Introducing, A Man Who Won’t Be Buying Himself Drinks Anymore

By Cooper Banks

David Ayres’ unlikely success playing on NHL ice this weekend is truly the stuff of legend.  All around.  And If that man ever has to buy himself a drink again, something must be terribly wrong in his neighborhood (kidding, of course).

I took a moment to watch the highlights from Saturday’s hockey game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes.

I cringed a bit as I saw Ayres, an emergency back-up goalie and Zamboni driver, enter the game in the 2nd period, entirely out of his depth.  However, I was also encouraged by so many of the things I saw happening as he played.

The behavior of Ayres’ teammates was especially inspiring to me, I must say.  It almost brings you to tears to see it.

Take a look here;

All the other ‘Canes players kept skating over to Ayres, even as he floundered early, tapping him and encouraging him — telling him they had his back.

Ayres told reporters after the game that he’d asked those other guys to help him out.  Ayres said he knew he wasn’t going to be able to stop a lot of shots, but that he would probably be able to stop some.

Here’s the post-game interview.

On top of everything else, it sounds to me like Ayres was playing against his favored team. As far as I can tell, Ayres is a “Maple Leafs guy”.  He beat them on Saturday.

Again, I carry the same admiration for the ‘Canes players who probably knew Ayres is a “Maple Leafs guy”.

Everyone just wanted to get the win.  Period.

I must say, this is the kind of thing that reminds me of why I fell in love with organized team sports.  I think it reminds us all of that.

Way to go Dave.  Certainly, if I ever meet you, your drinks are on me.