHL where EBUGs aren't allowed to sit on the bench anymore since they still technically have to be ready to play for the other team, too. So he just had to sit in a dressing room all night by himself like Steven Glansburg. Still a cool story, though, even if the trip to the rink was the most exciting part of it.