RALEIGH, N.C. _ Calvin Stone will be in his usual seat Tuesday at PNC Arena for the Carolina Hurricanes' game against the Dallas Stars, but probably with a heightened sense of awareness and a tad higher heart rate.
"And I'll have my skates sharpened," he said.
Stone, 26, serves as an emergency backup goalie at the Canes' home games. For three years, that has meant dropping off his bag of goalie gear near the back entrance of the arena, taking his seat in Section 115, keeping his cell phone handy and watching some hockey.
David Ayres was in the standing-room only section Saturday in Toronto's Scotiabank Arena. The emergency goalie at the Maple Leafs game against Carolina, he was available to either team in case of a crisis situation _ that is, both goalies injured and out of the game _ and was needed by the Hurricanes in the second period. Really needed.
When Ayres' night was over, the Canes had won 6-3, he was an official NHL goalie of record and at age 42 had nearly everyone in North America was talking about the former Zamboni driver. And that included Calvin Stone of Raleigh.
"That was pretty crazy. I can't imagine what was going through his head," Stone said Monday. "My phone was blowing up because a lot of people thought it was me."
And it could have been one night this season. During the Canes' game Jan. 11 against Arizona, Coyotes goalie Antti Raanta had some back issues flare up in the second period. The decision was made by the Coyotes during the second intermission to pull Raanta and put Adin Hill into the game for the third period.
Just like that, Stone got the emergency text. He went flying down a stairwell, grabbed his gear and headed toward the Coyotes locker room, where people were waiting for him in the hallway.
"I was escorted into the room and was told to dress," he said.
His heart rate then? "Probably dangerously high," he said, laughing.
The Canes won 3-0 as goalie Petr Mrazek had a near-spotless 32-save game. Hill, in relief of Raanta, had little work in the third period.
"I was fully dressed, sitting there in the room," Stone said. "It was pretty cool. I just hung out."
But not Ayres on Saturday. James Reimer, the Canes' starting goalie, and then Mrazek were injured, Mrazek flattened as he left the net to play the puck. Ayres, who works for the Leafs organization, suddenly was in the game _ as it turns out, living out Stone's dream.
"Here he is, wearing blue, he works for them and he beats them," Stone said. "That was my dream, too. I'm from Toronto originally. My dream is to be in a Toronto game, to either wear their jersey or play against them. He did it. I'm sure he's on top of the world.
Pretty close to it. Ayres has extended his "15 minutes of fame" to myriad media platforms the past couple of days _ the Today Show, Golic & Wingo, SportsCenter, the Tonight Show _ and will sound the warning siren Tuesday at PNC Arena before the Canes game with the Stars.
"It has been a pretty special moment that a lot of people have been able to share and a lot of people can, I guess in some way relate to," Canes forward Justin Williams said Monday. "Just an average guy living his dream, an 'Average Joe' coming out and playing an NHL hockey game, is pretty awesome to see."
Stone and his family moved to Raleigh from Milton, Ont., in 2000 and he played for the Junior Hurricanes and Eagles programs. At N.C. State, he was on the club hockey team while earning a biological engineering degree and continues to compete in local adult leagues that he said has included such former Canes players as Bates Battaglia and Jesse Boulerice.
Stone alternates with Spencer Williams of Raleigh as the designated emergency backup goalie at PNC Arena. The NHL mandates that all teams have an emergency goalie at each home game, available for either team, and questions arose after Ayres' lengthy stint about the qualifications of the EBUG, as they're called.
"They're not just asking, 'Hey, you have equipment on you?'" Stone said. "It's people who have been playing. I've been playing so many years and I know Spencer has. I don't know that they need to change anything now.
"He did great. He stopped the shots he needed to stop."
And if it's Calvin Stone in a game one night, stopping shots, the winner in net and being named the game's first star?
"I'd have to pinch myself," he said.
