Thomas Hodges (born June 25, 1993) is a

British-American British American usually refers to Americans whose ancestral origin originates wholly or partly in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Cornwall, Orkney, and the Isle of Man). It is primarily a demographic or histor ...

life insurance salesman and amateur

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player. He appeared for the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center. ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) in the team's final game of the 2021–22 season as an emergency

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

following injuries to both John Gibson and

Anthony Stolarz Anthony Stolarz (born January 20, 1994), is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the Philadelphia Flyers and Edmonton Oilers. Born in Edison, New Jer ...

Early life

Hodges was born in Shrewsbury, United Kingdom, but emigrated to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and grew up playing youth

. Hodges was forced to abandon his aspirations of playing in the

after taking an errant puck to the head at age 12, which caused him a decrease of vision in his left eye. He later attended

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

and played club hockey there despite his injury, and later became a goalie coach of the

Allen Americans The Allen Americans are a professional ice hockey team headquartered at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas, which currently plays in the ECHL. The team was founded in 2009 in the Central Hockey League (CHL) where they played ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

. During his time there, he was put into a 2016 game for the Americans, entering with 50 seconds remaining in the game.

NHL appearance

On April 29, 2022, both of the

' goaltenders, John Gibson and

, were injured during a game against the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

. Hodges entered the game during the third period as the emergency backup goaltender, after signing a one-game contract with the NHL. Donning a Stars helmet and pads, and wearing number 68 for the Ducks without a nameplate on the back, he entered the game at 0:54 of the 3rd period with the game tied 2–2. He made two saves on three shots, allowing a goal from Jason Robertson, which wound up being the game winner to help secure a 4–2 win for Dallas. He became the first emergency backup to enter a game in the NHL since

David Ayres David Ayres (; born August 12, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and current Head Coach of the Port Perry Lumberjacks of the Provincial Junior Hockey League. He achieved fame as the first emergency backup goaltender ...

in 2020. Hodges' performance drew applause from fans and players from both teams. For his efforts, Hodges earned the third star of the game, and was able to secure his game-worn jersey and a game puck.

Career statistics

Regular season

References

External links