Who was that masked man?
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It’s a bird! It’s a plane!
No, it was the Ottawa Senators’ emergency backup goaltender (EBUG) trying to get to the Canadian Tire Centre to get dressed in case he was needed to face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Hockey Night in Canada.
The video of Zach Dietz, a 22-year-old goaltender with the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, running with his equipment towards the rink on Saturday night has gone viral on social media since it was posted and he’ll have a great story to tell his kids down the road.
Informed at 5:50 p.m. that he needed to get to the rink because Ottawa goalie Anton Forsberg was hurt, Dietz and his girlfriend, Charley Healey, decided the best bet when they were stuck in traffic close to the rink was to run.
“I was going to miss warmup due to the traffic and everything, but I was talking to (Healey) and I was saying, ‘If I can jump out of the car and run I can get there quicker’ than staying in the car,” Dietz told Postmedia on Sunday afternoon from his home near Hamilton.
“We both agreed that if I was going to get there as quick as I can, we’ve got to do it by whatever means possible. She’s as big a fan of hockey as I am and she plays for the women’s team at the University of Ottawa so she was like, ‘Hey, get there as quick as you can and I’ll jump in the driver’s seat.’ We just changed out. I put the car in park, she jumped in from the passenger’s seat and I grabbed my gear and started running.
“I could see the building so I thought I’d keep going until I get there before she does or she catches up to me.”
The Senators have three EBUGs on call and all play for the Gee-Gees. The other two goalies had exams so it was Dietz’s turn. He was headed to the game with Healey because he’s a big fan of Sidney Crosby and he bought her a jersey so she could wear it to the game.
Though Dietz was making good time, he got some help.
“Once I jumped out I was passing cars because they were stopped. They weren’t moving at all. As I got to the top of a hill, a couple in a black SUV were looking at me because it’s weird to see someone running with goalie gear,” said Dietz.
“As I got closer, I was starting to walk because my legs were exhausted from running up the hill. They asked if I was going into the game and I said I’m the emergency backup goalie and I’m trying to get to the rink because I have to get dressed for the team.
“They told me immediately to jump in. I got in with them and three minutes later they got me to the rink because traffic opened up. They were the saviours of it because it helped a lot because my girlfriend didn’t get there until just before the puck drop and I was there before the warmup even ended.”
You can’t make this up.
A second-year student at uOttawa, Dietz got dressed in a room that’s used for Travis Green’s post-game press conference and signed a pro tryout agreement in case he was required to replace Linus Ullmark. The equipment staff brought him a jersey with his name on the back.
According to league rules, every team must have an EBUG available and he did get dressed last season when Joseph Woll of the Toronto Maple Leafs got hurt late in a game.
The EBUG isn’t allowed to sit on the bench because league rules don’t allow it. Technically, he’s listed as the No. 2 goalie on the Ottawa depth chart and as the No. 3 netminder for the Penguins.
That’s why he sat in a dressing room in the bowels of the rink waiting to see if he’d get the call. He watched the game on his phone and Healey came down after the first period to spend time with him.
Dietz didn’t see the video of him running along the highway until Healey was looking at Instagram and saw it on TSN’s Bardown Instagram.
“We like to go to McDonald’s for ice cream when something goes well for us and we saw it when we were sitting in the drive-thru,” Dietz said. “Once they posted that, I knew this was going to blow up and, sure enough, the video of a goalie running through Ottawa in minus-15 weather is going to become pretty popular.”
Dietz has made three appearances with the Gee-Gees this season and has one start. He has a 1.97 goals-against average and one win in that stretch with a solid .930 save percentage.
Healey spoke to the security team and that’s how she gained access to the room where Dietz was sitting after the first. They took pictures together of him in his jersey and then he called his family because he wanted to share the moment with them.
“I called some good buddies, my parents and my brothers to tell them about the situation. I was re-telling the story and sharing it with the people I care most about,” Dietz said.
What if he had to go in?
“I was more excited than nervous,” Dietz said. “The whole story just blows me away. When it became surreal was when I looked at an NHL jersey and it had my last name on it.”