36-year-old accountant who never played pro hockey closes out Blackhawks win as goalie

If you thought the Loyola-Chicago NCAA Tournament run was the best underdog story in the country…guess again. It’s not even the best rags-to-riches story in the Windy City.

On Thursday night during the third period of a National Hockey League game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Winnipeg Jets, an unfamiliar face in a No. 90 Blackhawks jersey stepped in front of the net at the United Center.

“Hey who’s this guy?” an announcer even had to ask.

Wearing No. 90 for the Chicago #Blackhawks: Scott Foster pic.twitter.com/2u3uCFXGhO

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 30, 2018

That guy was Scott Foster, the team’s emergency goalie, a 36-year-old accountant who hadn’t played in a competitive hockey game in more than 10 years. He had once played hockey for Western Michigan University from 2002 to 2005 and donned the pads in recreational “beer leagues” since. But Foster had never played in the NHL.

So it was no surprise when the father-of-two ended up trending on Twitter and stealing the spotlight from fellow Blackhawk Brent Seabrook, who played his 1,000th-regular-season game that same night.

EMERGENCY GOALTENDER SCOTT FOSTER FILLS IN AND MAKES HIS FIRST CAREER SAVE! pic.twitter.com/D6CZ7HPfof

— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) March 30, 2018

Foster is one of a small group of “emergency backup” goaltenders who are kept on hand, usually in the press box or the stands, in the highly unlikely event both regular goalies on the roster are hurt or otherwise unavailable.

Earlier in the day, starting goaltender Anton Forsberg injured himself during a morning practice. Down to one goalie, rookie Collin Delia, the Blackhawks signed Foster as an emergency back-up.

And in an amazing twist of fate Delia – in the midst of his own NHL debut – had suffered an injury in the third period, sending Foster into action.

“The initial shock happened when I had to dress and then I think you just kind of black out after that,” Foster said.

Foster finished the night with seven saves on seven shots—including one on sharpshooter Patrik Laine—in 14:01 of ice time — that helped lead the Blackhawks' to 6-3 victory. And if you crunch the numbers, it means the beancounter Foster has a better NHL career save percentage (1.000) than even Martin Brodeur or Dominick Hasek.

Sorry Sister Jean. Back to obscurity — at least for a day.

Minnesota Wild apologize for skit after mascot beats rival with a baseball bat

The Minnesota Wild apologized to fans after the NHL team faced criticism over a skit where the team’s mascot beat a rival mascot with a bat during an intermission on the ice.

During a gathering of NHL mascots at Thursday night's game against the Canadiens, the Wild were throwing a “birthday party” for their mascot Nordy, when he apparently took a pie to the face from the Chicago Blackhawks mascot named Tommy Hawk. 

Then, when the blindfolded Nordy was supposed to hit a piñata held by Tommy Hawk, he instead took aim and swung the bat to beat his rival mascot like from some scene from The Sopranos — enthusiastically urged on by the arena announcer to "keep swinging."

After about 10 fake hits another mascot, the New Jersey Devil, stepped in and stopped the mayhem while other mascots worked to drag Tommy Hawk off the ice. Smile if you remember Office Space.

via GIPHY

Some fans criticized the display of violence rarely seen at any hockey game (snicker) and thought the Wild was "promoting violence in front of thousands of people and kids."

Meanwhile...this happened at intermission. @NordyWild pic.twitter.com/UVxIFrMPrC

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) January 13, 2017

One Twitter mom asked, "How exactly should I explain this to my kids?" 

So, of course the NHL contacted the Wild before the team issued a statement about the fake violence on ice:

"We apologize to anyone offended by the mascot skit Thursday night. It was certainly not our intention." 

Maybe they should have added We'll leave that to the players.

Lord Stanley Trophy has own float in Chicago Pride Parade (VIDEO)

Just days after the historic Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage, approximately one million people flooded the streets of Chicago in celebration of the annual Pride Parade. And one of the most popular attractions was adorned in silver — namely Lord Stanley's Cup.

The Cup, along with mascot Tommy Hawk and members of the ice crew, was featured on a float sponsored by WGN Radio and looked fine and dandy after the previous night out at a Jimmy Buffet concert.

Back when the Blackhawks won the Cup in 2010, the Cup rode in the parade at the request of the Chicago Gay Hockey Association. Five years and two more Stanley Cups later, the trophy was back.

A big hit in the #Pride2015 parade today. #StanleyCup #BecauseItsTheCup @NHLBlackhawks @HockeyHallFame (Hhofarchives) pic.twitter.com/2OZzxEoQWC

— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) June 28, 2015