Located behind the couch where the goalie sits to watch Hurricanes games is a locker he set up to pay tribute to the team that provided him the biggest thrill of his hockey career.
“It’s one of the biggest moments of my life, and I wanted to make sure it was acknowledged front and center,” he said. “It’s hard to think it was that long ago.”
The 42-year-old became the first emergency backup goalie to win an NHL game when the Hurricanes defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 at Scotiabank Arena on Feb. 22. He made eight saves in the final 28:41 of the game after Carolina goalies Petr Mrazek and James Reimer each left because of injury.
It was the only NHL game he’s played.
Now, 173 days later, he was getting set to watch Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round between the Hurricanes and Boston Bruins at his home in Bowmanville, Ontario, 50 miles east of Toronto, the hub city for the Eastern Conference. Because of COVID-19, viewing parties are a no-no, so Ayres invited NHL.com to join him virtually via Zoom.
The locker is in full view and contains all sorts of memorabilia.
“The equipment I used in that game is set up in the front,” Ayres said. “There’s an autographed stick in there from goalie James Reimer, who’s such a great guy. And there’s a white Canes jersey like the one I wore that night that the team gave me, autographed by all the Carolina fans.
“It’s so cool.”
However, his choice of wardrobe on this night did not include a Carolina shirt, and for good reason.
He and wife Sarah had planned to watch Game 1 on Tuesday, but it was pushed back to Wednesday at 11 a.m. because the previous game at Scotiabank Arena, a 3-2 victory by the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Columbus Blue Jackets, went five overtimes.
“Sarah had booked us a round of golf for Wednesday at a nice course called Baxter Creek, so I put on a Canes golf shirt and away we went,” he said. “We brought speakers and listened to the game in the cart.”
The result wasn’t what they’d hoped for. The Bruins defeated the Hurricanes 4-3 in double overtime to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
It was time for Ayres to change the karma.
“The Canes shirt wasn’t bringing me luck, so I decided to go with a (Toronto) Marlies shirt and a Canes cap for Game 2,” he said in reference to the American Hockey League affiliate of the Maple Leafs.
Mission accomplished. The Hurricanes defeated the Bruins 3-2 to even the series.
“The look worked,” he said afterward. “It’s going to be a thing. We’ll be at our cottage in Parry Sound (Ontario, hometown of Bobby Orr) for Game 3 on Saturday (Noon ET; NBC, SN, TVAS), and you can bet I’ll be wearing the same things.”
Ayres spent eight years as the Marlies practice goalie and the past three in the same role for the Maple Leafs. He’d also occasionally drive the ice resurfacing machine at Marlies games, and said he’s been the emergency backup goalie at Scotiabank Arena for more than half the NHL games there the past two seasons.
As Reimer skated onto the ice in Toronto for Game 2, the memories of his historic night came flooding back to Ayres.
“It reminded me of when I skated out in that game after their goalies, Reimer and Petr Mrazek, got hurt,” Ayres said. “Same rink. Same entrance. Same bench. And they’re wearing the same white Canes jerseys they wore that night.”
Making the matchup a bit difficult for him was that the Hurricanes were playing the Bruins, the team he grew up rooting for. His favorite player was goalie Andy Moog, who won 136 games with Boston from 1987-93.
“I loved watching him play,” he said. “But obviously I’m pulling for the Hurricanes.”
The next three hours proved to be a roller coaster of emotions.
It was a 2-2 game when Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton scored at 8:30 of the third period. Ayres said his nerves were put to the test in the final seconds when Reimer was channeling his inner Dominik Hasek, flopping in his crease and doing snow angels while the Bruins were buzzing around the Carolina net in an unsuccessful attempt to tie the score.
“That’s not really Reimer’s style, but he did whatever he had to to keep the puck out,” Ayres said. “As a goalie I can appreciate that.
“What a great win.”
Ayres said he’s in frequent contact with Mike Sundheim and Pace Sagester of the Hurricanes public relations department. He also exchanges texts with team analyst Tripp Tracy.
“I like to keep track and get the inside word of what’s going on with the guys,” he said.
Given his relationship with the team, the city of Raleigh and the state of North Carolina, it’s easy to see why.
On Feb. 25, Gov. Roy Cooper declared Ayres, a Canadian citizen, an honorary citizen of North Carolina. The city of Raleigh declared Feb. 25 “David Ayres Day.”
Ayres, who became the oldest goalie (42 years, 194 days) to win his NHL regular-season debut, became an overnight sensation after helping the Hurricanes defeat Toronto. There were TV appearances on “Today” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and countless interviews with various media outlets.
Ayres hasn’t forgotten how he was embraced. Because of that, he said he hopes to return to Carolina later this year.
“I’m cheering for the Canes to win the Stanley Cup,” he said. “And if they do, you can bet I’m heading down there for the parade.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points in a record-setting performance and the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors 122-107 on Wednesday night.
Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season for Sacramento. He shot 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line.
Keegan Murray chipped in with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox scored 21.
The 35-year-old DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his first eight games with the Kings, breaking a franchise mark established by Chris Webber when he reached 20 in his first seven games with Sacramento in 1999.
DeRozan spent the past three seasons with the Chicago Bulls. The six-time All-Star also has played for Toronto and San Antonio during his 16-year NBA career.
RJ Barrett had 23 points to lead the Raptors. Davion Mitchell scored 20 in his first game in Sacramento since being traded to Toronto last summer.
Takeaways
Raptors: Toronto led for most of the first three quarters before wilting in the fourth. The Raptors were outscored 33-14 in the final period.
Kings: Fox played strong defense but struggled again shooting from the floor as he is dealing with a finger injury. Fox went 5 for 17 and just 2 of 8 on 3-pointers. He is 5 for 25 from beyond the arc in his last three games.
Key moment
The Kings trailed 95-89 early in the fourth before going on a 9-0 run that gave them the lead for good. DeRozan started the spurt with a jumper, and Malik Monk scored the final seven points.
Key stat
Sabonis had the eighth game in the NBA since at least 1982-83 with a triple-double while missing no shots from the field or foul line. The previous player to do it was Josh Giddey for Oklahoma City against Portland on Jan. 11.
Up next
Raptors: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, the third stop on a five-game trip.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are one win away from moving on to the next round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.
To get there, however, the Whitecaps will need to pull off the improbable by defeating the powerhouse Los Angeles FC for a second straight game.
Vancouver blanked the visitors 3-0 on Sunday to level their best-of-three first-round playoff series at a game apiece. As the matchup shifts back to California for a decisive Game 3 on Friday, the Whitecaps are looking for a repeat performance, said striker Brian White.
“We take the good and the bad from last game, learn from what we could have done better and go to LAFC with confidence and, obviously, with a whole lot of respect,” he said.
“We know that we can go there and give them a very good fight and hopefully come away with a win.”
The winner of Friday’s game will face the No. 4-seed Seattle Sounders in a one-game Western Conference semifinal on Nov. 23 or 24.
The ‘Caps finished the regular season eighth in the west with a 13-13-8 record and have since surprised many with their post-season play.
First, Vancouver trounced its regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game. Then, the squad dropped a tightly contested 2-1 decision to the top-seeded L.A. before posting a decisive home victory on Sunday.
Vancouver has scored seven goals this post-season, second only to the L.A. Galaxy (nine). Vancouver also leads the league in expected goals (6.84) through the playoffs.
No one outside of the club expected the Whitecaps to win when the Vancouver-L. A. series began, said defender Ranko Veselinovic.
“We’ve shown to ourselves that we can compete with them,” he said.
Now in his fifth season with the ‘Caps, Veselinovic said Friday’s game will be the biggest he’s played for the team.
“We haven’t had much success in the playoffs so, definitely, this is the one that can put our season on another level,” he said.
This is the second year in a row the Whitecaps have faced LAFC in the first round of the playoffs and last year, Vancouver was ousted in two straight games.
The team isn’t thinking about revenge as it prepares for Game 3, White said.
“More importantly than (beating LAFC), we want to get to the next round,” he said. “LAFC’s a very good team. We’ve come up against them a number of times in different competitions and they always seem to get the better of us. So it’d be huge for us to get the better of them this time.”
Earning a win last weekend required slowing L.A.’s transition game and limiting offensive opportunities for the team’s big stars, including Denis Bouanga.
Those factors will be important again on Friday, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini, who warned that his team could face a different style of game.
“I think the most important thing is going to be to match their intensity at the beginning of the game,” he said. “Because I think they’re going to come at us a million miles per hour.”
The ‘Caps will once again look to captain Ryan Gauld for some offensive firepower. The Scottish attacking midfielder leads MLS in playoff goals with five and has scored in all three of Vancouver’s post-season appearances this year.
Gearing up for another do-or-die matchup is exciting, Gauld said.
“Knowing it’s a winner-takes-all kind of game, being in that kind of environment is nice,” he said. “It’s when you see the best in players.”
LAFC faces the bulk of the pressure heading into the matchup, Sartini said, given the club’s appearances in the last two MLS Cup finals and its 2022 championship title.
“They’re supposed to win and we are not,” the coach said. “But it’s beautiful to have a little bit of pressure on us, too.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
SAINT CATHARINES, Ont. – Saskatchewan’s Jason Ackerman remained undefeated on Wednesday with a 7-4 win over Newfoundland and Labrador‘s Trent Skanes at the Canadian mixed curling championship.
After going down 3-1 through four ends, Ackerman (6-0) outscored Skanes (3-3) 6-1 the rest of the way, including three points in the seventh end.
Alberta’s Kurt Alan Balderston also earned a win, defeating New Brunswick’s Charlie Sullivan 9-2 in another matchup in the final draw.
The win improved Balderston’s record to 4-2 and sits in third in Pool B.
The top four teams from each pool will play four more games against the survivors from the other pool. The remaining three teams from the pool will play three more seeding games to help set the rankings for next year’s event.
The championship final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
