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The End of the EBUG Era
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- The End of the EBUG Era
The amateur Emergency Backup Goalie will soon become a thing of the past.
The names Tom Comunale, Jeff Sewick, and Jeff Vayda might not be familiar to Penguins fans, but many do not realize they have been one illness or injury away from playing goal for the Penguins (or the visiting team). For the past several seasons these three have been serving as the Emergency Backup Goalie (EBUG) at Penguins home games. However, the EBUG is going the way of the two-line, offside pass and will soon be a thing of the past. Beginning with the 2026-27 season, changes to the NHL's Collective Bargaining Agreement eliminate the amateur EBUGs and replaces them with an EBUG that will be a full-time of the team and serve in the EBUG capacity for both home and road games.
The EBUG has been a non-roster goaltender made available for emergency situations. Usually, they are a local goalie with competitive playing experience, such as a former college or junior-level goaltender, but not currently under contract with a professional team.
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The rule is outlined in NHL Rulebook Section 5.3 and states, "If both listed goalkeepers are incapacitated, that team shall be entitled to dress and play any goalkeeper who is eligible." In the rare event that the EBUG gets into the game, they sign a short-term Amateur Tryout Agreement (ATO) or a Professional Tryout (PTO) to become eligible to play in that specific game.
In Pittsburgh each EBUG receives two tickets to their assigned games and has to be ready at a moment's notice to leave their seats and go down to suit up. The chances are slim that two goaltenders for the same team will go down with injury, but it can happen. Comunale, an Outside Sales Representative at 84 Lumber by day and former UCONN goalie, did have to dress once. "I keep my phone handy during intermissions just in case there was an injury that was not obvious during the previous period," said Comunale. Well, that call came in 2024 from the San Jose Sharks , "I cannot remember which goalie of theirs got hurt, but he did not come back for the second period, so I had to dress for the second and third period. The game went into overtime and a shootout too," recalled Comunale. While he just hung out in the runway and did not get to sit on the bench, the Sharks equipment manager was nice enough to have a jersey made for him with his name and number on the back and mailed it out to him a few weeks later.
While the EBUG system seems structured and well-thought-out now, this was not always the case. On March 3, 2015, when the Florida Panthers were in a bind: Starter Roberto Luongo left a home game against Toronto with an unspecified upper-body injury, but then backup Al Montoya suffered a groin injury.
Play was stopped while goaltending coach Robb Tallas , a 41-year-old former NHL goalie, prepared to go in, as did forward Derek MacKenzie as a last resort. The NHL was asked if Tallas could take the ice, but before they got a definitive answer, Luongo rushed back from a nearby hospital to return to the game.
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The following season, the NHL instituted a new rule requiring each team to have a list of local emergency goalie options for themselves and visiting teams. While there have been thousands of NHL games where the EBUG has never had to dress, there have been a few memorable instances of an EBUG seeing game action.
The first EBUG to get into a game in the modern era was the Carolina Hurricanes equipment manager, Jorge Alves, for 7.6 seconds of a game on December 31, 2016. The former minor league goalie and Marine did not face a shot.
The most famous EBUG action was then-42-year-old David Ayres, a Zamboni driver who suited up for the Carolina Hurricanes on February 22, 2020 in Toronto and backstopped them to a 6-3 win over the Maple Leafs , making eight saves on ten shots in 28:41 of action.
There have been other instances of EBUGs getting into games as well:
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Jett Alexander, a University of Toronto student/goalie, played 1:10 for the Maple Leafs on April 8, 2023, but did not face a shot in a 7-1 win for Toronto over Montreal .
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Thomas Hodges, a Dallas Stars Sales Representative, suited up for the Anaheim Ducks on April 29, 2022 and played 19:16. He faced three shots, allowed one goal, and took the loss.
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On January 28, 2023 Matt Berlin, a University of Alberta student/goalie, played the final 2:26 of a 7-3 Edmonton win over Chicago, making one save.
With only a few home games remaining this season, it is not likely that Comunale, Sewick, or Vayda will ever see any official NHL action, but even having the chance to do so is a possibility that most NHL fans could only dream of.
The post The End of the EBUG Era appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
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