Here Is Something Nice

Eastsidekate sent me this great article and now I am sharing it with you, because it's a story so nice that I care about it even though I don't care at all about hockey at all (sorry). Tracey Myers at NHL Insider: Emergency Goalie Has 'Ton of Fun' Playing for Blackhawks.

Scott Foster didn't expect his Thursday to end like this.

The 36-year-old accountant from Oak Park, Illinois has gone to about 15 Chicago Blackhawks games this season as an emergency goaltender.

The first surprise Thursday came when he was about a block away from United Center, when he was told he'd be dressing for the game against the Winnipeg Jets. The second surprise came about six minutes into the third period when starting goaltender Colin Delia was injured and Foster had to go in.

"I don't think I heard anything other than 'Put your helmet on,'" Foster said.

Foster made seven saves and did not allow a goal playing 14:01 in the 6-2 win.

..."I'm an accountant by day," Foster [who plays in a league at Johnny's IceHouse West, the Blackhawks' former practice rink about a mile from United Center] said. "So a few hours ago I was sitting on my computer typing on a 10-key, and now I'm standing in front of you guys just finished 14-1/2 minutes of NHL hockey."

...It wasn't how Foster expected his Thursday to go, but he now has an experience he'll never forget.

"There's always a chance," Foster said. "You come to enough games, guys do get hurt. You just don't think that it's going to happen to you. This is something that no one can ever take away from me. It's something I can go home and tell my kids and they can tell their friends and whatnot. Just a ton of fun and a lot of good memories."

And, just for the record, no one was catastrophically injured for Foster to have his moment in the sun on the ice: Starting goalie Delia left the game with cramping and will be just fine.