St. Louis Blues: Vending machine worker serves as backup goaltender
The St. Louis Blues had to use a vending machine worker as their backup goaltender against the Dallas Stars on Thursday.
There are a ton of thankless jobs in this world. But in sports, these kinds of roles are rare. However, in the NHL, the role of emergency goaltender stands out. Because most teams only carry two goalies and sometimes AHL teams are far away, sometimes an emergency goalie has to be dressed as a backup. That happened on Thursday for the St. Louis Blues, who had to dress Tyler Stewart, a vending machine worker, as their backup.
How did this happen? Usual backup goalie Carter Hutton got injured during practice. The Blues immediately called up Ville Husso from their AHL affiliate in San Antonio. However, travel logistics, especially last minute trips, can backfire. Husso couldn’t get to the Scottrade Center in St. Louis in time for the start of the game.
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Stewart got a call from the Blues after Hutton’s injury. Because Husso was delayed, he technically got to dress for them, getting jersey number 98. Stewart joined the team for warmups and watched from the dressing room in the first period.
Husso was able to get there about five minutes before the first intermission. He was there just in case some REALLY nutty happened and starter Jake Allen got injured. The chances of that happening were extremely low at best, but obviously, the Blues wanted to be prepared just in case.
Even though Stewart didn’t get the chance to play in the NHL, it was quite the experience for him.
“It’s something I’ll never forget,” he said, via ESPN. “This was my Christmas present.”
Emergency goaltenders get a special rule. Teams are allowed to dress one under special circumstances. And yes, travel arrangements going up in flames is one of them. They almost never get to play, although Carolina Hurricanes equipment manager Jorge Alves got to get into a game last season. So did Eric Semborski, who got in a few minutes for the Philadelphia Flyers.
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Ironically, guess where Hutton got his start in the NHL? You guessed it, as an emergency backup for the Flyers in 2010. Stewart joins an unheralded fraternity. And for one night, he got to say he was a member of an NHL team.