All six feet, two inches and 211 pounds of Kyle Clifford was also barreling towards the puck. Out on the ice, with a little less than nine minutes left in the second period, Mrazek raced out of his crease to track down a loose puck. 90 goalie cut jersey that the Canes take to every city, just in case. There was no television in this locker room, so Ayres pulled up the CBC feed of the game on his phone.Įquipment manager Bob Gorman stitched a makeshift 'AYRES' nameplate onto the No. He left the media area for an auxiliary locker room where he laced up his skates and affixed his leg pads. READ: INSIDE A GOALIE EMERGENCY WITH JASON MUZZATTIĪs Petr Mrazek entered the game for the Canes, Ayres got a text message alerting him to get dressed. But, at the first extended stoppage of the period, he exited the game. Reimer battled his way through the next three minutes of game play, two of which featured a Canes' power play, and only had to make a fairly mundane blocker save. Head Athletic Trainer Doug Bennett trotted out to examine Reimer, who was slow to his feet before electing to remain in the game.

Reimer, though, remained on the ice in clear discomfort. The two Canes ended up in their own net, seemingly somewhat innocuous at first.

'My wife a bunch of times said, 'If you get in, do you think you'll be nervous?' I'm like, 'Nah, I'll be good.''Ībout three minutes into the game, Zach Hyman shoved Jaccob Slavin into James Reimer. 'I didn't actually think I'd get in the net,' said Ayres, who also dressed as the emergency back-up for the Charlotte Checkers in Toronto just a few weeks ago. (Zamboni driving, by the way, doesn't exactly fall under that job description, though he did do that while working at the then Ricoh Coliseum, home of the American League's Toronto Marlies, years prior.)Ī third practice goalie for the Maple Leafs and Marlies, Ayres is also one of the emergency goaltenders in Toronto available for the nuclear situation in which the Hurricanes found themselves on Saturday night. On any other Saturday night in February, you probably would have found Ayres helping coach local youth hockey or on site at Mattamy Athletic Centre, the old Maple Leaf Gardens, where he currently works as the building's operations manager.

Man Out Of Time by Jason Ayres