We have seen hockey teams at just about every professional level turn to an emergency goalie at some point within the last year. Usually these guys are just asked to fill in as the backup goalie for the night, and usually never get any real game action. However, that changed this past weekend in an ECHL game between the Utah Grizzlies and the Rapid City Rush.

This past Saturday, the Grizzlies were put in an unusual situation. Down to one regular goalie, the Anaheim Ducks’ ECHL affiliate brought 43-year-old firefighter Jay Stevens on board to sit on the bench for the game, just in case something happened. Well, their starting goalie got smoked in the mask with a puck in the third period and needed to get stitches. That’s when it became Stevens’ time to shine.

Stevens only had to play just over 10 and a half minutes, but he came up big for the Grizzlies and stood his ground during that time.

 

 

 

Considering Stevens is a veteran firefighter, he’s probably used to responding to emergency calls by now. However, this one was a little different than the usual calls he’s used to dealing with and probably a lot less stressful, too.  

(H/T Twitter/Utah Grizzlies)