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LEX BJERK WAS ENJOYING watching Las Vegas host Vancouver from the press box in late March of 2018 when he got a call to rush down to the Golden Knights' locker room. Bjerk, part of the NHL's obscure Emergency Backup Goalie program, had never come close to playing before. That would change on this night after Marc-Andre Fleury got hurt and back- up Malcom Subban experienced equipment problems. "At that point, I had trainers running in the locker room, saying, 'Get your stuff on, get ready, you are going in,'" Bjerk recalled. "So, I get the rest of my stuff on and I am pacing and thinking, 'How is this going to go?' I was never more anxious at any point in my life. The other equipment guy comes and says, 'Just be ready. Just be ready.'" Ultimately, the moment passed. The equipment staff fixed Subban's skate blade and the lace on his pad. Bjerk, a former Las Vegas resident who has since moved back to his native Minnesota after working two seasons as an EBUG goalie, stayed in the locker room for the rest of the game. "I had a good laugh with the equipment guys," said Bjerk, who played goalie for two Division III college programs. "When one of the guys came in and told me I was going in, he said my face turned white as a ghost." While he lived in Las Vegas, the 31-year-old graphic designer served as a USA Hockey goaltending development coordinator for Nevada. He now holds a similar position in Minnesota. Bjerk was the Knights' emergency goalie for their first two seasons. He didn't get paid, but he attended 41 home games for free each season sitting in the press box. That in itself is worth a lot to a big-time hockey fan. The league introduced the EBUG program beginning in the 2017-18 season. It requires every team to have an emergency goalie it can immediately call on for use by either club should an extreme situation arise. BY TOM WORGO 34 // JUNE/JULY 2020 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM EMERGENCY BACKUP GOALIES READY AT A MOMENT'S NOTICE TO BAIL OUT DESPERATE TEAMS AND REALIZE THEIR OWN NHL DREAMS WAITING IN THE WINGS A In addition to serving as a USA Hockey goaltending development coordinator for two years, Alex Bjerk was the emergency backup goalie for the Vegas Golden Knights during their first two NHL seasons. EDITOR'S NOTE: USA Hockey Magazine profiled the Emergency Backup Goalie program in 2018 after Scott Foster made national headlines by suiting up for the Chicago Blackhawks. After David Ayres exploits this past season with the Carolina Hurricanes, we decided to take another look at those who are wait- ing in the wings to live out their NHL dreams.