EBUG to the Rescue
This past weekend was a wild one in the National Hockey League (NHL) – particularly when the Carolina Hurricanes paid a visit to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
As the season heads into the final stretch, both teams are aiming for a playoff spot, so it was primed to be a good, hard-fought game. But when two Hurricane goalies went down with plenty of time to go a little anomaly occurred: We got to see an Emergency Goalie.
I’m not aware of any other sport that has a contingency plan like the NHL, but there’s a well-known yet hardly implemented rule (5.3) that states:
In the event that the two regular goalkeepers are injured or incapacitated in quick succession, the third goalkeeper shall be provided with a reasonable amount of time to get dressed, in addition to a two-minute warm-up.
NHL Rulebook, Section 5.3
Well-known because when a team needs an EBUG (Emergency Back Up Goalie) – as it did on Saturday night – everyone in the hockey world hears about it. Hardly implemented because what are the odds that two goalies get injured?
Yes, of the 963 regular-season games played so far this season (and that’s 1,926 games that teams have participated in), it’s only happened once – that’s 0.0519%.
The feel-good story almost did not happen at all, and there three excellent business lessons for us to glean from this situation:
1. Have an Emergency Plan
Like I stated above, the NHL plans for this possibility. Granted it has only happened three times in the modern era but they either have amazing foresight or learned from a bad experience.
Either way, we should all have an emergency plan to a certain degree in some areas of our business (and personal) lives.
2. Never Give Up Hope
As pointed out, both teams are fighting for playoff spots, so when you have to substitute your world-class goalies for a Zamboni driver (more on him in a moment), you most probably are going to be dejected. Truth is, you can see the Hurricanes coach make a face that personified this predicament.
However, the Hurricanes didn’t use it as an excuse. They were winning on the road and after EBUG Dave Ayers gave up two goals, they could have thrown in the towel.
But give credit to the team who played superb defense allowing the Maple Leafs only 10 shots against their understudy. And of course, Ayers made some crucial saves to earn his first W in the NHL.
Which brings me to…
3. Follow Your Dreams
Zamboni driver by day, EBUG by night. Dave Ayers probably never expected to play in an NHL game. The 42-year old is considered old by NHL player standards, yet he had one job at the arena: to be on call… just in case his number was called.
And when they did call EBUG number 90, he performed well enough to earn “his team” the victory, got the star of the game, and is now even getting his very own “David Ayres Day” in Raleigh, North Carolina.
So follow your dreams and prefect your trade, because who knows, one day you might get the call. What a wonderful story and great play by Dave Ayers!
Finally, for your viewing pleasure, here is a clip of the highlights.
