[ascagnel_]

> These guys aren’t usually that good (by NHL standards) and you’ve probably lost the game anyway.

Interestingly, EBUGs have a pretty good record -- teams using an EBUG have won 3 of 4 games they've been used in. I think #3 factors into it: the players know that a "normal" (to be clear: while EBUGs aren't NHL caliber, they're not scrubs or beer leaguers, either) guy has gotten the night of a lifetime, and they'll (based on a subjective eye test) play more tightly in their own end.

[Delk]

It'd make absolute sense to play more tightly on defence when you've got an EBUG in your net as plain self-preservation. Of course the players may want to give extra support to the emergency guy out of sympathy as well, but if you've still got any shot left at the game, you'd also do it for simple tactical reasons.

[dmurray]

> Interestingly, EBUGs have a pretty good record -- teams using an EBUG have won 3 of 4 games

This is mostly coincidental: the goalies only appeared in the dying minutes or seconds of games their teams were already leading.

[ascagnel_]

My point is more that, given the wide skill gap between an NHL-caliber player and a EBUG, there's a reasonable chance that the EBUG would "blow" the lead (a hockey goaltender is one of the most consequential positions in sports, probably second to a gridiron football quarterback). Of the four EBUG appearances, three were no-decision games (the lead didn't change after the EBUG came in) and one win (a come-from-behind victory after the EBUG came in).

[chrisweekly]

>"EBUGs aren't... beer leaguers"

is contradicted by the stories in this thread

[ascagnel_]

Most EBUGs had their career apex in either minor leagues or NCAA D-I college hockey; while the EBUGs may still play in local beer leagues, the colloquialism doesn't really apply to them ("beer leaguer" being a pejorative that implies a player's career apex was in a beer league).