When the Penguins have an emergency, they call on someone from N.S. It's not who you think
CBC
Mike Chiasson was in the stands at Fenway Park for the NHL's Winter Classic in Boston earlier this year when the starting goalie for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Tristan Jarry, was injured in the first period and had to exit the game.
For Chiasson, who is originally from Cole Harbour, N.S., he knew what it meant.
"I handed my daughter to my wife and said, 'I gotta go,' and left her," said Chiasson, 37.
Chiasson is the emergency backup goalie, or EBUG, for the Penguins. With the injury to Jarry, it meant that if backup Casey DeSmith also got injured and couldn't continue, Chiasson would go in.
Chiasson put on his gear and waited in the dugout in the event his services were needed.
While Chiasson never ended up playing, he said this was around the sixth time that he dressed for a game as the EBUG. It happened again recently when he dressed for Pittsburgh's game against the Florida Panthers on Jan. 24.
The emergency goalie is meant to fill the void when injuries occur to goalies on short notice or in the midst of games. The EBUG can play for either team.
Fans love it. It gives an everyday citizen the chance to be an NHL goalie, even with the game on the line.
The most famous emergency goalie is 42-year-old David Ayres, a Zamboni driver by day who suited up for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 2020 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Chiasson never played professionally. He played in the QMJHL with the Rimouski Oceanic before four seasons with the Acadia Axemen, the last in 2011.
"Who would have thought that, technically, I could still play in the NHL at 37 without really playing for those 12 years?" he said.
By day, Chiasson works as a goaltending development professional for the Lemieux Sports Complex's youth hockey programming. The site also doubles as the Penguins' training facility.
Chiasson also regularly practises with the team at home, serving as a third goalie to take the load off the team's two goalies. In these practices, he gets to go up against his lifelong friend, Cole Harbour's Sidney Crosby.
The pair played on hockey and baseball teams together growing up.
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