Chicago Blackhawks netminder Jeff Glass will make his NHL debut Friday against the Edmonton Oilers at the age of 32. It’s a feat so ridiculous that when I searched his name on Getty Images for a photo, the best I could find was him suiting up for the Senators in the 2006 preseason. So … it’s been a long road for Glass.
And now he gets to face Connor McDavid right off the bat! What could do wrong?
The Hawks are without Corey Crawford, who is on injured reserve, so backup goalie Anton Forsberg started in a 5-2 loss to the Canucks on Thursday night. Now in the second leg of a back-to-back, the team is turning to Glass rather than playing Forsberg for a second straight night.
The Blackhawks signed Glass to a contract earlier this year after he proved to be a fine stopgap in the AHL. He’s posted a .917 save percentage and 2.60 goals allowed average in 18 appearances for the Rockford IceHogs this season.
Glass was a third-round pick by the Senators in the 2004 NHL Draft, but never played for the team. He spent four years with the team’s AHL affiliate before signing with in the KHL in 2009. He would spend seven years playing in the KHL, then returned to North America last year.
It’s been a remarkable road to the NHL for Glass, which is pretty inspirational. It also gave me a chance to make this dumb joke:
Very excited for Jeff Glass’ Blackhawks debut pic.twitter.com/PjoTMicGcP
— Satchel Price (@SatchelPrice) December 30, 2017