When Toledo Walleye trainer Brad Fredrick walked into Jimmy John's in Sylvania before a recent Sunday game, the last person he expected to make his sub was someone who has served as one of the team’s goaltenders.
Yet there was Kent Nusbaum, a 22-year-old fledgling netminder, standing behind the counter. The Temperance native has one of the most unusual part-time occupations in sports: emergency backup goaltender.
Nusbaum has become the Walleye's go-to reserve player when a need arises. He has dressed several times for Toledo's ECHL team — and its opponents — but has played in only one game.
WATCH: Nusbaum plays for Kansas City against Toledo
“It's unique,” Nusbaum said. “It's exciting. I'd rather be doing something I love than working a normal job.”
But he is not a full-time member of the team. So to make ends meet while pursuing his dream of playing pro hockey, the 6-foot-6 and 180-pound Nusbaum also is sandwich-maker. And that was news to the team's longtime trainer, Fredrick.
“Brad was shocked. He said, “Hey Baumer, what are you doing here?' I said, 'Just working my day job,'” Nusbaum said. “I made him a sandwich. I believe it was a No. 5.”
Every ECHL team has its own list of go-to substitute goalies who can be available at a moment's notice. If the local team or its visiting opponent loses one of its two goalies to a sudden injury, illness, or transaction on game day, a substitute has to be available to sit on the bench in case he is needed.
Walleye coach Dan Watson said Nusbaum, who also has stepped in at practice when need be, is the ideal EBUG.
“Most of these guys have full-time jobs,” Watson said. “They can't survive on waiting for the next phone call. We work hard to make sure we have local guys that are available and have played the position at some level. I'm all for local kids getting an opportunity.”
Nusbaum has signed with the Walleye multiple times this season, sat on the Toledo bench once this season in a game, and donned the jerseys of four visiting teams. He makes about $50 for his services per game.
“I'm not in it for money. It's just a little something to show you a little appreciation. But hey, I'd do it for free,” Nusbaum said.
Getting the call
It’s somewhat common for teams to come to Toledo in need of a quick substitute. Nusbaum has served as the emergency goalie for Quad City, Kansas City, Indy, and Greenville so far this season.
A memorabilia collector, Nusbaum said he does not get to keep the jerseys he wears as a sub.
“But I do take the nameplates off the jerseys,” he said. “I have my nameplates from Kansas City and Greenville.”
The emergency backup generally stays on the bench, out of the action. League rules stipulate that emergency backups can be inserted into a game only if the team's starting goalie suffers a serious injury or is ejected.
However, lightning struck last month when Nusbaum suddenly went from a casual observer at the Huntington Center to on the ice in a heartbeat. Nusbaum was serving as the backup for the visiting Kansas City Mavericks on Feb. 10 when he was thrust into action after the starter was ejected from the game for fighting.
Nusbaum said his adrenaline surged when he saw Walleye goalie Matej Machovsky fly down the ice to take on KC's Mason McDonald in a rare fight between netminders.
“My legs buckled cause I knew I was going in the game,” he said. “It was wild. I wasn't expecting a goalie fight. To see them go toe-to-toe was really cool.”
As the melee subsided, Nusbaum gathered his gear on the bench and then glided over to his crease.
“Hearing that building so loud on top of you brings chills. I had to get focused,” he said.
“I went in there after everything that had happened, and everyone was hating on Kansas City. Here I'm the local guy that goes in and there are 3,000 people yelling at you, chanting your name. They're screaming 'Nusbaum, you suck!'
“And I had the biggest smile on my face. You don't get that every day. It was such a great experience.”
Nusbaum played 7 minutes, 46 seconds for the Mavericks in the game and gave up one goal in Toledo’s 5-0 win.
Through the years
Nusbaum is the latest in a long line of local replacement players. For many years, the Storm used a local appliance parts salesman, Rob Daunhauer, as its emergency backup. Woodville native Andrew Gedert served as the Walleye's emergency backup goaltender three times last season.
Back in the Walleye's inaugural season of 2009-10, one of the team's assistant equipment managers also was the team's EBUG.
Toledoan Jack Kauffman, now 30, often pulled double duty as a young locker room assistant/sub goalie. One night he'd be serving as the Walleye's backup and the next night he would be on the bench for Toledo's opponent.
“Any kid's dream is to put on a pro jersey,” Kauffman said. “It's a real good feeling. You bust your butt for years to do it. I've done if for quite a few teams, and the experience is always awesome.”
During one game the starting goalie for visiting Trenton took a hard shot to the head and it appeared Kauffman would have his number called. The Bedford graduate remained on the bench, however, and has never appeared in an ECHL game.
“From my understanding, the goalie has to be dead, basically, for the emergency backup to get in,” he said. “He has to be incapacitated or seriously hurt.
“But I still have my pads. If Watson ever called, I'd be ready.”
On-call for the NHL
Waterville native Jimmy Thomas is just a phone call away from sitting on an NHL bench. Thomas, who attends Ohio University, is an emergency backup goaltender for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
NHL teams carry two goaltenders, and the league requires clubs to always have a backup at the arena on game day. If one gets injured, the parent club can reach down to its affiliates to fill the void. But if both somehow go down on the same day of a game — or a team’s farm club is simply too far away for the call-up to arrive on time — those NHL teams have to have someone on standby.
Thomas said it would be a dream to backup his favorite goaltender, Sergei Bobrovsky.
“It's in a one-a-million chance,” Thomas said. “That would be an experience of a lifetime.”
Thomas has not yet received a call from the Blue Jackets, but the 21-year-old is ready to pack his gear and drive from Athens to Nationwide Arena at the drop of a hat.
Thomas, who attended St. Francis de Sales as freshman and sophomore before traveling to pursue his hockey career, is in his second season as the starting netminder for the Bobcats’ club team. He had competed for the Ohio Blue Jackets Under-18 team and became connected with the NHL team through his former coach. He shares EBUG duties for Columbus with his former teammate, Bailey Seagraves.
“It's just something really cool, for that to always be in the back of your mind,” said Thomas, who has been a goalie since age 8 and played for junior teams in Ohio, Wisconsin, and New Jersey all before age 20.
It's a rare opportunity for an emergency goalie to dress and skate for warmups in the NHL. It’s even more unusual for an EBUG to actually get in a game. But last season, Carolina equipment manager Jorge Alves entered a game as the Hurricanes' goalie after dressing as the emergency backup. He played in the final 7.6 seconds against Tampa Bay and did not face a shot.
Dream come true
For Nusbaum, who grew up an avid Toledo Storm fan, it also became reality.
“A lot of people would be happy to say that they even watched that Kansas City game,” he said. “Well, I can say I was on the bench. I had one of the best seats in the house.”
Nusbaum's father Keith is a well-known local bowler who was inducted into the Ohio bowling hall of fame in 2015. Kent came by his love of hockey through his father's contagious affinity with the Detroit Red Wings.
Keith Nusbaum had season ticket plans for both the Red Wings and the Storm. Kent started skating at age 4.
“When I was a baby I'd sit there and watch the puck and be mesmerized by the game of hockey,” he said. “He'd take me to the creek. Then when I got older I was just so fascinated with being a goalie. It was the pads. I was fascinated with having good-looking gear.”
Nusbaum attended St. Francis de Sales as a freshman and sophomore before leaving home to play junior hockey.
“At the end of my sophomore year, it was my dream to go play hockey in California,” he said. “I was 16. I had my license. I got some giant Red Bulls and drove myself. It was a life-changing experience. I drove 36 hours from Temperance to L.A.”
He found a home with a local host family and tended net for the Long Beach Bombers, a Junior A Tier II team. He finished his schooling online.
This past August, Nusbaum attended the Walleye's free agent camp, catching Watson's eye. He was invited to Toledo's main camp but did not earn a roster spot.
Around Thanksgiving, Nusbaum said he was cleaning the toilets at Jimmy John's when his phone rang. Watson wanted him as his EBUG.
“He's stuck true to his word,” said Nusbaum, who plans to hire an agent in the offseason.
Nusbaum said he will go back to school if his hockey career does not pan out. In the meantime, he fits in trips to the gym around his work schedule and is constantly honing his craft.
Always on call, Nusbaum said he isn’t ready to give up the thought of being a full-time pro hockey player just yet.
“I just hope to catch on and grab someone's attention,” he said. “I'm prepared. I'm in shape. I'm using it as motivation — as a way to train. I don't want to be in this situation next season. I want to be in a full-time position.”
Contact Mark Monroe at mmonroe@theblade.com, 419-724-6354, or on Twitter @MonroeBlade.
First Published March 24, 2018, 11:00 a.m.
