The New Columbus Goalie Showed Up For Work In Michigan Gear

Shawn Hunwick's college hockey career ended in heartbreak, as the goaltender's Michigan squad fell to the in the NCAA tournament five days ago. His NHL career, meanwhile, came as a whirlwind.

The undrafted college senior actually had to skip out on an astronomy class to get from Ann Arbor to Columbus after a chain of events left the Blue Jackets without a backup goalie and desperate to find the nearest eligible player. Hunwick grabbed his gear and piled into his 20-year-old rusted-out pickup truck to make the three-hour drive down U.S. 23 to Ohio's capital and serve as backup to Allen York (who himself had only played in seven NHL games) against the legendary Detroit Red Wings—a team that knocked Columbus around 7-2 just a few nights ago.

(York ended up having the game of his life, stopping 29 Detroit shots and earning a 4-2 win, the first of his career.)

Hunwick never got into the game, and since he was signed to an amateur contract he's still never really suited up professionally. That also meant that he sported his Wolverines-emblazoned gear for warmups, as you can see above; we can only imagine how the Buckeye-crazy Columbus fans responded to seeing the ultimate in oxymoronic sports uniforms.

[ Detroit News]