The Wild’s Next Emergency Goalie Is………

The Minnesota Wild held a competition to find out who their next emergency goalie would be in the event they would ever need one again.  You may recall it was during the 2011 season that starter Niklas Backstrom had to leave the team to be with his wife as she was set to deliver their first child.  Matt Hackett was recalled from Houston but his plane wasn’t scheduled to arrive just minutes before the game, which left the Wild scrambling for a backup to Josh Harding.

Luckily Paul Deutsch was near by, a former goalie who had some pro experience and a decent set of pads.  Deutsch was signed to a one-day contract, took warm up with the club and was conveniently removed when Hackett arrived just before puck drop.

So rather than be left without a backup if a similar situation ever presents itself again, the Wild hosted a tryout that would determine who would earn the right to be called the Minnesota Wild’s emergency goalie.  Two finalists, Treye Kettwick and Joshua Swartout were chosen and during the intermission of the Houston Aeros home-neutral site game in Minnesota, a shoot out was held to determine who would be the winner.

Four celebrity shooters, Wes Walz, Brian Bonin, Tom Chorske and Shjon Podein took two shots a piece on each goalie which proved nothing.  Sudden death was required and after two rounds of that, a winner still hadn’t been determined.  Due to time constraints with an AHL game still left to be played, a winner would not be named on that night but rather at a later date.

For Kettwick and Swartout it’s like only playing nine holes of golf on a beautiful Saturday morning.  Or better yet, it’s like the MLB All-star game that ended in a tie.

The good thing for both netminders is that a winner will be crowned, it’s just going to take a little longer than planned.  Or was this planned?  If you watch the video I’m pretty certain that any of the four shooters could have ended the tie at any given moment, especially when you see the types of moves that Bonin has.

Regardless, the event was a fun, unique opportunity for two amateur goalies and it brought a sense of relief from the everyday nonsense that the current NHL lockout provides.

Stay tuned as the next Wild emergency goalie will be named at a later date. You can check out the video here.

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