(36 year old) Accountant plays goal for Chicago in 6-2 win over Winnipeg

[underpants]

I know this is a sports topic but I think it's also a nice human interest story.

https://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/scott-foster-blackhawks-accountant-goalie-1.17748754

CHICAGO - Scott Foster thought it was going to be just another night. Then the 36-year-old accountant signed a contract, put on his goaltender gear and waited in Chicago's locker room. Then he got into the game.

Then, it was his night.

"This is something that no one can ever take away from me," Foster said. "It's something that I can go home and tell my kids and they can tell their friends. ... Just a ton of fun."

Foster was pressed into action when Chicago lost Anton Forsberg and Collin Delia to injuries, and the former college goalie stopped all seven shots he faced over the final 14 minutes of the Blackhawks' 6-2 victory over the playoff-bound Winnipeg Jets on Thursday.

Foster is part of a crew of recreational goaltenders who staff Chicago's home games in case of emergencies for either team. But it usually just means a nice dinner and a night in the press box watching the world's best players compete at hockey's highest level.

[Angry Dragon]

1. never knew about the recreational goaltenders

[underpants]

3. I didn't either but I'm not a hockey follower

Football teams have someone on the roster who's an emergency kicker/punter but no one just waiting around.

Great story.

[Renew Deal]

8. It happens occasionally

It sounds like the nice thing here was they let him play. Hockey teams usuLly only carry two goalies, so if something happens close to the start of the game they’ll use one of these guys. It’s better than forfeiting.

[ProfessorGAC]

2. 7 for 7 On Save Chances Too

And, he said he's just going to go home, get some sleep, wake up, put on a tie, and go back to his job as an accountant this morning.

Thrill of a lifetime for him, i'd guess.

[underpants]

4. For sure.

[anarch]

7. best save percentage of any goalie in the history of the NHL

Not that the backup goalie and the call-up from the minors both being injured is a good thing, but how awesome for the rec-league guy!

On a side note, as a Capitals fan, for a while now I've kinda wanted to get a custom jersey of our backup-backup-backup goalie, Brett Leonhardt, who is usually the team's video coach but has dressed for a couple of games when no other backups were available.

[dem4decades]

9. I hope he leaves the sports page open on his desk.

Even if no one notices he can glance over and feel great.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. That'd Be Great

And the Comcast Sports Net Webpage on his computer screen showing him making a save.

[Volaris]

11. I'm thinking somebody will call him...

7 for 7 in the third period is pretty good at NHL-level play...theres NHL teams who pay lots of money for less-than-that performance lol...

[True Dough]

5. I read that his goals against average in his regular "beer league"

is 4.40. So he shines when he steps up to the big leagues and the pressure's on.

Great story!

[underpants]

14. Definitely stepped up

[hardluck]

15. I'm sure he loved getting some defense for a change

Good defense is nonexistent in most beer leagues.

[SallyHemmings]

6. Great story!

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. Emergency goalies in the Eastern Hockey League:

Things were different when I was growing up, and our local pro team was the New Haven Blades, of the Eastern Hockey League, the league that served as the inspiration for the movie Slap Shot. Teams in the EHL carried 13 players: 3 lines of forwards, two pair of defensemen and one goaltender. If a goalie got hurt, there were problems.

I was watching a game one night in 1968, the Blades against, I think, our arch-rival Long Island Ducks. The Blades' goalie was Roger Wilson, whom they had picked up from Charlotte when their starter, Al Johnstone, got hurt. At some point in the game, the Ducks' goalie got hurt, and was taken off the ice. Here it got interesting, because the protocol was basically for the home team to provide a goalie, and the Blades' emergency goalie was their trainer, Ken 'Gunner' Garrett. The game stopped as we waited for Gunner to put on the pads, and when he skated onto the ice to warmup in the Ducks' goal, a raspy voice boomed out from the other end of the New Haven Arena, behind the Blades' goal.

'Give 'em Wilson!' the voice shouted. 'Give 'em Wilson'. Wilson turned around in his goal, pulled off his glove, and gestured with his middle finger. 'Fuck you, Marty!'. 2,200 people burst into laughter. The players and fans were a lot closer in those days.
...
As for Scott Foster? He played the final 14 minutes of the game, saved seven shots and allowed no goals, as the Blackhawks won 6-2. Foster was named the game's first star, and received a boxing-style championship belt. Gunner Garrett? Well, he didn't have a belt, but he did get a memorial banner, made by the Austin Ice Bats in 2005 when he suffered a heart attack during a game, and the team thought mistakenly he had died in hospital. When he returned the next day to find the banner hanging in the rink, he was given it as a keepsake.

http://irresistibletargets.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/emergency-goalies-scott-foster-and.html

[underpants]

13. That's hilarious

Thanks for sharing it.

Not a hockey fan at all I remember two sports talking heads talking about coaching or something and one said "HOCKEY?! They fire coaches in the PRE-SEASON!"