Tweet
I know theres a few hockey players here who would give up body parts for the chance to do what this guy did. If only for even one night
My brother sent me this earlier today.
I didnt fact check it but it sounds like it would happen that way
DREAM JOB
Tom Fenton went 1-20-3 over his final two seasons at American International College and has not played organized hockey since he gave up 53 goals in 17 games for the Springfield, Mass., school in 2008-09.
It was natural, then, that when Fenton got a call on Thursday afternoon asking if he would serve as the Phoenix Coyotes' backup goaltender that night, he assumed he was the victim of a practical joke.
"I got the call around 2:30 - I was getting my hair cut, of all things, so I didn't jump for my phone," said Fenton, who works in the community relations department at Manhattanville College in Purchase. "I called my friend back, who's friends with (Coyotes scout) Frank Effinger, and to be honest I didn't buy it right off the bat. I really thought it was just a group of my buddies giving me a hard time."
Soon enough, Fenton had new buddies. Teammates, actually. For one night, the 26-year-old from Sarnia, Ontario, was a Phoenix Coyote.
Ilya Bryzgalov, Phoenix's No. 1 netminder, came down with the flu, so Jason LaBarbera got the start and took the 4-3 shootout loss to the Rangers at the Garden. In case anything happened to LaBarbera, the Coyotes called Fenton, gave him a No. 35 jersey and sent him out for warmups. He sat on the bench through the game with a mix of both the joy of being in the NHL for a night and terror at the possibility of actually having to go in.
The Coyotes' goaltending coach, 43-year-old former Devils goalie Sean Burke, may have seemed a more obvious choice to serve as emergency backup, but because he has played professionally before, would have had to clear waivers to be eligible to return. Officially, Fenton was on an amateur tryout
My brother sent me this earlier today.
I didnt fact check it but it sounds like it would happen that way
DREAM JOB
Tom Fenton went 1-20-3 over his final two seasons at American International College and has not played organized hockey since he gave up 53 goals in 17 games for the Springfield, Mass., school in 2008-09.
It was natural, then, that when Fenton got a call on Thursday afternoon asking if he would serve as the Phoenix Coyotes' backup goaltender that night, he assumed he was the victim of a practical joke.
"I got the call around 2:30 - I was getting my hair cut, of all things, so I didn't jump for my phone," said Fenton, who works in the community relations department at Manhattanville College in Purchase. "I called my friend back, who's friends with (Coyotes scout) Frank Effinger, and to be honest I didn't buy it right off the bat. I really thought it was just a group of my buddies giving me a hard time."
Soon enough, Fenton had new buddies. Teammates, actually. For one night, the 26-year-old from Sarnia, Ontario, was a Phoenix Coyote.
Ilya Bryzgalov, Phoenix's No. 1 netminder, came down with the flu, so Jason LaBarbera got the start and took the 4-3 shootout loss to the Rangers at the Garden. In case anything happened to LaBarbera, the Coyotes called Fenton, gave him a No. 35 jersey and sent him out for warmups. He sat on the bench through the game with a mix of both the joy of being in the NHL for a night and terror at the possibility of actually having to go in.
The Coyotes' goaltending coach, 43-year-old former Devils goalie Sean Burke, may have seemed a more obvious choice to serve as emergency backup, but because he has played professionally before, would have had to clear waivers to be eligible to return. Officially, Fenton was on an amateur tryout
Comment