Leafs narrowly avoid another “David Ayres situation” tonight in Toronto

Earlier tonight, the Colorado Avalanche announced that starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper was not well enough to dress for this evening's game and that emergency backup goalie (EBUG) Jett Alexander of the University of Toronto would dress as the team's backup. Jonas Johansson started the game, with Alexander backing him up on the bench until AHL goaltender Justus Annunen was able to make it to the game.

Check it out:

Well... spoiler alert but Annunen made it to the game without Alexander having to breaking a sweat really.

The 22 year old Alexander now has a story to tell for life though, even if it's not quite as good as David Ayres' legendary tale.

So... let's give the kid his moment in the big times. Alexander is a former Junior A star with the OJHL's North York Rangers and actually set the league record for shutouts in 2018-19 with 10 clean sheets in 43 games. He concluded his junior career with the Prince George Spruce Kings of the BCHL in 2019-20 and has played just one game with the OUAA's University of Toronto this season.

Here he is getting stick taps from Avs superstar Nathan MacKinnon in warmups:

Soak it all in, kid. You finally made the big time... kinda.

Here's a few more photos of the kid in warmup: