Has it always been your dream to play in the NHL? But you don’t want to go through the grueling process of actually making it?
Well, hopefully you were around Seattle on Monday, because you would have actually had the chance!
The Seattle Kraken are getting ready to play their first season as a franchise, and they’re currently in the process of dotting their I’s and crossing their T’s. One of the logistical tasks they had to complete was to find an Emergency Back-Up Goalie (or an ‘EBUG’) in the event that their two goalies get injured and can’t play.
The hockey world has developed an adoration for EBUGs following the now-fabled stories of David Ayres and Scott Foster. The two EBUGs entered into games for the Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago Blackhawks, respectively, and helped the teams to earn a win. Foster stopped all seven shots he faced while Ayres helped the ‘Canes to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs.
So why did Seattle decide to hold open tryouts?
Via Sound of Hockey:
“It’s about community,” Kraken director of hockey strategy and research Alexandra Mandrycky said of Monday’s skate.
Mandrycky and the Kraken sent out a call for EBUGs to local hockey communities, who then reached out to goalies that could potentially dress in the Kraken blue.
“It was a totally surreal email that came out of the blue,” EBUG hopeful Tyler Zetting, 32, said via Sound of Hockey. “I’m finishing up work, checking my email and I see that email come through and it’s just, you know, it’s like you blackout. And then you come back and it’s honestly almost tears.”
No word on who has been selected, but this would be another wrinkle in the legacy should the eventual selection actually make his (or her!) way into a game.
(H/T Sound of Hockey)
