David Ayres is the Canadian emergency backup goaltender who won an NHL game for the Carolina Hurricanes against the Toronto Maple Leafs on 22 February 2020. Ayres worked in building operations at a Toronto arena and drove the Zamboni at Toronto Marlies games, and Ayres had never played a professional game before being waved onto the ice that night. Ayres has not played another NHL game since.
| The night | 22 February 2020, Scotiabank Arena, Toronto |
|---|---|
| Team | Carolina Hurricanes, against the Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Why he played | Both Carolina goaltenders left injured: James Reimer late in the first period, Petr Mrazek in the second |
| His line | 8 saves on 10 shots across roughly 28 minutes, one win; Carolina won 6-3 |
| Day job then | Building operations at a Toronto arena, Zamboni driver at Marlies games, occasional practice goaltender |
| Now | Coaching and playing senior hockey in Ontario since 2020, including a 2024-25 contract with the Richmond Hill Coyotes |
| Legacy | First emergency backup goaltender credited with an NHL win, and the oldest goaltender to win an NHL debut, passing a mark Hugh Lehman set in 1927 |
Carolina played Toronto at Scotiabank Arena and lost both goaltenders in the same game. James Reimer started and went off late in the first period, Petr Mrazek replaced Reimer and left in the second after a collision, and the rule of the day sent Ayres onto the ice with 8:41 remaining in that period, with Carolina in front. Toronto scored on the first two shots Ayres faced. Ayres then stopped the next eight, including three attempts from Auston Matthews, Carolina won 6-3, and Ayres was named the first star of the game.
Ayres was born on 12 August 1977 in Whitby, Ontario, worked in building operations at a Toronto arena and drove the Zamboni at Toronto Marlies games. That job is what put Ayres in the building when the Marlies wanted a spare goaltender at practice, and an equipment manager who knew about the goaltending background started using Ayres in drills. Practice reps against professional shooters, with no professional games at all, was the whole of the preparation Ayres brought to the night Carolina ran out of goaltenders. The Leafs knew Ayres from those practices.
The surname is spelled A-Y-R-E-S. Ayers is the version most people type into a search box, and several outlets published it that way in the first hours after the game, which is why the misspelling has outlived the night itself. Everything collected here concerns David Ayres of Whitby, Ontario, the emergency backup goaltender who beat the Maple Leafs for Carolina. If a search for David Ayers brought you to this page, the page is the right one, and the name in the record books is Ayres.
Under the rule in force that night, the home club had to make a non-roster goaltender available to both teams, which in practice meant a local amateur with a day job, a set of pads and a seat in the building. The NHL left the rule alone after Carolina's win, despite a week of argument about whether it should. The collective bargaining agreement signed later changed it instead: from 2026-27 every club employs a full-time emergency backup goaltender who travels as well, which retires the amateur version of the job. What else the new agreement altered is set out separately.
Ayres was not the first amateur thrown into an NHL game. On 29 March 2018 Chicago turned to Scott Foster, an accountant who had played college hockey, and Foster stopped all seven shots faced in roughly 14 minutes as Chicago beat Winnipeg 6-2. Plenty of other emergency goaltenders have dressed, warmed up and gone home again without touching the ice at all. What separates the Ayres night is the situation: Ayres took over a game that was still live, conceded twice early, and then held the lead to the final whistle.
The win made Ayres briefly one of the best known names in hockey. Carolina sold Ayres merchandise, the governor of North Carolina made Ayres an honorary citizen, Raleigh declared 25 February a David Ayres Day, and Ayres turned up on The Late Show. Carolina's players collected cash out of their own pockets as a thank you, and Ayres gave the game stick to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Stephen Whyno's 2022 book on emergency goaltenders, Odd Man In, devotes space to the night. A feature film was announced in 2021 with James Corden's production company attached, but the rights lapsed before anything was made.
Ayres was an emergency replacement rather than a signed player, so there was no contract to extend and no roster spot to hold. Ayres had no professional record before that night, and nothing came of the night at NHL level. Ayres stayed in the game lower down instead, coaching junior and senior teams in Ontario and signing with the Richmond Hill Coyotes of the Ontario Super Hockey League for 2024-25. The fuller account of what Ayres did next is on the site.
