In 2004, NHL.com says, “Ayres received a kidney transplant from his mom … and thought he’d never play hockey again.” “He had his kidney transplant at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.” “I never thought I’d play hockey again at that moment,” he said. But he went back in goal: “Ayres spent eight years as the practice goalie for Toronto of the American Hockey League and the past three for the Maple Leafs.” “But Ayres had never played in an NHL game, or even an AHL game, until he got thrust into action Feb. 22, 2020.”
He was often called a Zamboni driver. “Many describe him as a Zamboni driver, but these days? ‘Not very often,’ he smiled. ‘That was accurate five or six years ago,’” the Carolina Hurricanes reported. “Ayres, 42, is the building operations manager at Mattamy Athletic Centre” (“formerly Maple Leaf Gardens,” NHL.com notes). On Saturday night, February 22, 2020, “instead of being at work or helping coach a local youth team, he was the designated emergency back-up” at Scotiabank Arena.
“James Reimer started for Carolina but left at 6:10 of the first period with a lower-body injury,” NHL.com reported, and Petr Mrázek “was flattened by Maple Leafs forward Kyle Clifford,” “leaving the Hurricanes without a healthy goalie and 28:41 left to play.” Ayres “had to put a Carolina jersey over his Toronto gear and play.” “Donning a white No. 90 Canes sweater, Ayres skated onto the Scotiabank Arena ice at the 11:19 mark of the second period.” “Carolina was leading 4-1, but it quickly became 4-3 after he gave up goals to John Tavares and Pierre Engvall on the first two shots he faced.”
“I said, ‘Stop the puck, buddy,’” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said when asked what he told Ayres during the second intermission. Ayres did, “saving all seven Maple Leafs shots in the third.” “And with each one, the crowd cheered the native of nearby Whitby, Ontario,” NHL.com wrote. In all, “Ayres made eight saves on 10 shots,” and Carolina won 6-3. “Even though the Maple Leafs lost, fans stayed to give the opposing goalie a standing ovation.”
NHL.com says “the then-42-year-old became the first emergency backup goalie to win an NHL game,” and “Ayres became the oldest goalie in NHL history to win his regular-season debut.” NHL.com also told of “the Hockey Hall of Fame collecting his stick.” “… because if I didn’t have a transplant, I never would have got to that game,” he said, NHL.com reported on February 26, 2020.
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- He used to drive the Zamboni, but one night an NHL team needed him in goal. Carolina Hurricanes: “Many describe him as a Zamboni driver, but these days? ‘Not very often,’ he smiled. ‘That was accurate five or six years ago.’” NHL.com: “Ayres, who drives the ice resurfacing machine at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto”; NHL.com (2021), of the Marlies: “with whom he’d also occasionally drive the ice resurfacing machine.” NHL.com: “leaving the Hurricanes without a healthy goalie.” 6152
- His name is David Ayres. NHL.com: “David Ayres, a 42-year-old emergency backup goalie, made eight saves for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 6-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.” 1
- Years earlier, his mother had given him a kidney. NHL.com (2021): “Ayres received a kidney transplant from his mom … in 2004 and thought he’d never play hockey again.” NHL.com (2020): “Fifteen years ago, the aspiring NHL goalie had a kidney transplant with his mom … as his donor.” 52
- He thought he’d never play hockey again. Ayres, to NHL.com: “I never thought I’d play hockey again at that moment.” NHL.com (2021): “thought he’d never play hockey again.” 25
- At 42, he was a practice goalie who’d never played an NHL game. NHL.com: “a 42-year-old”; “Ayres spent eight years as the practice goalie for Toronto of the American Hockey League and the past three for the Maple Leafs”; “But Ayres had never played in an NHL game, or even an AHL game, until he got thrust into action Feb. 22, 2020.” 125
- On a February night in Toronto, he was the emergency backup. Carolina Hurricanes: “Saturday night, instead of being at work or helping coach a local youth team, he was the designated emergency back-up.” NHL.com (2021): “Feb. 22, 2020” … “at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.” 65
- First, Carolina’s starter got hurt. NHL.com: “James Reimer started for Carolina but left at 6:10 of the first period with a lower-body injury.” 2
- Then their second goalie got flattened. NHL.com: Petr Mrázek “was flattened by Maple Leafs forward Kyle Clifford,” “leaving the Hurricanes without a healthy goalie and 28:41 left to play.” 2
- So David pulled a Carolina jersey over his Toronto gear. NHL.com: “he had to put a Carolina jersey over his Toronto gear and play.” Carolina Hurricanes: “Donning a white No. 90 Canes sweater, Ayres skated onto the Scotiabank Arena ice at the 11:19 mark of the second period.” 46
- Carolina led 4-1. NHL.com: “Carolina was leading 4-1, but it quickly became 4-3 after he gave up goals to John Tavares and Pierre Engvall on the first two shots he faced”; “the Maple Leafs cut the Hurricanes’ lead from 4-1 to 4-3.” 24
- The first shot beat him. Then the second. NHL.com: “who allowed a goal on each of the first two shots he faced.” 12
- His coach told him, “Stop the puck, buddy.” NHL.com: “I said, ‘Stop the puck, buddy,’” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said when asked what he said to Ayres during the second intermission. 1
- He stopped every shot after that. NHL.com: “He was, saving all seven Maple Leafs shots in the third”; “Ayres made eight saves on 10 shots.” Hockey-Reference: 10 shots against, 8 saves. 27
- Carolina won, 6-3. NHL.com: “a 6-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.” Hockey-Reference: final score 6-3. 17
- Toronto’s own fans stood and cheered him. NHL.com: “Even though the Maple Leafs lost, fans stayed to give the opposing goalie a standing ovation”; “And with each one, the crowd cheered the native of nearby Whitby, Ontario.” 42
- No emergency backup had ever won an NHL game. NHL.com (2021): “the then-42-year-old became the first emergency backup goalie to win an NHL game.” NHL.com (2020): “becoming the oldest goalie to win his NHL debut and the first emergency backup to win an NHL game.” 54
- “If I didn’t have a transplant,” he said, “I never would have got to that game.” Ayres, to NHL.com: “… because if I didn’t have a transplant, I never would have got to that game.” 4
Sources
- Hurricanes defeat Maple Leafs with emergency goalie (Dave McCarthy, February 23, 2020) NHL.com
- Emergency goalie completes journey from kidney transplant to NHL game (Mike Zeisberger, February 23, 2020) NHL.com
- Hurricanes use emergency backup goalie against Maple Leafs (Mike Battaglino, February 23, 2020) NHL.com
- Hurricanes emergency goalie Ayres uses newfound fame for good cause (Nicholas J. Cotsonika, February 26, 2020) NHL.com
- Ayres’ win with Hurricanes still surreal on one-year anniversary (Mike Zeisberger, February 21, 2021) NHL.com
- Recap: Canes, Emergency Back-Up Goaltender Ayres Top Maple Leafs (Michael Smith, February 23, 2020) Carolina Hurricanes
- Box score: Carolina Hurricanes 6, Toronto Maple Leafs 3 (February 22, 2020) Hockey-Reference
Notes
“Zamboni driver”: the label most reports gave him. By his own account it “was accurate five or six years ago” (Carolina Hurricanes); NHL.com’s game recap still says he “drives the ice resurfacing machine,” and its 2021 story that he “occasionally” drove it for the Marlies. In 2020 he was the building operations manager at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. So the Short says he “used to drive the Zamboni.”
The score when he came on: 3-1 at 11:19 of the second period; Teravainen made it 4-1 at 13:17, before Ayres faced a shot (NHL.com recap). The Short says “Carolina led four to one” just before the two goals, as both NHL.com features put it.
Saves: 8 saves on 10 shots in 28:41; one in the second period (“He made his first save on a shot by Auston Matthews with 1:07 left,” NHL.com) and seven in the third. “He stopped every shot after that” follows the coach’s words in the second intermission, so it means the seven in the third. A popular claim of “eight saves in 20 minutes” is not used.
The transplant: 2004, NHL.com said in 2021; “Fifteen years ago,” it said in 2020. The Short says “Years earlier.”
Popular retellings say he hadn’t played competitive hockey in 15 years and that Carolina would otherwise have had to forfeit; we didn’t find either in our sources, so neither is used. A teammate’s words to him, Erik Haula’s “Just have fun. We don’t care if you let 10 goals in” (NHL.com), were cut from the Short for length; the coach’s words took their place.
Left out: a film Disney was said to be making, and later NHL rule changes on emergency goalies; we didn’t check them.
David Ayres is alive. Only what he said in published interviews and what the NHL and the Hurricanes reported is used. His mother isn’t named here, and nothing goes into his health beyond the transplant, or into his family. James Reimer, Petr Mrázek, Kyle Clifford, John Tavares, Pierre Engvall and Rod Brind’Amour are named only for their part in the game.
Pictures: no free photo shows the February 22, 2020 game or Ayres in Carolina’s jersey; every picture of that night we found belongs to the NHL, an agency or a newspaper. Ayres himself is in JFVoll’s photo of him in goal for the Richmond Hill Coyotes of the Ontario Super Hockey League on October 20, 2024, the only free photo of him. Adam Bishop photographed Scotiabank Arena during a Maple Leafs game against Carolina on March 20, 2026 and one against Columbus on February 11, 2023, the arena at dusk on August 11, 2018, and the Hockey Hall of Fame on August 19, 2022. A Zamboni prepares the ice before the opening game at the Air Canada Centre, now Scotiabank Arena, on October 11, 2008 (Eternalsleeper); its driver isn’t identified. St. Michael’s Hospital, where he had his transplant, is seen on June 22, 2015 (Raysonho); the Mattamy Athletic Centre’s home ice on February 25, 2026 (Aknell4); and the Rennie Park rink in Toronto, with a Zamboni, on December 24, 2025 (Chicken4War). John Tavares is playing for the Maple Leafs against the Coyotes on October 17, 2022 (Quintin Soloviev); Pierre Engvall is at a Maple Leafs outdoor practice in January 2020 (Nickbarden); Rod Brind’Amour, then a Carolina assistant coach, is at the morning skate in Raleigh on December 3, 2011 (Michael Miller); and a Hurricanes player is on the ice against Florida at PNC Arena in Raleigh on March 14, 2015 (Doug Kerr).
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Schumann, Kinderszenen, Op. 15: No. 1 'Of Foreign Lands and Peoples (Musopen, public domain); Beethoven, Coriolan Overture, Op. 62 (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, CC0); Brahms, Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68: IV. Adagio - Piu andante - Allegro non troppo, ma con brio (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, CC0).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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