Mike Chiasson was in the stands at Fenway Park for NHL Winter Classic in Boston earlier this year when the Pittsburgh Penguins’ starting goalie, Tristan Jarry, was injured in the first half and had to drop out of the game.

For Chiasson, who is from Cole Harbour, NS, he knows what it means.

“I handed my daughter over to my wife and said, ‘I have to go,’ and left her,” said Chiasson, 37.

Chiasson is an emergency reserve keeper, or EBUG, for the Penguins. With Jarry out of action, that means if back-up Casey DeSmith is also injured and unable to continue, Chiasson will step in.

Chiasson donned his gear and waited in the dugout if his services were needed.

Although Chiasson has never stopped playing, he says this is about the sixth time he has dressed for a game as an EBUG. It happened again recently when he dressed for Pittsburgh’s game against the Florida Panthers on Jan. 24.

The emergency goalkeeper is meant to fill the void when an injury occurs to the goalkeeper on short notice or in the middle of a game. EBUG can play for either team.

Fans love it. It gives ordinary citizens the chance to become NHL goaltenders, even at the stakes.

The most famous makeshift goalkeeper is 42-year-old David Ayres, a Zamboni driver by day which matched up for the Carolina Hurricanes in their 2020 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Chiasson never played professionally. He played in the QMJHL with Rimouski Oceanic before four seasons with the Acadia Axemen, the last being in 2011.

“Who would have thought, technically, I could still be playing in the NHL at 37 years old without actually playing those 12 years?” she says.

Chiasson’s day job

During the day, Chiasson works as a goal development professional for the Lemieux Sports Complex’s youth hockey program. This site also serves as a Penguin training facility.

Chiasson also regularly trains with the team at home, serving as a third keeper to relieve the burden on the team’s two keepers. In this drill, he went up against his lifelong friend, Sidney Crosby of Cole Harbor.

The pair played on hockey and baseball teams together growing up.

On summer days, when a Chiasson teenager just wanted to sleep, he remembered many mornings when the phone rang and Crosby on the other end wanted to play street hockey. Chiasson’s mother will tell Crosby that Chiasson is still sleeping.

“Obviously, it worked out really well for him and maybe I should have taken him to some of the games that morning,” Chiasson said.

Crosby wasn’t available for an interview, but in a statement via the Penguins he said it was amazing to see Chiasson’s impact in Pittsburgh.

“Mike is a great coach in terms of scoring goals and having skills, and I’m delighted to see the success he’s had with the young players here,” he said.

“It makes absolutely no sense to think of him as an EBUG. I’ve seen how hard he works and in the morning he was out there when he was called up. It would be great if he gets the chance to come in one day.”

Their lives have taken them to some of the same places, including Rimouski.

Chiasson began playing for Oceanic in 2005–06, which was Crosby’s rookie season as the Penguins.

Career highlights

At Oceanic, Chiasson played in a squad that was rebuilding. On December 29, 2005, in an away game against the Quebec Remparts, Chiasson stopped 67 of 71 shooting in a 5-4 win in what he said was the game of his life.

A few months later, the teams would meet again.

“I just remember the newspapers saying, ‘Can Chiasson do what he did last time against these guys?'” he said. “And they all found out pretty quickly that wasn’t going to happen.”

Chiasson gave up three goals in about four minutes and was withdrawn. His replacement did much better, giving up three goals in eight minutes. Chiasson re-entered and the losing continued.

At the end of the second half, it was 11-2 Quebec and the coach looked to pull Chiasson again.

“I felt sorry for the little guy, I said, ‘Listen, there’s no reason to put that rookie back in the game. I’m going to work it out,'” says Chiasson.

Chiasson gave up another five goals in a 16-3 loss. Seven of those goals went to Alexander Radulov, a former first-round NHL draft pick.

University hockey

Chiasson played another season for Rimouski and then started playing for Acadia in the 2007-08 season.

After working briefly with the Atlantic Hockey Group, Chiasson landed a job in 2011 as manager of the youth hockey program with the Penguins, which he did for two years. The role includes helping grow hockey at a grassroots level in the Pittsburgh area.

Chiasson was then recruited by the Axemen to become the assistant coach of the men’s hockey team. Chiasson saw it as an opportunity to gain more coaching experience and add to his resume.

Several players on the team were rookies when Chiasson played in the Axemen.

“It’s hard to go back at a young age and pull it apart,” he said. “But on the other hand, I think it’s great to be able to connect with people and be a voice for them to come in and just be a player coach for them.”

Return to Academia

Acadia hockey coach Darren Burns said this was one of the reasons he hired Chiasson.

“He’s amazing because he’s a very good communicator and he’s a very respected person and he has this calm presence about him.… I’ve always felt it was very important to have younger assistant coaches because as a staff we, and unfortunately myself, are getting older “Having a young man who can be a link between players and coaches, I think that’s important,” said Burns.

Burns envisioned Chiasson eventually ending up in a front office role because of his cool demeanor and wit.

After two seasons with the Axemen, Chiasson returned to Pittsburgh in 2015 and resumed his role as youth hockey program manager.

Since August 2019, he has worked exclusively as a goal development professional with the Lemieux Sports Complex.

There is no time for another league

With Chiasson spending a lot of time on the ice with his day job and helping with the Penguins’ practice, it doesn’t leave him with much desire to play in the league.

“I’ve had enough of skating,” he said. “The last thing I want to do is run to the arena at 11 o’clock to play in a beer league game,” he said.

Chiasson believes he is a better goalie today than he was during his playing days, which he wrote to better understand the game now and the practice time he logged for the Penguins.

Live as EBUG

As makeshift goalkeeper, Chiasson got two tickets to home games, which he dutifully attended. If his phone rings during a game, it’s probably a night where he’s fit.

It was a role he continues to enjoy.

“I don’t know how long I’ve been doing it, but my body still feels good,” says Chiasson. “I don’t want to look back and say, ‘Why did I quit?'”

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