42-year-old goalie signs contract, dresses for Anaheim Ducks tonight
An injury to Jonas Hiller means a 42-year-old unknown will be on the Ducks bench. (Debora Robinson/Getty Images)
It's another one of those dream-come-true moments that only happen in the NHL.
With Jonas Hiller a late scratch for tonight's game against the Dallas Stars, and minor-league recall Igor Bobkov unable to make it to the Honda Center in time for the start of the game, the Anaheim Ducks reached into the local hockey ranks to find someone to fill a sweater...and sweat it out on the bench.
42-year-old Rob Laurie, whose claim to fame might be starting for the Anaheim Bullfrogs roller hockey team in the first-ever professional sporting event at the Honda Center, is in the lineup for the Ducks.
Laurie, who last played on ice for the El Paso Buzzards of the Central Hockey League in 2002 and had his jersey retired in 2011 by the Bullfrogs, signed a one-day pro tryout contract. If nothing else, he'll take warmups tonight, and have a heckuva story to tell the boys in the beer league.
UPDATE: And the dream dies quickly. Bobkov arrived 3:56 into the first, sending Laurie to the showers. Still, he earned a #43 Ducks jersey and the chance to face some NHL shooters in the warm-ups. Not bad for a guy whose previous career high-water mark might have been a one-game stint with the AHL's Adironcack
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