Kings to hold tryouts for emergency goalie

The situation arises at some point in every NHL season when a team needs an emergency goalie.

The starter is suddenly unavailable, the backup is enlisted and a third-string goalie can’t get to the rink in time for the game. It happened last December when the Chicago Blackhawks’ Corey Crawford needed an emergency appendectomy before a game and the team needed a backup for Scott Darling. Chicago found Eric Semborski, a youth hockey coach who sat nervously on the bench.

It could happen to the Kings, and in that vein they are holding emergency goaltender tryouts on Sept.27 at Toyota Sports Center.

“The NHL requires each home team to have an emergency goalie in the stands for every game and we thought this would be a good opportunity to see who in our area is best qualified for the job,” Kings president Luc Robitaille said in a release.

“It will be interesting, that is for sure.”

NHL rules state that in the event that both listed goalies for a game are incapacitated, “that team shall be entitled to dress and play any available goaltender who is eligible.”

The Ducks have used former roller hockey goalie Rob Laurie as an emergency goalie, and Laurie later served the same role with the Vancouver Canucks in a 2014 game against the Ducks.

Candidates for the Kings must have played a “high level of amateur hockey, but must not have signed a contract to play in a professional league.”

Goalies will be evaluated by the Kings hockey operations department. Details can be found at lakings.formstack.com/forms/emergency_goalie_tryout.