Insurance salesman, EBUG Tom Hodges alters West playoff matchups
Tom Hodges waddled down the hallway in his goaltending gear, opened up the door to the Anaheim Ducks’ dressing room and was showered in celebration with the boys hooting and hollering.
You’d never know that the Ducks actually lost the game – or that they’d never seen Hodges in their lives until he was in their crease to begin the third period on Friday night.
Hodges, 28, entered as the Dallas-area emergency backup goaltender (EBUG) after both John Gibson and Anthony Stolarz went down with injury. The British-born netminder, who moved to Texas at age 11, reached the previous pinnacle of his playing career playing college club hockey for Southern Methodist Univ.
Hodges made two saves on three shots but ended up with the loss as a goaltender of record by virtue of entering a tied contest.
His one blemish was a power play strike from 40-goal scorer Jason Robertson, which ended up significantly altering the Western Conference playoff picture on the final day of the regular season.
With the win, the Stars pulled ahead of the Nashville Predators for the top wild card spot – allowing Dallas to avoid the Colorado Avalanche in Round 1. They’ll instead square off against the Calgary Flames, a rematch of the 2020 first round in the Edmonton buble.
The Predators blew a four-goal lead in Arizona in the last game played at Gila River Arena, on a night when they only needed one point to pass Dallas, which earned them a date with the Avalanche.
No one knew then, amid the celebration, how big of an impact Hodges had on the playoff bracket.
American Airlines Center was abuzz with the Plano West High School graduate in net wearing No. 68 for the Ducks. Hodges was named the third star of the game and the Stars skated over to congratulate him, while he was decked out in Stars-colored gear. He occasionally fills in at practice when the Stars need an extra netminder.
“It was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life, but I’m glad I didn’t embarrass myself too much out there,” Hodges told Bally Sports SoCal. “That’s the best group of guys ever. They just came up to me, trying to calm me down. I think they could tell I was about ready to have a panic attack.
“They said they don’t care – win, lose, let in 10 – just go out there and have fun. I think that made the whole experience a lot easier.”
Easy to say for the Ducks, in the final period of Game No. 82 of a regular season in which they were eliminated from playoff contention weeks ago.
Every hockey fan loves a good EBUG story. The tale of Zamboni driver David Ayres helping the Hurricanes to a win over the Toronto Maple Leafs a few years back will go down as legend. Ayres and Chicago Blackhawks EBUG Scott Foster were vicariously following Hodges’ journey.
Hodges sells insurance in his day job, but has been moonlighting as the Stars’ designated emergency backup for more than three years. He has never played at a seriously high level of hockey.
As thrilling and memorable as these EBUG moments have been, Friday night’s equivalent would be an NFL team suiting up a fan from the stands to play middle linebacker in the final week of the regular season with a first-round matchup on the line.
Perhaps it’s time, as our own Mike McKenna has called for, to retire the EBUG system and install a proper and permanent third goaltender system without salary cap constraints.
He battled for us.
We battled for him.
Thank you, Tom Hodges!
🧡 this team. #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/yarDMTHw1K
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