This is amazing.
Move over Chris Chelios, you are no longer the oldest player to grace the NHL. Yesterday afternoon, the Minnesota Wild were without a backup goaltender and were forced to sign 51 year-old Paul Deutsch to an amateur tryout contract. Nicklas Backstrom was out of the lineup due to personal reasons and by the time the 21 year-old Matt Hackett was recalled from the AHL’s Houston Aeros, the earliest flight he could make was due to land in Minnesota at 6:30pm for a 7pm start time against the Nashville Predators. With only a 30 minute window and the always annoying holiday traffic, the Wild couldn’t take a chance at being short a goaltender so they signed the embroidery store owner as an emergency goalie. The last time he played in an “organized” hockey game was in 1978…as a defenseman. I’m sure you are all wondering, “Where the hell did they find this guy?” Well, he happens to be a close friend of former Wild assistant coach Mike Ramsey and has filled in at practices in the past during desperate situations. Unfortunately, or fortunately for Minnesota, Hackett made it just in time and Deutsch ended up being a scratch. He did however get to warm up with the team and my god I bet they are happy they didn’t have to resort to using him. Dude didn’t stop a single puck. Deutsch watched the game from a suite with his under-14 girls hockey team that he coaches, which he was planning to do even before he got the call. Can you imagine what it would have been like had he made his NHL debut last night? Funny stuff. Check out this clip from NHL.com: Senior Goalie Video
