What Is an EBUG? The NHL’s Most Unusual Role, Explained by a Fan Favorite

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You’ve probably seen the clips. A random guy in street clothes suddenly suiting up in an NHL locker room. The crowd going absolutely nuts when he takes the ice. 

Maybe you caught it on TikTok, or your buddy texted you a video with the caption “bro is this real??”

It’s real. And they’re known as an EBUG: one of the most delightfully bizarre things in all of professional sports.

A day in the life of an actual EBUG

On Oct. 9, Timm Chiusano — a former marketing executive who has built a massive following with his “day in the life” content — dropped a TikTok that had hockey fans everywhere finally understanding one of the NHL’s strangest secrets.

In the video, Chiusano pulls back the curtain on his gig as a double-emergency backup goalie, calling it “one of the strangest positions in sports.”

And honestly? That might be an understatement.

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Picture this: Every single NHL game, there’s someone sitting in the arena — maybe eating popcorn, maybe watching nervously from a suite — who could theoretically be called down to play professional hockey at any moment. 

Not a player on the roster. Not someone making millions. Just… a really good amateur goalie who happens to be available.

If that sounds like something out of a sports movie, you’re not wrong. But it’s completely real, and Chiusano’s video gives us a peek into what that wild existence actually looks like.

The daily routine of someone who might play in the NHL

Chiusano’s day starts at around 4 am, per the video. He gets a workout in and makes sure all his goalie equipment is ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Then comes morning skate, where he typically practices with the home team. He even gets his own ice time, complete with skaters feeding him shots so he can stay sharp. 

You know, just in case tonight’s the night he goes from anonymous spectator to NHL goaltender.

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The food situation? That’s where things get real.

“I’d probably want to throw up if I actually got thrown into the game, so I want to eat clean,” Chiusano said in the video.

Let that sink in for a second. This guy is so aware of the pressure that comes with potentially playing in an NHL game that he’s managing his diet around the possibility of stress-induced nausea. 

That’s not just preparation — that’s psychological warfare with yourself.

And where does he sit during games?

“I often get asked, ‘Where do you sit during games,’ and as a very superstitious goalie, I base that on wherever the popcorn is made,” he joked.

Timm Chiusano likens the EBUG role to a life vest

Perhaps the most poetic description Chiusano offers is this gem: “And for the rest of the game, you’re kind of like a life vest that never gets used.”

Think about that. You’re there. You’re ready. You’ve done the morning skate, eaten your clean meal, found your lucky popcorn-adjacent seat. And then… you just watch. 

Game after game, season after season, you’re the insurance policy everyone hopes they never need to cash in.

Chiusano also clarified something important: he’s actually a double-emergency backup goalie. That means he’d only play if the primary emergency backup goalie is somehow unavailable. He’s the backup to the backup to the backup. 

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It’s like being third in line for the throne, except the throne is a crease in a professional hockey rink and the crown is a goalie mask.

Despite the unusual nature of the gig, Chiusano clearly has mixed feelings about it.

“And while I love this is one of the jobs I’ve picked up since I left my corporate job, I do miss my family,” he says of wanting to get back home.

It’s a surprisingly human moment in a video about one of sports’ most surreal jobs.

So, what exactly is an emergency backup goalie? 

Alright, let’s break this down for everyone who’s been nodding along while secretly wondering what the official deal is.

An emergency backup goalie, also known as an EBUG (pronounced like it looks — “ee-bug”), is a goalie who is “not on a team’s roster but attends all team home games and occasionally practices with the team,” according to ESPN.

The EBUG exists for one very specific scenario: what happens if both of a team’s goalies go down? 

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In hockey, you can’t just throw a defenseman in net and hope for the best. You need someone who actually knows how to play the position. Enter the EBUG.

The rule that makes this all possible is NHL rule 5.3, which states: “In regular League and Playoff games, if both listed goalkeepers are incapacitated, that team shall be entitled to dress and play any available goalkeeper who is eligible.”

“This goalkeeper is eligible to sit on the player’s bench, in uniform,” the rule adds.

The EBUG rulebook is actually pretty wild

Here’s what you need to know about how this whole system works, per ESPN:

• Every NHL team must have an Emergency Backup Goalie (EBUG) in the arena for every home game
• The EBUG must be available to either team if a goalie gets injured
• EBUGs cannot be under any professional goalie contract
• EBUGs cannot be paid employees of the home team
• Most EBUGs have played goalie at a high school, college, or professional level
• EBUGs are paid a small hourly rate just for being on standby in the stands
• If activated, an EBUG signs a tryout contract and does not count against the roster
• With a professional tryout contract, EBUGs earn $500 per game and keep their jersey
• With an amateur tryout contract, EBUGs aren’t paid—but still get to keep the jersey

That last part is key. Even if you don’t get paid, you walk away with an NHL jersey that you actually wore in an NHL game. That’s the kind of memorabilia money can’t buy.

The six times an EBUG actually logged minutes

Now for the part you’ve been waiting for: when has this fever dream actually become reality?

There have only been six instances in which EBUGs have logged minutes in a game, per ESPN. Six times in the entire history of this rule where someone went from “guy in the stands” to “guy facing NHL shots.”

Here’s the complete list:

• Jett Alexander played for the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 8, 2023, but recorded no saves on no shots vs. the Montreal Canadiens
• Matt Berlin played for the Edmonton Oilers on Jan. 28, 2023 and recorded one save on one shot vs. the Chicago Blackhawks
• Thomas Hodges played for the Anaheim Ducks on April 29, 2022 and recorded two saves on three shots vs. Dallas Stars
• David Ayres played for the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 22, 2020 and recorded eight saves on 10 shots vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
• Scott Foster played for the Chicago Blackhawks on March 29, 2018 and recorded seven saves on seven shots vs. Chicago Blackhawks
• Jorge Alves played for the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 31, 2016, but recorded no saves on no shots vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

If you only remember one EBUG story, make it David Ayres.

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Of those six emergency backup goalies who’ve seen NHL action, Ayres is the only one to record a win. Let that sink in: a guy who wasn’t on any NHL roster, who was just there as emergency insurance, actually won a professional hockey game.

It gets better. Ayres is also the oldest NHL goaltender (42 years, 194 days) to win a regular-season debut, per ESPN.

Forty-two years old. Making his NHL debut. Against the Toronto Maple Leafs. And he won.

The Ayres game is the kind of thing that makes you believe sports really can produce movie-worthy moments without any scriptwriters involved. A 42-year-old Zamboni driver (yes, he actually drove the Zamboni for the Maple Leafs’ AHL affiliate) suddenly finds himself defending the net for Carolina against his own organization’s NHL team.

You genuinely cannot make this stuff up.

Why This Matters (Besides Being Incredibly Cool)

The EBUG system represents something beautiful about hockey: the acknowledgment that chaos can strike at any moment, and you need to be prepared for it. 

It’s also a reminder that somewhere out there, regular people with regular jobs are staying ready for the most extraordinary opportunity of their athletic lives.

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Chiusano’s viral video resonates because it humanizes this bizarre corner of professional sports. 

These aren’t robots waiting in storage — they’re people with families, superstitions about popcorn placement, and very real anxieties about potentially throwing up if they ever have to play.

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So the next time you’re watching an NHL game, remember: somewhere in that arena, there’s probably someone just like Timm Chiusano. Eating clean. Sitting near the popcorn. Waiting to become a life vest that might finally get used.