- Jul 20, 2016
- 6,572
- 20,209
Pucksterguy, this is a story close to your heart.
First, we have to understand EBUG. In hockey, there are emergency back-up goal tenders, and home teams in the NHL have to provide one for the visiting teams. Ok, it is Saturday night and the Carolina Hurricanes are playing the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto. It is a close game, and then the Hurricanes' second goalie is injured.
Dale Ayres takes the ice as the EBUG. Here is his story.
He wanted to do his best, and he did - making 8 saves and helping the Hurricanes go on to a 6-3 victory. Even the home team cheered him. This story is traveling the news because it touches all of us. We can identify with the ordinary person stepping up to do the extraordinary thing. If you click on the news link, you will see a picture of him with his teammates. It says it all - pure joy. I think we each can stand a bit taller and reach a tad further when we hear stories like this one.
First, we have to understand EBUG. In hockey, there are emergency back-up goal tenders, and home teams in the NHL have to provide one for the visiting teams. Ok, it is Saturday night and the Carolina Hurricanes are playing the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto. It is a close game, and then the Hurricanes' second goalie is injured.
Dale Ayres takes the ice as the EBUG. Here is his story.
Ayres is a lifelong hockey fan. He dreamed of playing professional hockey. But in 2004, he nearly died due to kidney failure before his mother, Mary, donated one of her kidneys to save his life. Everyone, including Ayres, thought he would never play professional hockey. His most recent competitive experience before Saturday night was playing an eight-game series with the Norwood Vipers of the Allan Cup Hockey League, several levels below even the minor league.
According to ESPN, Ayres “allowed 58 goals and had a .777 save percentage and an 0-8 record.” You don’t have to know hockey to understand that’s not a very good record. But who could blame him? Ayres spends most of his days maintaining the Mattamy Athletic Centre and helping coach a youth hockey league. https://thefederalist.com/2020/02/25/a-zamboni-drivers-moment-in-the-nhl-spotlight-inspires-ordinary-people-to-keep-dreaming/
He wanted to do his best, and he did - making 8 saves and helping the Hurricanes go on to a 6-3 victory. Even the home team cheered him. This story is traveling the news because it touches all of us. We can identify with the ordinary person stepping up to do the extraordinary thing. If you click on the news link, you will see a picture of him with his teammates. It says it all - pure joy. I think we each can stand a bit taller and reach a tad further when we hear stories like this one.