No doubt the biggest story in the NHL this season has been the storybook tale of Zamboni driver turned NHL goaltender David Ayres. The emergency backup goalie was, of course, pressed into action last month when Carolina Hurricanes goaltenders James Reimer and Petr Mrazek both went down with injury during a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
What happened next was the stuff of legends. Ayres came in, battled through a shaky start and ended up earning himself a win, first star honours and a place in the NHL record books. Of course, not everyone was thrilled with how things played out. Some NHL GMs complained that the situation made the league look second rate or "bush league" in comparison to North America's other major sports. I mean... would the NFL pluck a quarterback out of the crowd if Patrick Mahomes went down with an injury? Not a chance.
In any case, the NHL has decided NOT to make any changes to its emergency backup goalie policy, as announced yesterday by longtime NHL front-office executive Colin Campbell. Fans are happy with that news, but Campbell may have slipped up in his explanation of things, admitting that he called Hurricanes GM Don Waddell and pleaded with him to put one of his concussed goaltenders back in action against the Leafs.
Check it out:
So here you have a league executive openly admitting that he implored a team to play a player with a suspected brain injury. Are you f***ing kidding me!?
As you might expect, the online backlash against Campbell is harsh.
Check out some of these replies:
