Sports fans love a good story. Hell, most of us love a great feel-good, rags-to-riches or come-out-of-nowhere story. They are rare, but when they occur we connect with them deeply. In sports, there is nothing better than a great underdog story. It is why the movie Rudy resonated with most of us.

Most kids who play sports dream of playing professionally. Same as those who sing or play an instrument dream of headlining a concert. It is a dream that rarely comes true, except for a few of the very lucky and talented who make it.

Every once in awhile sports present us with the most unexpected story. Last Saturday night, 42-year-old Zamboni driver @David Ayres lived out his dream of playing in the NHL. I wasn’t watching the @Toronto Maple Leafs/@Carolina Hurricanes game, but I got a text from a friend telling me I had to turn it on. I quickly switched and sat back with a huge smile watching Ayres skate onto the ice. He was the Emergency Back-Up Goalie (EBUG) for that game. The home team has a goalie on call, and he will enter the game if either team losses both their goalies to injury.

At that moment every viewer wondered how they would feel, how they would act in that moment. All of us hoped we’d handle the game, the post-game interviews and all the media requests with the same grace and tact Ayres did. I went upstairs and told my wife and son they needed to come watch.

We sat on the couch and I explained to my six-year-old what was happening. “So he practices with Toronto, but now he has to play against his own team,” he asked. “That’s crazy,” he laughed.

Kids are wonderful at simplifying things and he was bang on. It was a very unique situation. It didn’t start well with Ayres, as he allowed two goals on his first two shots, although he had no chance on the second one that deflected off his D-man and right onto the stick of @Pierre Engvall, and suddenly it was 4-3 for Carolina. Right away people assumed the worst. Social media and even private text messages from some NHL people said it was a disgrace that a Maple Leafs “employee” play against his own team in the heat of a playoff race.

Well, we know how it played out. Ayres didn’t allow another goal. He didn’t let in goals so the Maple Leafs would win. He tried his best and became one of the best feel-good stories the NHL has seen in a long time. Non-hockey media outlets picked up the story. Ayres appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Today Show. ESPN Radio had him on the Dan Patrick Show, the Dan Lebatard Show and many others. You can see his media hour here.

His appearance on the Today Show was very touching. His mom made a special appearance. Fifteen years earlier David needed a kidney transplant and she was the donor. This story just kept getting better.

The story was incredible. I won’t be surprised if someone makes it into a movie. The NHL benefitted with huge exposure, much of it with non-hockey fans, but now the NHL is contemplating changing the rules.

1. I don’t understand the need to change it. We’ve only seen an emergency goalie play in the NHL twice in the past 60 years. Both times were recent, with Ayres and Scott Foster with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2018. The Hurricanes and Blackhawks both won. Ayres was the first emergency goalie to be credited with a win. He played 28 minutes. The chance two goalies get injured in the first half of a game is extremely low. Will we ever see it happen that early in a game again? Unlikely.

2. The argument to change the rule is based essentially on “what if” scenarios. What if the Maple Leafs would have won? What if they’d scored eight or nine goals? What if the Hurricanes lost and then missed the playoff by a point or two? What if, what if, what if — I don’t believe “what if” is a good enough reason to revamp it.

3. They might want to make small adjustments, as far as having the EBUG be a College, University or Junior caliber player, or someone who played there in the previous two seasons. Currently, the Oilers EBUG is Marc-Olivier Daigle. He is the starting goalie for Grant McEwan University. He played in the QMJHL and the AJHL. He isn’t the Oilers’ extra practice goalie like Ayres is in Toronto, but on game nights he has the same role. If the league wants to make a rule the EBUG has to be a University, College or Junior caliber goalie, I’m fine with that. But talk of adding a full-time third goalie, who travels with the team, is a bit much in my eyes.

4. I understand it is a hot story now, and with the timing of the GM meetings coming up, I can see why it might be discussed. But the NHL has much bigger issues to be looking at. This isn’t a priority, and I don’t agree that it discredits the “integrity of the game” by having people like Ayres and Foster live out a dream. It is a rare situation. Nothing more. There is no need to overreact to it. Even if the next EBUG gets lit up shouldn’t change it. NHL goalies get lit up sometimes. It happens.

5. Ken Holland told me he tried to add another defenceman at the deadline. He didn’t say who, but a source told me they were looking at left-shot defender. @Kris Russel is on LTIR with a concussion and there is no timetable for his return. @Oscar Klefbom has a shoulder problem. Holland said he had a minor procedure and will be out 2-3 weeks.

6. A source told me it seems unlikely that Klefbom will be ready to play next Monday in Nashville or Tuesday in Dallas. Klefbom last played on February 16th against Carolina so it would seem he will be out closer to three weeks than tow. I was also told his injury isn’t a structural problem, but more about regaining strength. I presume this is why Holland was looking for another left D-man: for more added depth in case Klefbom isn’t back right away. William Lagesson has been okay, but in a playoff run you can never have enough quality defenders.

7. The injury bug is biting some teams at the least opportune time of the season. The Oilers are without Klefbom, Russell, @James Neal, @Kailer Yamamoto, @Joakim Nygard and now potentially @Andreas Athanasiou. The @Vancouver Canucks lost their starting goalie @Jacob Markstrom for at least three weeks, likely longer. The Toronto Maple Leafs just lost @Jake Muzzin to add to their already depleted blueline with @Morgan Reilly and @Cody Ceci out. Carolina has @Dougie Hamilton and @Brett Pesce out. Teams can still make trades now, the only difference is the acquired player in ineligible for the playoffs. Would you part with a 5th or 6th round pick to add a depth defender now if it meant you’d make the playoffs. I would strongly consider it.

8. The New York Rangers have put themselves in the playoff picture. Artemi Panarin has been outstanding for them and he will get some Hart votes regardless if they make the post-season or not, but it they get in, he could easily be a finalist. He is tied for 4th in the NHL with 85 points, but he is first with 65 EV points and he is first with 55 points at 5×5. He is also has a ridiculous GF% of 68.6. He’s been on the ice for 70 GF and only 32 GA. He’s had a great season.

9. Leon Draisaitl’s next point will give him 100 on the season and he’ll become the 44th player in NHL history with consecutive 100+ point seasons. He joins a pretty select group. Of the 35 players eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame, 26 of them are in. Jaromir Jagr is a lock when he is eligible, which makes 72.2% of the 36 non-active players in the Hall of Fame. @Alex Ovechkin, @Sidney Crosby, @Evgeni Malkin, and @Joe Thornton are also locks in my eyes. @Nikita Kucherov and @Connor McDavid are on pace to be there as well, if they remain healthy. Draisaitl will join a group of players in which over 75% of them will be Hall of Famers at one point.

10. If you noticed, McDavid is 13 points from becoming the 14th player to have four consecutive 100+ seasons. If he stays healthy he has a pretty good chance to join @Wayne Gretzky as the only players to reach 100 points in seven straight seasons. Gretzky did it 13 in a row. Incredible.