The craziest things can happen in the NHL. Just ask Zach Dietz. The video of the 22-year-old University goalie running with his gear to an NHL arena this weekend quickly went viral, and now he explains exactly what happened.
When Zach Dietz woke up on Saturday, he never could’ve guessed that he would be just one injury away from playing in the NHL. At 5:50 p.m., Dietz, a 22-year-old goaltender with the University of Ottawa, was informed that Senators goalie Anton Forsberg was injured.
Linus Ullmark was set to start the game, but Dietz needed to serve as the emergency backup goalie. The Senators have three EBUGs, and since the other two had exams, Dietz got the call to be listed as the No. 2 goalie on the Ottawa roster and No. 3 for the Penguins.
Zach Dietz called in for EBUG job
When informed, Dietz wouldn’t let the opportunity slip. But as he and his girlfriend, Charley Healey, made their way to the arena, they found themselves stuck in traffic. Dietz decided to get out of the car and run with all his equipment. Someone in another car saw Dietz running, and the clip of his heroic effort went viral on social media. Now, he shares what really happened.
“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 more quickly than staying in the car,’” Dietz told Ottawa Citizen.
“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 quickly swapped seats. I put the car in park, she jumped in from the passenger’s seat, and I grabbed my gear and started running.”
Video of Dietz went viral
Dietz was actually going to the game as a spectator. Instead, he got to be in the locker room during the game, watching it on his phone, as EBUGs aren’t allowed on the bench. It wasn’t until afterward that he saw the video of him online going viral. When he saw that TSN’s Bardown Instagram had posted it, he knew it would go viral.
“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 became pretty popular.”
Dietz was more than ready to step onto the ice, if needed.
“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.”
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