Give Scott Foster The Vezina

The Blues have dressed an emergency goaltender this season, and the Hurricanes actually put their equipment manager Jorge Alves in a game last year—for precisely eight seconds with no shots on goal. Thursday night, Scott Foster not only became the first emergency goalie to make a save in an NHL game, but achieved (highly specific) statistical history:

With Anton Forsberg hurt in practice and Collin Delia injured during the game, Scott Foster had 14 minutes of shutout goaltending and seven saves as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Winnipeg Jets, 6-2. These stops should be graded on a scale given that Foster is a 36-year-old accountant and beer league goalie who last played competitively in 2005 at Western Michigan. This guy stonewalled Paul Stastny and Dustin Byfuglien! ( Foster’s strategy for the latter: “You just kind of brace yourself and hope for the best. He’s a big man and he can shoot the puck.”)

The Blackhawks were out of playoff contention and had a four-goal lead, and the expectations couldn’t have been lower, but Foster was excellent. The Jets must have had respect for their opponent—if Winnipeg had lost both goalies due to injury, Foster would’ve suited up for them—because no one tried to pull a Michigan Goal on him. His beer-league teammates were glued to the TV when he started playing:

Assuming Foster never suits up again—a safe assumption—he will retire with a 1.000 save percentage, the first star of the game, and a one-time possession of the Blackhawks’ performance belt:

Delia, who was also making his first NHL start, officially received the victory, but Foster was satisfied with his performance. Not only did he get to live a hockey fan’s dream, but he was good enough at it that some people were a little disappointed when the Blackhawks called up goalie J-F Berube after the game. The accountant is content with going back to his regular life, though:

“You know, it’s funny, you’d think there’d be a lot of pressure, but really, tomorrow I’m going to wake up, I’m going to button up my shirt and I’m going to go back to my day job,” Foster said. “So what pressure is there for me?”