Sports means something different to everyone. Everyone has their own favorite team, their own memories of “where I was when…”, and that’s what makes sports great. No one person will feel the same about any one sporting event. We relate sports to our own lives, in our own way. It’s that uniqueness of experiences that brings all sports fans together, breaks down all barriers; white or black or brown, male or female, rich or poor, young or old — we are just sports fans.Â
Each year, we at GoingFor2, give our writers a chance to share that experience, that emotion, that ‘one thing’ that stood out above all else in the past year. The sports story that mattered to them — big or small. The following is one such story. Enjoy…
Even if you aren’t a hockey fan, chances are you’ve heard of the “Miracle on Ice”. On February 22, 1980, the US Olympic hockey team beat the heavily favored Soviet Union team that is one of the greatest moments in US sports history. It’s where the iconic line from Al Michaels “Do you believe in miracles? YES!” was coined, and it was also made into a movie by who else but Disney. Exactly 40 years later to the day, another miracle on ice would take place, but under very different circumstances. It would involve a hockey team from Raleigh, North Carolina of all places, and an emergency backup goalie. This is the improbable story is how the legend of David Ayres came to be.
For those of you who don’t follow hockey, an EBUG is an “Emergency Back-Up Goalie”. It’s required that every NHL team have an emergency backup goalie at each home game, just in case the rare occurrence that both goalies on either team’s rosters get hurt. It doesn’t happen very often, and Ayres was only the third EBUG to get into a game in the last 50 years. But this was special. Hurricanes starting goalie James Reimer was injured when Defenseman Jaccob Slavin fell on him in the first period. Petr Mrazek, who is the Canes top goalie but was getting the night off, is known for his aggressive yet sometimes erratic play. If relief of Reimer, Mrazek tried to play a puck that was almost at the blue line and was knocked out after a collision with Toronto Maple Leafs Left Wing Kyle Clifford.
With both goalies down, the Hurricanes turned to the emergency backup goalie David Ayres. Ayres is a 42-year-old Zamboni driver who has practiced with the Leafs, and prior professional hockey experience was eight games in the Allan Cup Hockey League (a Canadian Senior ice hockey league) in 2014. A diehard Maple Leafs fan, Ayres sported Toronto Marlies (the Leafs minor league affiliate) gear with his Carolina Hurricanes sweater. The Hurricanes were winning when Ayres came in, but he allowed two goals on two shots, and things looked like they would get ugly rather quickly.
Although the Hurricanes were fighting for a playoff spot, the players tried to calm Ayres. They knew it was a once in a lifetime moment for him that he didn’t ask to be a part of. “The guys told me to have fun with it”, Ayres said of the Hurricanes players, “Don’t worry about how many goals go in. Just enjoy it and said this is your moment”. After those two shots, Ayres settled down and the Hurricanes rallied around him. Ayres stopped the next eight shots and helped the Canes secure a 6-3 win over the Maple Leafs. Ayres became the first emergency backup to win a game, the oldest goaltender to win his NHL regular-season debut and a legend in the eyes of Hurricanes fans.
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I know the NHL isn’t as popular as the other major professional sports, but I am a diehard Hurricanes fan and have attended way too many games to count. I live 20 minutes from their stadium. Back in 1997, my dad got two free tickets to their first-ever game against the New York Islanders. Instead of taking a friend or choosing between my older brother and me, my dad made the selfless decision to give the tickets to us. My brother and I went, and I was instantly a Canes fan. Although I was born in New York and am fan of the New York teams like my Dad, the Canes are the only professional team I adopted from North Carolina (we moved to NC when I was four).
Sports has always been a bond for my family. Yankees games, Giants games, Duke basketball games, my family always watched the games together. My brother and I both played pretty much every sport growing up. We are the superstitious family who will change seats in the living room if the game isn’t going our way. My mom stood in the kitchen for almost an entire Yankees World Series game in 1998 (and that’s the reason they won, you can’t tell me otherwise). Some of my favorite memories are going to Hurricanes games with my family and friends. My wife and I have gone to countless games together over the years. I have two nephews who are just getting old enough to enjoy the games too, and the past few years we’ve gone to a ton of games together. At the beginning of the year, one of my nephews won free tickets and asked me to go with him. That game just so happened to be the game after the David Ayres game.
The Hurricanes invited Ayres to be the “Siren Sounder” for the game, a tradition at home games where a guest of honor cranks a hurricane siren as the Canes take the ice to pump up the crowd. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper declared Ayres an honorary citizen of the state of North Carolina, and the city of Raleigh declared February 25, 2020 “David Ayres Day”. The Hurricanes sold Ayres “jersey shirts” with his name and number on the back. Since Ayres was a kidney transplant survivor, the Canes worked with Ayres and donated a portion of the proceeds to a kidney foundation of his choice. We tried to get there early enough to get his autograph on the newly purchased David Ayres shirts my nephew and I were wearing, but unfortunately, the line was too long. You would have thought the Hurricanes had won the Stanley Cup. David Ayres became an instant legend.
The game wasn’t great, unfortunately (the Canes lost), but the David Ayres story hit home for me in multiple ways. My father-in-law is a multiple-time kidney cancer survivor and also is a kidney transplant recipient (from my mother in law) after he lost his second kidney. Ayres’s story was inspirational for him, and as a newly minted Caniac (he just recently started going to games with us) he asked me to purchase him a jersey shirt so he could wear it with pride, and proudly represent the achievements of a fellow kidney transplant survivor.
I vividly remember looking at my nephew at that game and how excited he was. As bad as this sounds, I remember thinking “Man, I miss that excitement”. Growing up going to games with my Mom, my Dad, my older brother, it was literally like Christmas every game I attended. As much as I love going to games, there was nothing quite like the magic of going as a kid. That game was February 25th, 2020. Shortly after my nephew, my father in law, and I were gifted season tickets for the 2020-2021 season, and we were so unbelievably excited. Oh, how things changed pretty quickly after that.
That game was the last live sporting event I attended before the pandemic. As we all know, sports just stopped. That was my sixth or seventh game of the season I attended, but I watch almost every single Hurricanes game. I realize how unbelievable naïve I was to feel the way I did that night. How I felt “Yeah, this is fun, but I’ve been to a million games. It’s not as special as it used to be”. I just knew that if the Hurricanes made the playoffs, my Dad, my brother, my nephews, my father in law and I would be tailgating (yes, we tailgate hockey games in North Carolina), and would be cheering the Canes on for a hopefully deep playoff run.
What I wouldn’t give to be able to attend a game right now. To feel the rush of the goal horn and thousands of fans screaming together, hugging and high fiving my family along with complete strangers. To get excited to see Hamilton the Pig (the Canes unofficial mascot and playoff pig). I had taken for granted that sports would always be there. I had no idea that game would be the last live sporting event I would go to for however long this lasts. It’s ten months and counting, but when this ends and I’m finally able to go, that magic will be back. I’ll never take for granted being able to experience a Hurricanes game, or any live sport, with my family again. I can’t wait to watch a game live and feel like a kid again.
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