Ice hockey: spectator to player, the incredible evening of Dave Ayres in NHL

His first game in the North American Ice Hockey Championship on Saturday in Toronto will likely be his last. But Dave Ayres, 42 and the whole NHL are not ready to forget it, as his career is unlikely.

Because Ayres is already nicknamed the "new miracle on ice", in reference to the historic and resounding victory of the United States against the USSR in the final of the Olympics-1980 just 40 years ago in the Cold War.

It took indeed an incredible combination of circumstances for the Canadian forties, in the civilian driver of resurfacing, the machine that resurfaces the ice in rinks, to evolve one evening in the most prestigious and raised championship of the planet under the Carolina Hurricanes jersey.

Dave Ayres. What a beauty. pic.twitter.com/P4N38LQXZ5

He was indeed the "emergency guard," or third guard, a role often entrusted to semi-pros paid $ 500 for a night stand, normally spent in the stands. A third goalkeeper, made available according to NHL regulations by the home team, only very rarely comes into play. Except that the two “Canes” goalkeepers, James Reimer and Petr Mrazek, were injured on Saturday evening .

"The strongest moment of my life"

Ayres, one of the reserve team… goaltenders from Toronto, made his NHL debut in the second period. Even if he conceded two goals for eight repulsed shots, he allowed the "Canes" to win 6 to 3 on the Toronto ice in front of a public at first incredulous who then warmly applauded him.

Upon his return to the locker room, he received the congratulations of his teammates and his evening coach who did not know him before this match. "I had the strongest moment in my life," said Ayres, whose hopes for a hockey career were dashed at 26 by health problems that forced him to undergo a transplant. kidney.

So much praise for Dave Ayres 🙌

The 42-year-old Zamboni driver completed his journey from kidney transplant to winning an NHL game as the Carolina Hurricanes' emergency goalie last night.

(via @Canes) pic.twitter.com/abmoKYLOMN

"When I was told that I had to prepare, I was in shock, but I really enjoyed this moment," he insisted. Ayres is not the first to realize his dream of becoming a pro for an evening. In 2018, the Chicago Blackhawks also had to go to the emergency goalkeeper, Scott Foster, a 38-year-old accountant, who had a flawless attempt by deflecting seven shots against Winnipeg.