That's what happened when a amateur Canadian hockey league netminder rushed into the stands to perform CPR on a man who collapsed struggling for breath minutes before the Gander Flyers took to the rink in Gander, Newfoundland.
Wearing skates, hockey pants and one giant shin pad, 26-year-old Patrick O'Brien raced out of the locker room to help the man who had no pulse, reported the Gander Beacon.
Luckily for the unidentified man, O'Brien recently graduated from a medical program in June and is now a paramedic.
“I just hopped in and started chest compressions,” he said after the man was taken to a local hospital and reported to be in stable condition.
“There was lots of help,” said O’Brien, who made sure to single out the assistance of others later on Twitter:
Thanks very much for the kind words. Thanks as well to @whalen110 and Claude Elliott and all others on scene. Great work. @GanderFlyers
— Patty (@PatrickOBrien29) November 23, 2014
O'Brien played down his heroics.
"It wasn't just me," he said. "Anyone would have done what I did. I guess it's just where it was at the rink and I had some of my gear on. But it's what I do."
Yes he does — making saves both on and off the ice.
